Social historian Alysa Levene looks at cakes both ancient and modern, from delicate angel food cake to the much-maligned fruitcake, from the ubiquitous birthday cake to the reliable pound cake, all the way up to competitive baking shows on television and our modern obsession with macaroons and cupcakes. Along the way Levene explores how and why cakes became the food to eat in times of celebration, and considers how this treat impacted the slave trade, the changing role of women in the home, and advances in technology, with cameo appearances by such figures as Alfred the Great, Jane Austen, Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie Antoinette, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mrs. Beeton, and Queen Elizabeth II.