Latartaa magazine about the culture of pastry art

An independent magazine about the culture of pastry art. This is not the La Tarta bakery's website; we do not take orders or sell cakes.

Latarta

History

A timeline of events that shaped how cakes look and what they mean today. We include only events with a verifiable date, briefly explain why each one matters, and clearly label popular legends as legends.

How we choose: an event made the list if it changed pastry-making, a holiday custom or the way people write about desserts, and if it is supported by publicly available sources. If a date rests on tradition alone, the entry is marked as a legend. The topic filter works on top of the regular list.

  1. 1815
    books & media

    Carême's Le Pâtissier pittoresque

    Marie-Antoine Carême (1784–1833) publishes a book of designs for decorative desserts. His architectural pièces montées of sugar and pastry are inspired by engravings of buildings — bringing pastry-making closer to architecture.

  2. 1832
    people

    The Sachertorte

    In Vienna, 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher creates a chocolate cake for Prince Metternich. The cake later becomes one of the symbols of Viennese pastry culture.

  3. 1840
    traditions

    Queen Victoria's wedding

    A large white cake is served at the wedding. Ever since, white icing has been firmly associated with wedding cakes — one of the best-known stories about the wedding dessert.

  4. 1912
    history

    The Napoleon cake — a legend

    A popular legend links the Napoleon cake, the Russian take on mille-feuille, to the centenary of the victory in the War of 1812. This is lore, not established fact: treat the date with caution.

  5. 1926
    people

    The Pavlova

    Ballerina Anna Pavlova tours Australia and New Zealand. The dessert is named in her honor; both countries still claim to have invented it.

  6. 1938
    books & media

    Larousse Gastronomique

    The first edition of Prosper Montagné's French gastronomic encyclopedia is published — one of the essential references on cooking and pastry-making.

  7. 1963
    history

    The end of the Sacher dispute

    The long-running dispute between the Hotel Sacher and the Demel pastry shop over the right to the "original" cake ends in a settlement; the hotel keeps the name "Original Sacher-Torte."

  8. 1978
    craft

    The Bird's Milk cake

    Pastry chef Vladimir Guralnik creates the Bird's Milk cake (Ptichye Moloko) at the Praga restaurant in Moscow.

Sources

Information is current as of the date of preparation. If you spot an error in dates or facts, check the primary sources listed below.