The saying, You can't have your cake and eat it" was originally, "eat your cake and have it". It was first seen in print in 1562 in John Heywood's "Proverbs And Epigrams".

The word, 'cake' comes from the Old Norse, 'kaka'. Not exactly the sort of word you'd expect the Vikings to contribute to the English language.

Fruit cakes were made by the ancient Egyptians, and cheese cakes by the ancient Greeks. But these were not raised cakes as we know them today.

The earliest sponge cake recipe in English was recorded by Gervase Markham in 1615, but it was more like a cookie.

By the middle of the 18th century, yeast had fallen into disuse as a raising agent for cakes in favor of beaten eggs.