Of the lake towns, Bolsena itself has the readiest charm, with its centro storico and Collegiata di Santa Cristina church, a historical layer cake whose earliest parts date from 11th century.
Even nuts are celebrated when Sassofortino in southern Tuscany holds its chestnut festival (Oct . 31to Nov. 4), complete with historical re-enactments and chestnut-filled cakes and ragouts (www.festadellacastagna.info).info
That it also became recognised worldwide as one of the leading sources of historical imagery was the icing on the cake.
Modern viewers will know the Scottish-born actor from playing grizzled heavies in British crime movies such as Layer Cake and Gangster No 1; or from historical epics including the HBO series Rome.
"The historical aspect of these games is just the icing on the cake," said Graham Somers, a 22-year-old college student in Vancouver who runs an Age of Empires fan site called HeavenGames.
The years-spanning film, which observes traumatic historical events through Liesel's eyes, looks and tastes like a giant sugar cake whose saccharinity largely camouflages the horrors of the war.
Notably, they selected for non-aromatic grains with a chewy texture for the main meal, and for sticky, glutinous rice as the source for cakes and desserts for festivals and other special occasions, consistent with the historical record (Ilyeon [1281]).
As the historical legend goes, the French Queen Marie Antoinette became immortal when she uttered, "Then let them eat cake," before her fateful appointment with the executioner at the guillotine.
The novel is pinned to its era as much by the details as by historical events: Dean's working-class late 70s is a world of Morecambe and Wise, tinned pineapple halves, Jamaica sponge cake and the Nolan Sisters.
As a result, it is still possible to discern (and enjoy) its original architecture of pot roast, haggis and dundee cake without feeling as if you are being asked to take part in a slightly out-of-focus historical reconstruction.
