Cakes are important matters, I think we can all agree on that ;) It seems to me as if there are two words in Esperanto: torto and kuko. What is the difference between them? I have a feeling they are not synonyms...
In Mazi Revenas there's a torto that looks just like a cake to me. For the most part, though, it breaks down pretty clearly like this:
- torto - sweet pie
- kuko - cake
PIV seems to support this as well. A torto has a bottom, some kind of filling, and a top crust -- or a filling that solidifies somewhat.
As always, food terms can be tricky in Esperanto because national dishes don't have international names, so you'll hear people mix these up, but the above description is my best advice on the topic.
In German there are two cognate words: Kuchen and Torte. A Kuchen is just a plain cake, often a sponge base, but generally it is mostly dough-based. A Torte, on the other hand, is more sophisticated: It often consists of different layers, sponge and creamy ones, and has an 'assembly' stage in making it. A Kuchen you prepare, stick in the oven, and it's done. A Torte is more complicated, so you'be bake the layers, make a (quite solid) cream, and then put them together in the final result. While a Kuchen is sometimes eaten warm, a Torte would always be cold.