When I was growing up, my favorite birthday cake was made by my grandmother. It had a Barbie doll in the middle, and the cake was shaped as her hoop-skirt dress. Once you’d enjoyed the cake, you had a new barbie to play with!
Everybody loves cake, right? So who do we have to thank?
Well, there’s some debate as to where the birthday cake actually originated.
Some scholars believe the tradition originated in Ancient Greece, where they would bake moon-shaped cakes to honor the moon goddess, Artemis. They even used candles on the cake to represent the shine of the moon. The smoke when the candles were blown out would carry their devotions into the sky as a form of worship and sacrifice. This is likely the origin of the modern-day tradition of making a wish on your birthday candles.
The Ancient Romans also baked birthday cakes, though not quite like the cakes we consume today. These cakes were made from some combination of flour, cheese, nuts,honey, olive oil, and yeast, which likely makes them more like a bread by modern standards. Birthday celebrations were observed mostly for famous people, but there are records of more common citizens throwing parties with a religious bent.
Other scholars attribute the origin of the birthday cake to the Germans in the middle ages where sweetened bread was made to look like the swaddled baby Jesus to celebrate his birth. Later, in the 18th century, the Germans began celebrating birthdays in a similar manner to how we do today, and the cakes evolved right along with the other traditions. There were candles and wishes and sweet concoctions at their Kinderfest celebrations where they commemorated a child’s birth.
With the Industrial Revolution came mass production and easier and cheaper access to modern cake-making ingredients and supplies. This made birthday cakes more available to the everyman, popularizing the birthday cake.
So it appears we have several cultures to thank for a delicious way to celebrate someone. And let’s not forget all those excuses to head to the breakroom and get out of work!
Now to decide what kind of cake I want this year. Some kind of chocolate, obviously . . .
Don’t forget to enter my Birthday Bash Giveaway! It ends October 30!
