The origin of Birthday Cakes dates back to ancient times but the cake of then was very different from what we have today. The word ‘cake’ is said to have coined as early as 13th century and is said to have derived from ‘kaka’- an Old Norse word.
In Western culture Birthday Cake is defined as a pastry or dessert served to a person on his or her birthday to celebrate the event. Birthday cakes are usually decorated with person’s name and carry a message of congratulations. Candles equal to the number of years a person has been alive are also placed on the cake. There is also a tradition to place one extra candle to bring good luck. Birthday cakes are usually spongy and the most popular flavour in cakes is chocolate.
The history of Birthday Cake can be traced back to the ancient Greeks who made round or moon shaped honey cakes or bread and took it to the temple of Artemis -the Goddess of Moon. Some, however, believe that the tradition of Birthday cake started in Germany in Middle Ages. Sweetened bread dough was given the shape of baby Jesus in swaddling cloth and was used to commemorate his birthday. This special birthday party cake later reemerged in Germany as a Kinderfest or the birthday celebrations of a young child. Germans also baked another special kind of a cake called Geburtstagorten as it was baked in layers. This was sweeter that the coarse and bread like cake that were usually made at that time.
In earlier times, Birthday cakes were mostly round in shape. This was associated to religious beliefs and technical compulsions for the same. Greeks offered round shape cake to the Goddess of Moon – Artemis as it signified moon. They even placed candles on the cake to make the cake glow like the moon.
Some say that a round cake in the ancient world has association with the annual cycles. Round shapes of cakes were preferred as these represented the cyclical nature of life. Most specifically, the sun and moon.
Technical reason given for the roundness of the cake is that most cakes we know off advanced from the bread. In ancient times breads and cakes were made by hand. Typically, these were fashioned into round balls and baked on hearthstones or in low, shallow pans. Hence, these naturally relaxed into round shapes. With the progress of times baking pans of various shapes were developed and today we see cakes in imaginative shapes and sizes.
