The History of Birthday Cakes: From Tradition to Modern Trends

Introduction

Cutting a big, beautiful-looking cake is a trend itself these days, which has gone beyond the boundaries across the world. Now, for every birthday event, be it a small one or a large one, a cake is a given. Without blowing off all the candles over the cake, a birthday doesn't feel like a birthday. Cutting cakes on birthdays has become an unofficial ritual that can be seen anywhere in the world. Celebrating the day, you were born, is incomplete without a cake now.

Background

Celebrating and rejoicing an individual's birthday is not something new. It has been going on since ancient times. So, not only the modern-day celebrities celebrate their birthdays in a lavish way, but emperors and perhaps their empresses also used to celebrate birthdays. So, during the times of these emperors, one may have suddenly thought on a day that how can we make the birthday of our beloved emperor grander? When looking into the history of birthday cakes, it is commonly heard that ancient bakeries considered a sweet taste to be a symbol of celebrating any occasion. Keeping that sweetness in mind came the cakes. Of course, there weren't many types before. But, with changes in social, historical, and definitely technological elements, we see a variety of extraordinarily designed cakes now. So, after the invention of cakes, it slowly turned out as a custom in several cultures across the world.

There is this untold notion behind birthday cakes, which is that birthday cakes make everyone happy, and increase the joyous feeling among all members in a birthday function. A simple scientific fact that we would like to inform you is that the sweet taste induces a specific hormone called dopamine, which is regarded as an element behind our happy feelings. So, cakes equal to more happiness. But how did this tradition come and from where? Was it from the very beginning of the time when cakes were invented? And finally, how did we reach to the modern birthday cake trends? To know the answers to all of these questions, we should first get to know about the history behind the emergence of birthday cakes and then dive into the exploration of its evolution over many centuries.

The Root of the Birthday Cake Custom

One thing is for sure birthday cakes, from their modest emergence to current intricate creations, have remained a unique representation of joy, family get-togethers, and personal ambitions. The notion of rejoicing on a birthday has been tracked back to the early centuries. Historians have revealed that offering cakes was once a religious custom in ancient Greece. People used to dedicate these cakes to different gods and goddesses. Essentially, these cakes were round in shape, simple, and seldom crafted by using grains and honey. The use of such elements represented the human life cycle, while the round shape indicated the moon or sun. But, over centuries, this practice has evolved and people started using and cutting cakes on their birthday. From celebrating gods and goddesses, we evolved to celebrating our own birthdays with cakes.

Looking at the history of Rome provides us with a different story. Rome is also considered a place where the origin of cakes can also be found. However, the use of cakes was not limited to rejoicing the birth occasion of any renowned figure or gods, the general public also used to organize birthday ceremonies with cakes. Romans were the ones, who started to use dry fruits as a crucial ingredient of cakes in those times. However, they were not as decorative as they are now.

How Europe Played a Significant Role Behind the Cake’s Evolution

There are many pages of history behind the modern-day cakes. It is often acknowledged that the shape and look of cakes like in the modern day was first seen in Germany. The country that gave us perhaps one of the deadliest dictators was also the inventor of modern-day birthday cakes. The bakeries in Germany began to make cakes in the late seventeenth century, which look a lot like the cakes we see now. Initially, they started making these birthday cakes for children, which were popular under the name of "Kinderfest". People celebrated their children's birthdays during those days with a cake and often decorated them with candles to denote the age of the children. This habit is still prevalent across the world.

We now even get candles shaped in specific numbers to denote the ages of the person whose birthday is being rejoiced. Another interesting fact about this evolution is that the early birthday cakes were not as smooth and fluffy as they are now. This was because the ovens that bake cakes were not yet created. It impacted the uniformity of the cakes’ shapes. Nevertheless, technological advancements in different centuries due to the Industrial Revolution slowly made birthday cakes more accessible to the social class. The cakes became cheaper as new affordable ingredients for making cakes were invented.

The Rise of Contemporary Birthday Cake Culture

When we entered the nineteenth century, the world was grappling with colonization. During this century, birthday cakes turned out to be a mandatory custom in Western countries. The colonization of Western countries during this time further strengthened the dispersion of this notion in other parts of the world. Besides, progressions in the baking mechanism also facilitated the easy and frequent availability of birthday cakes. Bakers started using novel and more affordable ingredients, which made the prices of cakes go down to a level, where all classes in a society could afford one to celebrate the birthday of a loved one.

On the other hand, it would be foolish to overlook the commercialization factor of cakes. Bakeries, which were once a Western concept, were gradually adopted by many countries throughout the world. So, this worldwide dispersion of bakeries and individual cake-making services helped the path of birthday cakes' commercialization. Then, in the late twentieth century, creativity found its way into the world of cakes, thanks to the uncountable unique cake designs we see today.

Final thoughts

From ancient times to the present day, the evolution of birthday cakes has been a joyous journey. With more technological progressions to arrive in upcoming years, we can expect to see many more evolvements in birthday cakes. Making someone happy on their birthday with a cake will always matter, a great gesture showing love.