Birthdays, like all celebrations, are some of the most beautiful memories of our lives. A birthday only comes once a year and it is an event that is part of human nature. To make it a memorable event, one classic must not be missing: the birthday cake.
Birthday cakes bring color and flavor to celebrations and are familiar to people of different cultures, ages, and lifestyles. Whose idea was the birthday cake and where are the roots of this little custom? Let’s take a look at the fascinating birth of the birthday cake.
Birthday cakes first appeared in the history of ancient Greece. In early Greece, as part of birthday celebrations, gingerbread was prepared with honey, and bread was baked for a special meal. In addition, the history of Roman culture shows that there are three different ways to celebrate birthdays. These are private parties, celebrated at home with family and friends, parties similar to carnivals and urban birthdays, and events like those in ancient Greece, where royal and imperial birthdays were celebrated by baking honey cakes and bread in honor of current and past monarchs and emperors.
It was not until the Middle Ages that the festive cake became commonplace. Sweetbread with the typical flour recipe we know today was a necessity, and on Christmas Day, bread in the shape of the baby Jesus was prepared to celebrate his birthday. This became the basis for the modern birthday cake, which is used today for birthday parties. Visit also: Tasty Cakes For Birthday
And so the birthday cake developed in England, where precious, molded objects were prepared to go with the cake. In the middle Ages, silver or thimbles were mixed into the cake preparation as a special recipe for birthdays. The reason for this was the belief, which was widespread at the time, that you would become rich if you found silver, and that you were a virgin if you found a thimble. This custom still exists today, with cakes decorated with sweets and garnished with coins.
It is also common to light a candle on the birthday cake for a variety of reasons, from the simple pleasure of blowing out the flame to the occasion of expressing a wish or praying to God, to a prop, or simply to celebrate the length of one’s life.
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