Birthday Cakes

A History of Birthday Cakes

According to What's Cooking America, the tradition of having birthday cakes may have started in ancient Greece, where honey cakes or sweet bread might have been used to celebrate the passing of another year.

Others say the tradition began in Germany in the middle ages, and that the first birthday cake was a sweetened bread used to mark the birthday of Jesus (also known as Christmas).

In England, symbolic objects were baked into the cake. Getting the piece with a coin in it would mean you were going to be wealthy, while the unlucky person who got a thimble would never marry. This tradition lives today with the King Cake baked for Mardi Gras.

Apparently the first somewhat modern cakes were made in Europe around the mid-17th century, when bakers began to have reliable access to good ovens and refined sugar. These were the first round cakes with icing, but they were still made with yeast. When baking powder came on the scene in the 19th century, the cake as we know it today was born.

Back then, cakes were saved for special occasions like weddings, because the ingredients were expensive. But the Industrial Revolution brought cheaper ingredients to home cooks everywhere, as well as better methods for baking, and thus the birthday cake became a common celebratory delight that spread throughout the world.

The Basics of Birthday Cakes

Birthday cakes are usually much simpler in terms of ingredients, preparation time and decoration that that other special occasion cake—the wedding cake. While few people would choose to attempt making a wedding cake at home, it's common practice for birthday cakes to be made and decorated by the home cook. There are many recipes that allow the average person to make simple but delicious cakes, or try their hands at something more elaborate.

Many people also use purchased cake mixes to make birthday cakes; while baking enthusiasts tend to shun mixes as not really baking, they are useful for people who don't have a lot of time to bake but still want to make something "homemade" or save the expense of buying a birthday cake. Cake mixes, like many other convenience foods, have improved in quality greatly in the last few years, and you can always dress up a store-bought cake mix by adding nuts, cutting the cake in half and adding a layer of jam, or any other way you like.

Store-bought cakes are also popular for birthday cakes, and with bakeries in most large grocery stores these days, you can find cute birthday cakes that aren't that expensive. Of course, if you want to go all-out for a very special birthday celebration, the same bakers who make wedding cakes also make birthday cakes, which are made with the same recipes but are smaller and less elaborately decorated.

Choosing a Birthday Cake

If you decide to go the route of buying a birthday cake, you'll have to make a few decisions. Would you like white cake, chocolate cake, or some other variety? A multi-layered cake? A cake with filling? What flavor of filling? What kind of icing (buttercream is standard, but there are many choices if you go to a baker)? What shape? What kind of decoration or writing would you like?

If you're doing your shopping at the last minute, you can always buy an already prepared birthday cake off the shelf. Then your main concern will be whether the cake will feed all the people you've invited to the party. You can get the bakery attendant to write on the cake for you if you like, or you can do it yourself.

If you're ordering a cake in advance, you'll find that you have a lot of options and are mostly limited by your imagination and your budget. If you want a birthday cake in the shape of the mascot of the birthday boy's favorite team, you can do that. Think about the theme of your party, the guest of honor's personality, hobbies, job, favorite color or other things he or she is passionate about that could be used as a theme for the cake.

Most bakeries can accommodate a birthday cake order with only a few days' notice, but if it is a very busy cake season (like June, when a lot of people are getting married) call two weeks in advance to see what the baker's schedule is like. It certainly doesn't hurt to get your order in early, no matter what time of year it is.

Birthday Cakes Online

If you aren't going to be near your loved one or friend on his or her birthday but would still like to send along some birthday fun, there are now many places on the Internet where you can buy birthday cakes (or cakes for other occasions) and have them shipped to your birthday person.

Shipping usually must be done overnight, and of course, great care must be taken with the package to ensure the cake arrives in one piece. It might be a better idea to send cupcakes or another small sweet treat that can be shipped a little more easily.

Still, if you'd like to go the online cake route, here are some companies to check out:

• Cakes Across America
• Wire a Cake
• Bake Me a Wish

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