The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthday celebrations in Western cultures since the middle of the 19th century. Birthday is the name given to the date of the anniversary of a person's birth Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Certain rituals and traditions, such as singing of birthday songs, associated with birthday cakes are common to many Western cultures. The Western tradition of adding lit candles to the top of a birthday cake originates in 18^th century Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. However, the intertwining of cakes and birthday celebrations stretch back to the Ancient Romans. Cake is a form of Food that is usually sweet and often baked. The development of the birthday cake has followed the development of culinary and confectionery technology. As this technology improved, decorations gained importance and the appearance of birthday cakes became as important as its taste. ^[1] While throughout most of Western history, these elaborate cakes in general were the privilege of the wealthy, birthday cakes are nowadays common to most Western birthday celebrations. Around the world many variations on the birthday cake, or rather the birthday pastry or sweets, exist.

Contents 1 History 2 Contemporary rituals and traditions 3 Candles 4 Birthday pastry cultural variations 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References

History

During Roman times, 'cakes' were served at special birthdays. However, these cakes did not resemble contemporary cakes in the least. They were simply flat rounds made with flour containing nuts, leavened with yeast, and sweetened with honey. In early Europe, the words for cake and bread were virtually interchangeable; the only differene being that cakes were sweet while bread was not. ^[2][3]

As more ingredients, such as sugar, became available, culinary utensils improved and techniques such as leavening with egg whites developed, cakes became more and more elaborate. A leavening agent (sometimes called just leavening or leaven) is a substance used in Doughs and batters that causes a foaming action intended Overtime, the discipline of confectionery developed and by the 15th century, cakes became ornate, multi-layer showpieces decorated with marzipan and sugar sculptures; the appearance of a cake was just as important as its flavour. However, these elaborate cakes, which possessed many aspects of contemporary cakes (such as layers and decorations), were only available to the very wealthy. In modern times, with the wide availability of materials, cookbooks and utensils such as electric beaters, professionals are no longer required to produce elaborate birthday cakes. Today birthday cakes are not only served to celebrate human birthdays, but also to commemorate important anniversaries, such as a country's birthday. The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the Nationhood of a Nation or non-sovereign Country.

The contemporary commercially produced North American birthday cake is usually a multi-layer affair, each layer separated with various fillings, usually covered with icing. A birthday greeting is often added to the top of the cake. The variations on the birthday cake are enormous; cakes can be chemically leavened, or leavened with beaten egg whites; they can be round or rectangular - in short, there is no common form.

Contemporary rituals and traditions

The cake, or sometimes a pastry or dessert, is served to a person on his or her birthday. This article describes Pastry in food For the Distributed Hash Table system see Pastry_(DHT. Dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal usually consisting of sweet Food but sometimes of a strongly-flavored one such as some Cheeses The In North America, the birthday person is traditionally the first served, though this tradition is left to the discretion of the host and is not an invariable norm^[4]. In contemporary Western cultures, two rituals are prominent: the singing of the traditional birthday song and the blowing out of candles decorating the cake by the birthday person.

The service of a birthday cake is often preceded by the singing of Happy Birthday to You in English speaking countries, or an equivalent birthday song. " Happy Birthday to You " also known more simply as " Happy Birthday " is a traditional song that is sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's This list of birthday songs contains songs which are the equivalent of Happy Birthday To You, belted out every day in a restaurants and homes around the globe on Birthday In fact, the phrase "Happy Birthday" did not appear on birthday cakes until the song Happy Birthday to You was popularized in the early 1900s. ^[5] Variations on birthday song rituals exist. For example, in New Zealand, the Happy Birthday to You is sung out of tune and is followed by clapping, once for each year of the persons life and once more for good luck. In Uruguay, party guests touch the birthday person's shoulder or head following the singing of Happy Birthday to You. ^[6]

The birthday cake is often decorated with taper candles which are secured with special holders^[7]. Cake decorating is one of the sugar arts that uses icing and other edible decorative elements to make otherwise plain cakes more visually interesting A candle is a Light source and sometimes a Heat source consisting of a solid block of Fuel and an embedded wick. In North America, the number of candles is equal to the age of the individual whose birthday it is. Traditionally the birthday person makes a private wish, which will be realized if all the candles are extinguished in a single breath. The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem acc of traditio which means "a giving up delivering up surrendering" and is used in a number of A wish is a hope or desire for something Fictionally wishes can be used as Plot devices In folklore opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come

In medieval England, tokens, such as coins and thimbles, were baked inside the birthday cake, a tradition which persists today with the Christmas pudding. Christmas pudding is the dessert traditionally served on Christmas day although still available and popular throughout the year in Britain Receiving a coin in one's slice predicted future wealth while it was believed that those receiving a thimble would never wed. ^[8]

Candles

Though the the exact origin and significance of the candle blowing ritual is unknown, the history of placing candles on top of the cake is well documented. This tradition can be traced to Kinderfest (kinder is the German word for 'child'), a 18^th century German birthday celebration for children. A letter written in 1799 by Goethe recounts: ". ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer . . when it was time for dessert, the prince's entire livery. . . carried a generous-size torte with colorful flaming candles - amounting to some fifty candles - that began to melt and threatened to burn down, instead of there being enough room for candles indicating upcoming years, as is the case with children's festivities of this kind. . . "^[9]. As the excerpt indicates, the tradition at the time was to place candles for each of the individual's life with some added candles 'indicating upcoming years'. Candles, being slow-burning, are believed to be symbolic of the passage of time. In fact, they were often used as timekeepers. A candle is a Light source and sometimes a Heat source consisting of a solid block of Fuel and an embedded wick. The origin of birthday cake candles can be further traced back to the 16^th century German tradition of placing tapers on Christmas trees. ^[10] This tradition was brought to North America by German immigrants. By 1927, the Sears Roebuck catalogue offered birthday candles and holders for sale ^[11]. Sears Roebuck and Company, commonly known as Sears, is an American mid-range chain of International Department stores founded by Richard

For special birthdays and for when the number of candles might be considered impractical or a fire hazard, special candles are substituted for the many individual candles in the shape of a numeral. Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. Risk is a Concept that denotes the precise probability of specific eventualities For example, on the fifth birthday, there may be one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral five, and on the fiftieth birthday there may be two candles on the cake, one in the shape of the numeral five followed by the other in the shape of the number zero.

Birthday pastry cultural variations

Variations on the birthday pastry exist outside of Western culture. The Chinese birthday pastry is sou bao (壽包), a lotus-paste-filled bun made of rice flour which is shaped and coloured to resemble peaches. Rather than a single large, sou bao, each guest is served one. In Western Russia, birthday children are served fruit pies with a birthday greetings carved into the crusts. The Swedish birthday cake is made like a pound cake and is often topped with marzipan and decorated with the national flag. While birthday cakes are traditional in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, fairy bread, buttered bread covered with sprinkles, is commonly served at childrens' birthday parties. Fairy bread is sliced Bread (usually white spread with margarine or butter and covered with hundreds and thousands. A popular Dutch birthday pastry are fruit tarts (taarties) topped with whipped cream The Mexican birthday tradition involves a pinata, a coloured brittle containers object filled with sweets. A piñata is a brightly-colored paper container filled with candy and/or toys ^[12][13].

See also

• Wedding Cake

Notes

References

Smith, Andrew, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America'', pp. p. 98-99, ISBN 0-19-515437-1 

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