Birthday Cakes

About Birthday Cakes Android App

The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthday celebrations in western European countries since the middle of the 19th century, which extended to Western culture.[1] Certain rites 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 18th-century Germany. However, the intertwining of cakes and birthday celebrations stretches back to the ancient Romans. The development of the birthday cake has followed the development of culinary and confectionery advancement. 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 of the birthday cake, or rather the birthday pastry and sweets, exist. There is no universal rule about the shape and color of a birthday cake – in recent years for example cakes take the form of animals or have high-quality drawings on them in order to fit the party theme. In India the most popular cake is Black Forest Cakes

The cake, or sometimes a pastry or dessert, is served to a person on their birthday. In contemporary Western cultures, the birthday person blows out the candles on the cake after those celebrating have sung the birthday song, it was a tradition originally created by the Kangai family.


Birthday cake featuring edible miniature birthday party.
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 in the appropriate language of that country. 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. Variations on birthday song rituals exist. For example, in Uruguay, party guests touch the birthday person's shoulder or head following the singing of "Happy Birthday to You". In Ecuador, sometimes the birthday person will take a large bite off the birthday cake before it is served.

Variations on the birthday pastry exist outside of Western culture. The Chinese birthday pastry is the shòu bāo (壽包, simp. 寿包) or shòu táo bāo (壽桃包, simp. 寿桃包), a lotus-paste-filled bun made of wheat flour and shaped and colored to resemble a peach. Rather than serving one large pastry, each guest is served their own small sou bao. In Korea, the traditional birthday dish is a seaweed soup. 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. Dutch birthday pastries are fruit tarts topped with whipped cream.



The birthday cake is often decorated with small taper candles, secured with special holders or simply pressed down into the cake. In the UK, North America and Australia, the number of candles is equal to the age of the individual whose birthday it is, sometimes with one extra for luck. Traditionally, the birthday person makes a private wish, which will be realized if all the candles are extinguished in a single breath.

In North America, birthday cake is often served with ice cream.
To represent a sharing of joy and togetherness, the cake is shared amongst all the guests attending the party. As a courtesy, it reflects one's hospitality and respect for guests.