Here's Why People Celebrate Birthdays With Cake

For some folks, observing a birthday becomes less fun with age, but there is always the draw of a few gifts and a frosting-laden birthday cake to get them on board with the celebration. Yet, this wasn't always the case. Just as with eggs and chocolate bunnies being popular treats on Easter, eating cake on one's birthday has historical origins that have evolved quite a lot over time.

It all started with the ancient Egyptians, who would celebrate the crowning of a new pharaoh as the birth of a new god — but while this was a birthday of sort, there was no cake yet. Meanwhile, ancient Greeks would present offerings to Artemis, the goddess of the moon and the hunt, but someone eventually thought the ritual could be enhanced with something sweet. Worshippers would reportedly bake cakes shaped like the moon and light candles on top to mimic its illumination. The smoke from the candles was just as important as the light they emanated, as it was thought to deliver a person's desires to the gods themselves.

By the time of the Romans, folks were celebrating individuals' birthdays with dessert ... well, so long as they were considered important people. A nutty cake sweetened with honey was presented to prominent men turning 50 years old, commemorating that milestone. A step in the right direction to be sure, but these confections were still a far cry from the upgraded chocolate cakes and other elevated variations of birthday cake we know and love today.

Although they weren't presenting gifts quite yet, the Germans began celebrating children's birthdays with cake somewhere around the 18th century with the introduction of "Kinderfeste." A cake was baked and topped with a number of candles that signified the child's age, plus one. The additional candle, or the "light of life" as it was known, symbolized the life to be experienced through the next year.

However, the candles didn't get blown out right away as we generally see today. They burned from morning until night, with burnt out candles continuously swapped for fresh ones throughout the day. After an agonizing day of staring at a tempting cake that wasn't to be touched, the child would blow the flames out as they made a wish — which, in a familiar turn, would only come true if they kept their desire a secret.

Still, birthday cakes were considered a rare delicacy for years. That all changed with the rise of the Industrial Revolution. As commodities became more affordable, making birthday cakes became a common occurrence. Bakeries began commercializing the confections and advertising them for other celebrations throughout the year. Eventually, making a cake for someone's birthday became an almost mandatory tradition as people of all ages, genders, and social stations became a year older. Folks today can have seemingly any variation they wish for their birthday, from pink or red velvet cakes to a spiced carrot cake, but they all stem from birthday celebrations long past and the people innovative enough to create something sweet for someone's big day.