How did cake become a birthday tradition?

The birthday tradition dates back to the ancient Egyptians, who believed that when pharaohs were crowned, they became gods. So their coronation day was their ‘birth’ day. (Sounds like a sweet gig until you find out there’s no desert desserts.) It was the Ancient Greeks who adopted this tradition and added cake.

How did the tradition of birthday begin?

Birthdays first started as a form of protection. It is assumed that the Greeks adopted the Egyptian tradition of celebrating the “birth” of a god. They, like many other pagan cultures, thought that days of major change, such as these “birth” days, welcomed evil spirits.

What is the reason behind cake cutting?

02/4​Tradition of cutting cake During the 15th century AD, the German bakeries introduced single-layered cakes for birthday celebrations in the market. This banished the myth that a cake can only be cut at weddings and led to the creation of the tradition of cutting a cake on birthdays.

Who started the birthday cake tradition?

It is believed that the first actual birthday cake was made in Germany in the Middle Ages. The Germans would celebrate children’s birthdays with cake, calling the celebration Kinderfest. Cakes originally were a coarse, bread-like product, and later became a much sweeter version, called Geburtstagorten.

When did people start eating birthday cakes?

History of the birthday cake Germany introduced a birthday cake during the 15th century at the festival Kinderfest, which was a celebration of children’s birthdays. The cakes during this time were bread-like and very coarse. Sweeter cakes did not come about in this area until much later.

Why do we celebrate birthdays?

Why do we celebrate birthdays? The idea of celebrating the date of your birth is a pagan tradition. Pagans thought that evil spirits lurked on days of major changes, like the day you turn a year older. The ancient Greeks believed that each person had a spirit that attended his or her birth, and kept watch.

When did birthday cakes become a thing?

Why do we celebrate birthday?

Why is cake birthday food?

That was their “birth” as a god. Ancient Greeks borrowed the tradition but rightfully realized that a dessert would make the celebration all the more meaningful. So they baked moon-shaped cakes to offer up to Artemis, goddess of the moon, as a tribute. Hence, the reason we light our birthday cakes on fire.

When was the first birthday celebrated?

3000 B.C.
Referring to the Bible, the first birthday is believed to be celebrated somewhere around 3000 B.C. in ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs, who were crowned in ancient Egypt were believed to be transformed into Gods and their birthdays was the first to be celebrated ever in the history.

Do you cut a cake on your birthday?

The candles, lights, balloons, birthday gifts and wishes from your near and dear ones that make you feel like you are on cloud nine. But there is one more indispensable part of any birthday, the Cake. I am sure that even if you do not do anything special, you definitely cut a cake because a birthday without a cake is so incomplete.

What is the history of the birthday cake?

The History of the Birthday Cake. Cultures have been creating celebratory ‘cakes’ (the term cake and bread were often interchangeable) for thousands of years. However, cakes, specifically for birthdays, similar to what we enjoy today, are believed to have originated in Germany in the 1400’s.

How did the Industrial Revolution change the birthday cake industry?

The industrial revolution helped to spread birthday cakes to the public as the advancement and proliferation of technology and materials made them cheaper and more easily produced.

Why do we blow out candles on birthday cakes?

There are multiple theories which try to explain the origin and significance of the ritual of blowing the candles. According to the Greek origin story, there is one theory that explains the tradition of placing the candles on the birthday cake is connected to the ancient Greeks.