Why do we eat cake on birthdays?

The short answer

We eat cake on birthdays because the tradition is deeply rooted in Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and German history. The practice of celebrating birthdays with a cake became far more accessible to common people thanks to key innovations during the Industrial Revolution.

The long answer

First, let's define a birthday cake.

There's a few key elements that make up a birthday cake, all of which have slightly different origins:

• The cake is for celebrating a special day.

• It has candles placed on top.

• It is made on annually recurring birthdays.

As it turns out, each of these birthday cake characteristics have historical ties, some dating back into ancient societies.

🥳 Who celebrated the first birthday?

"Coronation of Pharaoh Ptolemy IX - Kom Ombo Temple" by Fanny Schertzer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The ancient Egyptians are credited with being the first to celebrate birthdays. Many scholars believe the first reference of a birthday celebration is found in the Bible's Book of Genesis:

“And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants.”

— Genesis 40:20

But this wasn't any ordinary birthday — Egyptologists believe that this reference is about celebrating the Pharaoh's coronation day, or his "birth" day as a god. Definitely worthy of a birthday party!

These birthdays were most likely not celebrated annually. Not only are coronations of pharaohs more of a one-and-done type of event, but they likely didn't have the calendars in order to track a specific date over a year. While the Egyptians are credited with creating one of the first calendars, this Bible passage likely predates the first calendar.

🕯️ Who started putting candles on cake?

The next time you're blowing out candles on your birthday cake, think of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon, the hunt, and childbirth.

"Artemis - Greek goddess of the Hunt" is part of the public domain.

Ancient Greeks would visit temples and light candles in order to pay tribute to the gods. In hopes of a safe pregnancy and childbirth, women would pay tribute to Artemis by making round honey and sesame seed cakes and lighting them with candles.

It's thought that the round cake and candles symbolized the moon and its light. In Greek Orthodox faith, ​smoke rising from a candle​ also symbolizes one's prayers rising to heaven.

📅 Who first celebrated the birthdays of regular people with cake?

"A Roman Feast" by Roberto Bompiani is part of the public domain.

Ancient Romans are thought to be the first to celebrate the birthdays of ordinary, non-godlike people. Well, specifically, they put on birthday parties for Roman men who turned 50.

These quinquagenarians (​yes, this is a real word​) were celebrated amongst family and friends with a special cake baked with wheat flour, nuts, yeast, and honey.

Women's birthdays were not celebrated anywhere until about the 12th century (boo...).

🎂 Where did a birthday cake lit with candles come from?

So from the Egyptians we got a Pharaoh's "birthday", from the Greeks we have lighting candles on cakes, and from the Romans the idea of celebrating birthdays of non-gods.

But the first ones to put all these elements together, giving us a birthday party with cake and candles, were the Germans with the celebration of Kinderfest ("child's festival").

Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus is part of the public domain.

In the 15th century, Germans believed that children were more susceptible to demons and evil spirits on their birthday. During Kinderfest, they would light candles for each year of the child's age, plus one as a wish for another year of good health, and place them on the cake.

Despite being presented with their birthday cake in the morning, these German kids would have to wait until after dinner to blow out the candles and chow down. Just like modern times, the child would make a wish before blowing out the candles.

🏭 How did the birthday cake tradition become accessible to all?

For most of history, birthday cake (or any cake for that matter) was a delicacy reserved for wealthy people. The Industrial Revolution helped bring cake to the masses, with two important innovations: sugar production and baking powder.

Sugar: In 1843, Norbert Rillieux developed the Sugar Evaporation System. This process captured the steam produced from boiling cane juice to use it as a heat source to boil another batch of cane juice. The result was using far less energy to boil down cane juice into sugar crystals, lowering the cost of sugar.

Baking powder: In the 1800s, a British chemist named Alfred Bird had a problem. His wife Elizabeth was allergic to yeast, which was the primary leavening agent for bakers. Bird combined tartaric acid, cornstarch, and sodium bicarbonate to create baking powder. Using baking powder, bakers could make cakes that were higher, lighter, and faster to make than ones using yeast.

Thanks to these innovations with sugar and baking powder, the price of cake dropped so that more could enjoy their birthday with a candle-adorned cake.

Or in the case of Aberdeen, Washington (see below), the whole town got to enjoy the town's birthday with a 5-layer cake!

Aberdeen's 41st birthday cake and bakers being transported on a truck, Aberdeen, Washington, ca 1925 is part of the public domain.

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Sources

American Chemical Society. (2002, April 18). Norbert Rillieux and the Multiple Effect Evaporator. American Chemical Society. https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/norbertrillieux.html

Fincher, M. (2021, August 27). Why Do We Eat Birthday Cake?. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/article/history-of-birthday-cake/

Hagan, E. (2022, March). The Sweet History of Birthday Cakes. The Sugar Association. https://www.sugar.org/blog/the-sweet-history-of-birthday-cakes/

Koutmos, C. (2023, January 12). Why Do We Eat Cake on Our Birthdays? Why Not Something Better Like Brownies?. Carol the Cook. https://carolthecook.com/why-do-we-eat-cake-on-our-birthdays-why-not-something-better-like-brownies/

Trivedi, R. (2020, April 16). Why Do We Eat Cake On Birthdays?. ScienceABC. https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-do-we-eat-cake-on-birthdays.html