Birthdays and Cake

Birthdays!  Every year in August we celebrate at least 10 birthdays. Between our two families there are a LOT of birthdays! In fact, my father and I share the same birthdate!

It used to be that we would simply have a big birthday cake and try to squeeze all the names on it and have a fish-fry (usually walleye) and boil corn, and include veggies and fruit too. But the last few years that has gone by the way-side. People have gotten older and kids have their own families and festivities. But those old fish-fry birthday parties will never be forgotten.

Ever wonder where the birthday cake idea came from?  I did and this is what I discovered courtesy of What's Cooking America:

Some historians think that the custom of the birthday cake was observed in ancient Greece, and they report that the birthday cake began with the Greeks who used to make honey cakes or bread. Ancient Romans celebrated three different types of birthdays: Private celebrations among family and friends, the birthdays of cities and temples, and the birthdays of past and present emperors or members of the imperial family. The 50th year was celebrated with a honey cake made of wheat flour, grated cheese, honey, and olive oil.

Others contend that the Birthday Cake tradition was started in Germany in the Middle Ages where a sweetened bread dough was made in the shape of the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes and were used to commemorate his birthday.  The Birthday Cake later re-emerged in Germany as a kinder-fest, or a birthday celebration for a young child.

In England, birthday cakes are baked with symbolic objects inside. In medieval times, objects such as coins and thimbles were mixed into the batter. People believed that the person who got the coin would be wealthy, while the unlucky finder of the thimble would never marry. Today, small figures, fake coins and small candies are more common.

Birthday candles originally were placed on cakes to bring birthday wishes up to God. In ancient times, people prayed over the flames of an open fire. They believed that the smoke carried their thoughts up to the gods. Today, we believe, that if you blow out all your candles in one breath, your wish will come true.  [author, Linda Stradley, and the web site What's Cooking America]