Few days ago it was my husband’s birthday. As we recently moved to a new military base, faraway from our family and friends, and feeling a little wistful about it, I sought out ways to make the best of the present moment, showing him my love and ever-lasting support.
Therefore, while thinking out loud of the cake recipes that I could bake, I received one sudden advice of “why bother!? just buy him an ice-cream cake, he loves ice-cream, right!?”. Thinking about it, I said to myself “yes, he loves ice-cream…, but… he had it yesterday, too”.
Everybody loves the sweets, but did the cake lose its meaning?
The History:
The word “cake” has a long history.
According to the food historians, the ancient Egyptians were the first culture to show evidence of advanced baking skills. There are numerous artistic representations and loaves of bread that were left behind and discovered in the tombs and burial sites, dating since the Old Kingdom of Egypt, its period spanning c. 2686–2181 BC.
A study carried out by Dr Delwen Samuel, expert in the history of manufacturing the bread, established that the Egyptians might have been as good at baking as they were at building the Giza Pyramids.
Later, the ancient Greeks used flour mixed with eggs, milk, nuts, and honey and made what they called Plakous, the name coming from the word Plakoeis which meant “flat” cake.
During the Roman period, the name of cake derived also from an ancient Greek word, and became “placenta”.
The word is present around the year 8 AD, as well, when the Augustan poet Ovid mentioned the birthday cake in his first book of the exile from Rome, “Tristia”.
Also, there are confirmations that, starting with the 5th century, the Medieval European bakers often made fruitcakes and gingerbread, while the Oxford English Dictionary traces the English word “cake" back to the 13th century.
The Bible has references to the cake as well, with the following few examples: “And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them” (Genesis 18:8 ) or “And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof”(Leviticus 24:5).
The Cake Today:
The Americans have few holidays where the sweets are put at the centre of the celebration, such as Halloween candy, Easter baskets etc, and they even have hundreds of amusement parks dedicated to it, but surprisingly, the U.S.A don't even rank in the world’s top 10 of the candy consumption. Though I have to mention that, unfortunately, they have the highest obesity rate of any developed country, with almost 40% of the adults.
The countries that eat more cake that the U.S.A. include Sweden (Pyramid cake since 1600s), Switzerland (Birnbrot, traditional Christmas cake), France (Creme Brûlée since 17th century), the U.K., The Netherlands and Finland (Runeberg cake).
A 2016 study done by Jordbruksverket, the Swedish Board of Agriculture, and featured in a recent article by the New Yorker, found that Sweden has the highest candy consumption per capita in the world -about 35 ponds per person per year.
That means that the average Swedish person eats more than a half pound of candy every week, the sugar consumption in Sweden being double than what the World Health Organization recommends -25 gr a day.
The Swedish even have a word, “Lördagsgodis”, that literally means “Saturday candy.”
In Amsterdam, around King's Day (previously Queen’s Day, celebrated since 1885), the icing of Tompouce, a traditional Dutch pastry, is coloured bright orange in order to represent true Dutch colours.
It is believed that the dessert is named after a performing dwarf with the stage name of Tom Pouce. It is often served with afternoon tea or coffee, especially at festive events such as birthdays.
Scotland, poetically known as Caledonia, the Latin name given by the Romans, is also known as “the land of cakes” for its world famous oatmeal cakes.
A popular story is that Mary Queen of Scots (16th century) did not like glacé cherries in her cakes, so the Dundee Cake, a famous traditional Scottish dessert, was first made for her, as a fruit cake that used blanched almonds and not cherries. The top of the cake is typically decorated with concentric circles of almonds. Today, it is sold in supermarkets throughout the U.K.
In southern India, the traditional celebration dishes start with sweets, usually “Prasadam”(an offering to the Gods), before the actual meal. The feast is later continued with the same dessert from the beginning, but in a larger portion.
The candy in many Indian traditions signify a good beginning. The expression in Hindi “Muh meetha karo!” literally means “sweeten one’s mouth” (have some sweet!) and is used for delivering good news.
It is also a popular belief that eating the sweet first, prevents gastronomical burns.
In Ecuador, the person whose birthday it is will take a large bite of the birthday cake before it is served. In Peru, guests used to sing "Happy Birthday to You" first in English with the name of the individual whose birthday it is, then in Spanish, later they sing any other song in Spanish regarding cake or date, finally blowing candles and serving the cake.
The Symbolism behind:
As per Live Science, Carey Morewedge of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, together with Michael Norton, from Harvard Business School, few years ago surveyed 149 university students in the United States, India and South Korea. The researchers asked the students to rate different theories about their dreams.
As a result, across all three cultures, a majority of the students endorsed the theory that dreams reveal hidden truths about themselves and the world.
Based on the premise that the dreams might have a translation in the real world, some cultures believe that there is a message behind the candy dreaming, as well.
Even though opinions differ widely, the cakes appearing in dreams are told to be often a positive sign. Because cakes are so often made for other people (rather than for yourself), they can be a sign of the love and compassion for other people.
The dreams of wedding cakes are said to be a sign of a good luck, while the cake temptation being uncontrollable, it may represent weaknesses, too.
Leaving the dream world behind, the contemporary wedding cake has grown out of several different ethnic traditions. One of the first traditions began in Ancient Rome, where a cake of wheat or barley was broken over the bride's head to bring good fortune to the couple.
Even though the wedding cake was originally a luxury item, and a sign of celebration and social status, in the 17th century, two cakes were made, one for the bride and one for the groom. The bigger the cakes, the higher the social standing.
In Victorian times, the white icing was also a symbol of money and social importance, so a white cake was highly desired.
The cake’s tiers represented prosperity and were a status symbol because only wealthy families could afford to include them in the cake.
Each of the three traditional cake’s tiers are told to have its own significance. The tradition has it that the bottom tier is for eating at the ceremony, the middle tier for offering after the event, and the top tier to be saved for later.
The cutting of the cake is a task full of symbolism, as well. For example, in China, the couple begins cutting the cake from the lowest level, and gives the first pieces to their parents and other ancestors, as a symbolic way of honouring their place as the foundation of the family.
Also, the link between cakes and birthday celebrations may date back to ancient Roman times. However, the theory explaining the tradition of placing candles on birthday cakes is attributed to the early Greeks, who used candles to honour the goddess Artemis' birth on the sixth day of every lunar month.
Nowadays, the person whose birthday it is makes a wish, which is thought to come true if all the candles are extinguished in a single breath.
The cake is shared amongst all the guests attending the celebration, representing joy and the sense of togetherness.
…
Growing up in the 80s, I remember how special, rare and deeply appreciated the home-made cake was. The baker was put on a pedestal, just like a magician, the power-holder, the provider of wonders, of heavenly sweets which were prepared in a secret laboratory called “the kitchen”. When I was called to give it a taste, I was the happiest child on earth! You were envied for the privilege to know, before anyone else, how that birthday cake was going to taste like.
And when that long-time waited moment of singing “happy birthday to you” and serving the cake finally came, not only that we were ecstatic about its mouth-watering flavourful and sweet taste, but we knew we were loved. That’s the true meaning of the cake.
This year, I became the baker. My husband got a Tiramisu cake.