The History of Birthday Cake Tradition

Just about everybody loves being presented with a birthday cake and blowing out the candles before digging into the sweet treat. Getting cake delivery in Singapore for your birthday is somehow a tradition that carries on from childhood into adulthood. As for why people put candles on cakes and then insist on blowing them out while making a wish. Well, numerous pieces of history helped give birth to this tradition. 


A birthday cake; a truly wonderful invention that often leaves people with contented smiles and full bellies. Even bad birthday cakes are generally better received than say a black pudding is for your birthday. If it is smothered in icing, if it is dry or moist with a filling or sprinkles and covered in candles, people love it all the same. However, where did the tradition of thebirthday cakes come from?

The importance of cakes in birthdays

It creates a pleasing atmosphere, simply a symbol of happiness and celebration. Birthday cake helps you add a delicious element to your party. The presence of a good cake makes people hang around after parties and events.

It works as an effective tool to appease your beloved. Using cakes for a birthday is to keep the environment lively, and make people wish for a birthday boy or girl on its special day. You have never seen any birthday party going ahead without the usage of a birthday cake.

Choosing a perfect taste for birthday cake helps you please your darling. Birthdays are a special time to enjoy, and kids eagerly waiting for this. With the rise of onlinesame day cake delivery services in Singapore; it is now even more convenient to choose and design a birthday cake without any problem.

Cakes are a cuisine usually associated with affluence and prestige. Giving out a cake as a present is a sign of appreciation and shows the commitment you have towards the recipient of the gift. Cakes are sweet, meticulously prepared, and thoughtful. However, it does not have to break the bank, and you can easily research all cake prices online. To that end, they act as a valuable gift to a loved one especially on occasions such as valentine’s day, graduation, or even career promotion celebrations.

Cakes are used to mark milestones made in someone’s life. For instance, birthday cakes are used to indicate the beginning of a new year in someone’s life. Wedding cakes indicate the beginning of a marriage, graduation cakes denote a new milestone in the education space, while baby shower cakes show the beginning of a new life as a parent.

The history of cakes

It is not entirely clear but there are several theories that it comes from a variety of different cultures and religions, eventually culminating into the sweet treat we know and love today. 

Originally birthday cakes and celebrations were reserved only for the rich and privileged, however, nowadays it is a far more commonplace experience. Almost everyone can enjoy a birthday cake delivery in Singapore when you want. You’d be hard-pressed to find people who don’t eat cake on birthdays!

In classical Roman culture, flat rounds of flour, nuts, yeast and sweet honey were made and served at weddings and birthdays in Ancient Greece.

The Greeks might have invented birthday cakes

Historians believe that the ancient Greeks placed candles upon honey cakes to honour Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the moon, and the glow of the candles were representative of moonlight. It would be the ancient Romans who would first come up with the idea of celebrating a person’s date of birth with a cake, sans candles, though. As for what ushered the birthday cake people know and love into the modern age, that’s all a result of the Industrial Revolution making baked cakes a thing that could be enjoyed by all and not only the wealthy. Couple this with the numerous cultures around the world that believe smoke can bring prayers up to heaven, and it’s easy to see why the masses blow out candles and make a birthday wish each year.

There is a science in cakes too

Some psychologists even believe that people perceive their birthday cake to taste better after blowing out the candles. It’s the ritualistic process of blowing out their birthday candles and putting their focus in the moment that is believed to trick their brains into thinking that piece of birthday cake tastes extra special.

Now that you know how the tradition of putting candles on your birthday cake took shape, let’s address the elephant in the room. Did you know that blowing out the candles on a birthday cake can increase the bacteria on the frosting? Some people blow on the cake and they don’t transfer any bacteria. It is a tradition but right now, during this time of a pandemic. You would want to skip it this year, just to be safe.

 Cake blowing tradition

Some scholars believe that other meanings have also been attached to the use of candles on cakes. People may have believed that the smoke from the candles carried their wishes and prayers to gods who lived in the skies. Others probably believed the smoke helped to ward off evil spirits. Today, people still put birthday candles on cakes. Many people still hold superstitious beliefs about them, too.

For example, many people believe that the birthday boy or girl must make a silent wish before blowing out the candles. If all the candles are blown out in one breath, the wish will come true, and the person will have good luck throughout the year. On the other hand, if it takes more than one breath to blow out all the candles or if the person tells someone what the wish was, it will supposedly not come true.

 If you are looking for a cake shop to deliver cakes for your birthday, try Bellton Patisserie in Singapore. Visit our website here and let us make your special day more extra!