Red velvet, Victoria Sponge, chocolate gateau – we’ve all got our favourite birthday cake! And, when the big day comes around, we all love blowing out the celebratory candles (and then blowing them out again after the first attempt fails…) But where did this beloved tradition of putting candles on birthday cakes come from? The answer may surprise you!
The modern birthday cake seems to have dated back to 16th Century Germany. Bakers expanded beyond weddings to cater for birthdays. However, connections between birthdays and candles are traced back even further than this. And no, the tradition wasn’t started by a pyromaniac caveman!
Experts believe that Ancient Greeks used to honour the birth of the goddess Artemis with candlelit cakes every month. Supposedly, the candles represented the moon’s glow, while the smoke carried their prayers up to the Gods. Maybe that’s why we make our silent wishes before blowing!
We have linked superstition with birthday candles throughout history. In the late 19th Century, some Swiss communities made it a requirement for each person to blow out their own candles individually, with each candle symbolizing one year of life. We may still correlate candles and age, but cakes are just too tasty to waste time blowing them out one-by-one.
People also used to believe that birthday candles helped protect against evil spirits – spooky! Adults in 18th Century Germany supposedly protected children from evil entities during the Kinderfest celebration. The children receive cake in the morning, and the candles burn all day long, being replaced regularly by family members. The rule was no cake until after dinner – some things never change!
So, celebratory candles have grown from some pretty mystical and spooky origins – but nowadays candles just protect against that evil friend who tries to steal one of the decorations on-top! Anyway, all this talk of cake is making me hungry…
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What sort of birthday cake do ghosts prefer? An “I scream” cake
