birthday cake
The birthday cake has been an integral part of children's birthdays in Western culture since the middle of the 19th century .
Today the birthday cake is mainly used as a bowl, shaped and pot cake or as a cake throughout Germany. In Thuringia it is also known as ash cake and in southern Germany as Gugelhupf . Often it is a completely normal cake (for example strawberry cake), which could also be given for other celebrations, but there are also specially decorated birthday cakes that have a candle in the middle. In the Anglo-American culture in particular, there are lavishly prepared cakes that are decorated with the child's name, for example, or with as many candles as the birthday child turns years old. After the birthday cake has been handed over to the birthday child, the burning candles are blown out all at once. That should bring luck. Such cakes are not widespread in Germany, but are often viewed as “typical birthday cakes”. A birthday cake is not necessarily available everywhere: Especially at larger parties, smaller cakes are also used instead of the large cake, e.g. B. muffins , or nothing sweet at all.
