Tuesday 11 March 2014

Celebrating with loved ones and birthday cakes

The most special day in the life of an individual has to be his or her birthday. It comes once a year and is eagerly awaited and the individual has a free reign on that day. No wonder birthday celebrations are a grand affair all over the world with gifts, good food and favorite people for company. Birthday cakes have ensured that birthday celebrations are incomplete without them as a well decorated and delicious birthday cake signifies all that birthdays represent, from happiness to celebration. The cutting of birthday cakes has become similar to a holy ritual, with all the invitees joining in glory.
The reason why birthday celebrations remain incomplete without birthday cakes is because the ritual has gone on for long and the cutting of a birthday cake is either preceded or goes along the singing of the song Happy Birthday, which prays for blessings and long health of the concerned person. It is then followed by the birthday boy or girl cutting the cake and feeding pieces from it to her loved ones while slices are handed out to the invitees. This global ritual is not only celebratory in nature but also an inherently happy one and the birthday cake plays a huge role in its fulfillment.
A birthday cake can come in any flavor and is mostly as desired by the birthday boy or girl. Kids generally have a tendency of going for chocolate birthday cakes because their birthday parties involve invitees of their age who are tremendously fond of anything chocolate. The eating of the chocolate toppings and shavings has become a recent tradition before the cake is cut, as a sort of prelims to what could be expected. Other than chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, butterscotch are some of the popular birthday cake flavors which are enjoyed by people at birthday parties.
A recent tradition related to the cutting of a birthday cake is smearing of the cream on the party invitees. A mostly Western tradition, this is largely being followed globally because it is undoubtedly fun when the birthday celebrations become more alive and everything from stuffing cake slices to smearing people with cream become a part of the party. While many consider it to be fun, many other parties are still believers in the old tradition of cutting the cake and feeding it to the loved ones first before the slices are up for others to devour.
A birthday cake is also often prepared at home on many occasions rather than buying it from a confectionary or a bakery. This is a much older tradition and involves mothers or grandmothers who love baking special cakes on family members’ birthdays. The cakes baked are relatively simple but the love and warmth put into it is not something that could be realized by having cakes from bakeries or confectionaries. Several stylized birthday cakes are also baked by bakeries on special requests like those of a football field or a car, to coincide with the special characteristics of the birthday boy or girl.

No comments:

Post a Comment