It is commonplace in the US to celebrate our birthday with a beautiful and tasty birthday cake. Although the Greeks were the first to use cakes to celebrate birthdays, they were commonly used to celebrate the birthdays of gods and
goddesses.

And the inclusion of candles on a birthday cake is also of Greek origin as the cake to celebrate the birthday of the Greek moon god Artemis was topped with lit candles.

In the middle ages, the English would conceal symbolic items inside the cake. Each item was a prediction for the finder’s future.

Usually items such as gold coins, rings and thimbles were baked into the cake. The birthday cake made its way to Western culture in the mid 19th century and has been an important part of birthday celebrations since.

When cutting into ones birthday cake, there are little superstitions some people believe. If the knife touches the bottom, or when pulling the knife from the cake itself there are pieces of cake stuck to the knife, than the birthday person must kiss the nearest person of the opposite sex.

Another belief is when you blow the candles out on your cake, you are supposed to make a wish. If the candles are blown out in one blow and the wisher keeps the wish a secret, then it is believed the wish will come true.

Birthday cakes are typically highly decorated with lots of colors and flowers or something of that sort. For kids, it is popular to have cartoon characters or their favorite them on the cake.

Cakes can go from home made, simple designs to more elaborate cakes that can cost hundreds of dollars.

Photo credits: I would like to thank twokingsconfections for the use of the photo on this page.

Cake decorating Equipment: When you are decorating for birthdays and the holidays, you don’t need every cake decorating tool out there, but you do need a few basics. The following are a must for cake decorating.

- Rubber Spatulas: These spatulas are made of flexible material and they are the best for scraping cake and frosting bowls.

- Metal Spatulas: Every cake decorator needs one large and one small angled spatula to spread and smooth frosting on your cake. To keep your cake from crumbling, use the small metal spatula to carefully spread a thin layer of frosting on the cake. This is followed by a normal layer of frosting.

- Piping Bags: You can purchase reusable 8 inch, 12 inch, and 18 inch bags, or disposable plastic bags, for cake decorating. Zip-lock bags will work in a pinch.

- Couplers: Coupling nozzles are needed to hold the icing tips in the bag. They allow you to change tips when you need to.

- Food coloring paste, gel, or powder: These food colorings are more concentrated than liquid, and they will not thin the icing.

Important tips for cake decorating

1. All ingredients should be at room temperature, as they will mix much better than when they are cold.

2. Always use and electric beater when mixing the cake. You will have less lumps than if you beat it by hand.

3. You really need a wire rack to invert and cool your cakes.

4. Trim your cake so it will sit flat. Never use this part of the cake as the top, always use the smoother side of the cake to decorate with icing.

5. To reduce crumbling, bake your cake the day before you will be decorating it and place it in the freezer until you are ready to frost it. When you take it out frost it right away.

6. You can purchase cake boards from any hobby or cake decorating shop. You can also cover a large piece of stiff cardboard with colored foil and use that instead.

7. A great icing for cake decorating is Butter Cream, especially for a child’s birthday cake.

8. Cut strips of waxed paper and place them under the unfrosted cake. When you are done with your cake decorating they will pull out easily and the cake board will not be smeared.

These are the basic tools that everyone needs for cake decorating. The tips given are meant to make it a bit easier to ice your child’s birthday cake. It doesn’t matter whether you have decorated a cake before, there are many sites on the internet that will give you ideas for cake decorating. And others that will take you step-by-step through the decorating project.

My advice is to gather as many useful tips that you can and keep them in a little booklet. When you run into a problem, you can consult the book. I know that anyone who has a desire to learn cake decoration, can do so just by visiting the various sites that are available to show you how to go about cake decorating.

Photo credits: I would like to thank ohmeaghan for the use of the photo on this page.

This is a moist chocolate cake recipe, it is a 3 layer cake with 2 layers of raspberry cream filling and topped with a chocolate raspberry butter cream icing. Are you salivating yet?

To make this cake use your favorite chocolate cake recipe or for the inexperienced baker just use 2 dark chocolate cake mixes.

Mix with

8 medium eggs

2 cups cold water

2/3 cup oil

Mix on medium speed until well blended, scrape bowl, mix for 1 more minute.

Pour in equal portions into 3 (10×2 inch baking pans).

Bake at 350 degree preheated oven for approximately 30 to 40 minutes or until done. Cool on rack, remove from pans, level cakes by cutting off rounded tops.

Purchase a good fruitful raspberry pastry filling (H&H) is the best, place about 1 pound of filling in a bowl and add whip cream to it (whip the cream first) now fold them together until you reach the desired flavor and thickness (don’t make it too thin).

Use any chocolate butter cream recipe that you like and add to the icing (black raspberry extract) until you reach the desired flavor (if you make the icing too thin just add some more 10x sugar).

Assemble the cake:

On the bottom layer put a dam of icing around the edge and your filling in the center and smooth to level, repeat for 2nd and 3rd layer, decorate as in picture, use shaved chocolate or chocolate jimmies in center of the top.

Photo credits: I would like to thank artfulblogger for the use of the photo on this page.

What makes a birthday cake special? It’s got to taste great, no doubt, but visual appeal makes a cake truly dazzle. In Portland, Oregon, Papa Haydn’s is famous for incomparable birthday cakes that look as fabulous as they taste, so we asked co-owner Evelyn Franz to share a few of her secrets for cake decorating success.

Evelyn helped her sister and brother-in-law Heidi and Jeff Van Dyke, who founded Papa Haydn’s in the late 1970s, create their legendary dessert menu. Since then, Papa Haydn’s has become Portland’s dessert destination, consistently winning awards and accolades from food lovers and restaurant critics alike.

With an MFA in sculpture and a lifelong love of baking, Evelyn guides her pastry staff in combining visual appeal with exceptional flavor and texture. “I think it’s as important to pay attention to looks as it is to flavor,” she says. “The looks can make a huge difference in terms of what you actually taste on your palate. I don’t think it’s a successful dessert unless it looks as good as it tastes.”

If you want to try your hand at creating spectacular cakes for the birthdays, anniversaries and weddings in your life, consider these helpful hints from Evelyn.

Tie a yellow ribbon: An easy and elegant way to jazz up birthday cakes is by tying a colorful ribbon around the bottom of the cake. “You can use chiffon or just a French ribbon to really doll up any cake,” says Evelyn. Just remember to remove the ribbon before serving.

More terrific toppers: Check out cake decorating stores for ideas, says Evelyn, who likes to adorn birthday cakes with dragees or candy pearls. Silk or edible flowers also make elegant cake toppers, turning an ordinary layer cake in to a birthday cake to remember.

Fabulously frosted: With a little practice, you can turn frosting into an intricate birthday cake design. By alternating vertical and horizontal ribbons of frosting, for example, you’ll create a delicate woven pattern that dazzles the eye. Even simpler designs can be achieved by creating swirls or peaks with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Wrap it up: For the more advanced pastry chef, wrapping a cake in a thin layer of another cake can add an elaborate touch that dazzles even after a birthday cake or anniversary cake is sliced. Papa Haydn features such delicacies as White Chocolate Mint Truffle Torte, wrapped in a patterned chocolate sponge cake, Hazelnut Mousse Torte, wrapped in a striped almond sponge cake, and Georgian Peanut Butter Mousse Cake, wrapped in a polka dot sponge cake and topped with ground peanuts. It takes some practice, but the effect is well worth the effort.

The fine art of chocolate: Evelyn and her crew are well-practiced in the art of decorating with chocolate, too. Simply spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on a cooled marble slab or baking sheet, then carefully make curls or ribbons with a metal spatula to decorate your special cakes. For birthday cakes, you can cut out rectangular banners of dark chocolate, write a “Happy Birthday” message with white chocolate or frosting, then place the banner upright on the cake for an edible birthday greeting. This, too, takes practice, but once you’ve mastered the technique, you’ll be a cake decorating star.

Designing from the ground up: Another way to create dazzling birthday cakes is to layer different cakes and fillings for a variety of flavors and textures. “We’ll do a cake that has meringue in it as well as chiffon and maybe a flourless chocolate cake,” says Evelyn, “to give it a nice texture and a little crunch.” Using cakes and fillings of different colors adds to the visual appeal as well as the taste.

If you approach cake baking and cake decorating as Evelyn Franz does – like a true artist – your birthday cakes, anniversary cakes and even wedding cakes will dazzle your guests before, during and after they enjoy the delicious taste!