Part 3/7:
While baking a cake for his birthday, the host also reveals fascinating historical tidbits about the origins of birthday cake itself. The tradition dates back to ancient Persia, where birthdays were lavishly celebrated with a feast—however, cake as we know it did not exist at the time.
The tradition of the birthday cake started to take shape in ancient Rome, where wealthy males were honored with a honey and nut-based cake upon turning fifty. To extend the celebration to the masses, the Germans in the 15th century began making simpler cakes to sell to those celebrating birthdays, leading to the dense, single-layer cakes of that age.