Birthday cake

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The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthday tradition in Western cultures since the middle of the 19th century.

The cake, or sometimes a pastry or dessert, is served to a person on his or her birthday, and is often decorated with the person's name and/or a message of congratulations. It is often decorated with candles, one for each year the person has been alive. One tradition is to add an extra candle for good luck, although this varies.

Tradition holds that the person with the birthday may make a wish, which will come true if all the candles can be blown out in one breath. But many people may make a wish if it takes them more than one breath. Another tradition is to smear out the name of the person for good luck before slicing the cake for serving, although this varies.

Birthday cakes are usually yellow cakes, although many other recipes can be used. One of the most popular flavors is chocolate.

The U.S. patent #6,319,530 is a "method of photocopying an image onto an edible web for decorating iced baked goods." This invention enables one to inkjet print a food-grade color photograph on the cake surface. This kind of confection was referred to on the American television sitcom Scrubs as a "face cake."

de:Geburtstagskuchen fr:Gâteau d'anniversaire it:Torta di compleanno zh:生日蛋糕