Cake through the ages

The meaning of cake at different stages of life

Words by Amrita Brar Visuals by Mia Carnevale

Turning three was the very first birthday I can remember. My grandparents came over for the celebration, the highlight of which was the cake. I remember marveling over how enticing it looked and the excitement of my birthday that came with it. As a child, cake was associated with moments of giddiness and excitement, both in eating something so delicious and the fact that it meant I was a whole year older. As I continued to hit new milestones—turning double digits, becoming a teenager, my sixteenth birthday—this child-like excitement remained, and cake was always involved as a common theme.

Who wouldn’t have these thrilling connotations with cake? Time went on and new milestones were hit, both for me and my friends and family. Birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations all called for cake. But with these important moments came a sense of existentialism as I got older: how could I already be 19? How am I graduating high school after a virtual end to senior year? How could my parents have been married for almost 30 years? How is my brother almost a legal adult? What was the common theme accompanied by all these questions? Cake. Suddenly, that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach began to dull. Cake became a symbol of growing up—something little kids can hardly wait for. And now, suddenly, I’ve grown up, and I’m watching the people around me grow up and get older, too.

Of course, cake still has those exciting connotations that it had when I was younger, but now with an aftertaste of growing pains. As a little kid, cake meant I was one step closer to becoming a teenager, to being able to drive, to graduating, and to going to university. All of these important moments have since been reached, and cake now sym

bolizes the transition into adulthood— something much more scary and uncertain than turning 13. Each birthday means I'm a year closer to full-fledged adulthood; each graduation means the start of a new chapter; and each anniversary means a whole year has come and gone. How can time be going by so fast? Cake somehow manages to be a staple of all these moments. What used to be a representation of the excitement and anticipation of getting older now reminds me of how quickly time passes, and how maybe I don’t want to grow up as fast as I once thought.

Yet, of course, cake can’t be all bad. Somehow, cake always finds a role in any celebration, achievement, or milestone, no matter how big or small these may be. It's ultimately the silver lining of these growing pains. Yes, I may be a year older and wondering where the time went, but at least this involves indulging my sweet tooth. Although cake reminds us of how fast time can pass, it also serves as a reminder to cherish each moment. To me, cake is a reminder that I’m getting older, something that seems to be happening so much faster than I had ever thought possible. Even though it comes along with some dread of aging, cake reminds me to slow down and appreciate the moment I am in. It is a reason for loved ones to come together and celebrate another year on this earth, an academic achievement, an anniversary, or really anything worth celebrating. In a word, cake is bittersweet. But life is short—so let’s try to focus on the sweet part.