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W ow! You’re a year older. Or is it just a day? Or a year of days? However you look at it the day you were born is called your birthday and you officially are one year older now. And there are all kinds of fun ways to celebrate this very special day.

Of Cakes and Concoctions

“A birthday party without a cake is like soda without fizz” says Nechama S. third-grader. Or as heard from Perel ten “It’s like drinking a Slurpee without the special straw!” Birthday cakes haven’t always been an integral part of childhood. In fact they weren’t around at all. About 450 years ago some German bakers concocted the idea of celebrating children’s birthdays with cakes. Kids loved it. They called these celebrations Kinderfest.

The Kinderfest cakes looked nothing like today’s cakes. They were a coarse bread-like product just a bit sweeter. In fact in those days people used “bread” and “cake” to mean the same thing — the only difference was that cake was sweeter. As time passed the cakes got sweeter and sweeter and they got a new name: Geburtstagstorten (birthday desserts) Ever since cakes have become more and more elaborate with icing layers and decorations. Yum! Check out some of these funky and wacky birthday cakes.

Full o’ Flowers 

What do you get when you cross fresh flowers with birthday cake? A cake made entirely of flowers! After all you can’t always have the cake and eat it too. Just looking at these gorgeous displays will surely be enough.