Cakes, smearing, and gunshots.

It is one thing for teenagers in schools and colleges to smear cake on their sleepy friends' faces while laughing and partying, but it is quite the opposite at formal events.  At weddings, when the bride is dressed in full finery, and the uncouth bridegroom dunks her face into the expensive cake, it is a disaster in the making. It is not funny. It is not a minor mistake to overlook.  It is a red flag of things to come. Formal events are not the place for cake smearing.

Cake smearing and shooting.

So, when Jitendra Kumar, a private contractor from Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, insisted that cake should not be smeared on his face at his party, his family should have listened to him. Despite this, cake was rubbed on his face, and it enraged him. Rightly so. Mockery humiliates and enrages the offended one. Though it does not call for shooting the wrongdoers with a pistol, it certainly highlights the rage that follows cake-icing smearing. It is a sorry end for a celebration. Death, loss, grief, for the bereaved, and jail for the birthday boy, when he is found. Not forgetting a great rift in the family. The gun rule here uncovers the simmering enmity and mafia culture. https://www.timesnownews.com/city/birthday-night-horror-three-shot-dead-after-cake-row-in-bulandshahr-what-happened-article-154171188)

What do the cakes say?

If cakes with icing had a mind of their own, they would be revolted by this trend. Though it has been present for some time now, I remember being more interested in eating the cake than anything else. In the hostel, there would be none left by the time forever-hungry-for something-nice youngsters had devoured it. It would be licked clean with nothing to waste. The only evidence of such a cake would be the empty box and some disappointed ones who missed it.

Besides that, it is a waste of money and good food. Sachin Tendulkar refused to eat the cake he had cut on his birthday because it had too much sugar. He's resisting another Indian tradition of ‘muh meetha karna’, which means putting something sweet in the mouth to celebrate the moment. These moments could be weddings, passing exams, birthdays, and any good achievement that calls for a celebration. With sugar receiving so much flak, maybe something salty, protein, sugarless, gluten-free, etc., should be used for a celebration. It is time to find something else for celebrations. Mind-boggling waste of food and money is observed in the tomato-throwing festival in Bunol, Spain, every August, or in the Battle of Oranges in Ivrea, Italy, among many other food festivals.

Tragedy in a birthday cake.

Remember the tragic story of a 10-year-old girl who died after consuming cake in Patiala, Punjab, in April 2024. She would have been 12 years old now. Many of her family members fell ill, too. Investigations showed a very high amount of saccharine in the cake.  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/high-amount-of-artificial-sweetener-in-cake-linked-to-10-year-olds-death-in-punjab-report/articleshow/109520933.cms

Nowadays, cake shops are popping up at every stone’s throw.  But the worst part is that oftentimes the cake under the colorful icing is stale and inedible. It has been standing on the counter for too long, and the refrigerated display is not cool enough to prevent decay. Unsuspecting customers want a cheap cake and quick fun, and are looking for the prettiest one. Just something to liven up the celebration. It is better than giving some useless gift, like a diary or stickers no one will use, and it will collect dust and waste money as well. Cakes are the great trend, but not without trouble lurking under the icing. 

Other than icing on the cake

When my kids licked the icing off the cake I baked, I stopped adding icing.  It was sugar cream icing, and there was no alternative. I stood against the trend of icing cakes. It was not an easy choice, but it was one I don’t regret. Far and few between, maybe, I might use some cake icing, but barely enough. My philosophy is that the cake should be delicious enough to be eaten to the last crumb without the icing. It should include ingredients that add value, such as fruits/ fiber, nuts, and dried fruits. I might add chocolate chips occasionally.  There are many ways to decorate cakes without icing, especially with fruits.

Icing analogues.

We are not even discussing the health-killing properties of icing because of its sugar and oil content. The worst part is that icing is no longer cream that comes from milk. It is a non-dairy product. It is like a cheese analogue. It looks and tastes the same, but in truth, it is not the original thing.  As shocking as this is, this is what the world has come to be. And we have to get used to this. That fake has another name. Like reels and real are two different things.

The icing on the cake

This is an idiom which means 'something extra that makes a good situation better." Icing is supposed to enhance the taste and beauty of the cake. Often, it is used to hide the reality of cake breaks, similar to a cake face (a face covered in too much makeup).

That’s why, my dear, you should look beneath the surface and wisen up.  Maybe cakes and icing should be banned from birthdays and weddings, but that would be too radical, nor is it the solution. Then, we have to rewrite the rules of celebrations.   Put up notices and discuss do’s and don’ts before the event, avoid such a fracas or worse, a shooting.

As for me, I bake cake for love’s sake.