RAWALPINDI: The first thing that comes to mind when organising a celebration of any sort, not just birthdays, is cake. Most celebrations these days are incomplete without cake, as are most evening coffee or tea events.

Made from butter, eggs, milk, sugar and fine wheat flour, the recipe for cake is an ancient one and has been considered a healthy feast as it is baked and does not have oil.

The dish was popular in England and cakes were also served to guests is ancient Rome. Rich families in Russia would eat cake while commoners would eat bread.

Cakes became popular in the Indian sub-continent after the arrival of the British. Many bakers in the garrison city were popular for making cakes for British officers as this city was the headquarters of the northern post of India before the partition in 1947.

The people of Rawalpindi still like traditional and continental foods equally and are particularly fond of cakes, whether they are topped with cream, ice-cream, chocolate, fudge or nuts, sponge cakes or cheese cakes.

Bakeries come up with new ideas to decorate their cakes in their bid to attract customers and put on colourful displays.

“Earlier, people would only make custom cakes for birthdays but cakes have become part of wedding customs now and no wedding is complete now without the bride and groom cutting a cake. It has become just another custom like dhoodh pelai and joota chuppai,” said Mohammad Adnan, the manager of the Tehzeeb Bakery in Chaklala Scheme III.

He said cakes were fast replacing traditional sweets and that people now bought cakes to take with them when visiting family or friends.

Mr Adnan said cakes were healthy and that no preservatives are used in the recipe. He said the bakery had to produce more cakes on special occasions like Eid to meet the demand.

“We set the new trend in cake making which started with fresh cream and pineapple cake, which is still popular among people,” he said.

Residents of old Rawalpindi, on the other hand, prefer nut cakes and other simple cakes.

“The cakes we make, ranging from cup cakes to larger ones, are transported to Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan where people have it for breakfast and with their afternoon tea,” said Mohammad Akhter, the owner of a bakery on Iqbal Road.

The English gave us the present of cakes and people in this region still have cakes for breakfast, he said, adding that small tea shops also serve cakes to their customers with their afternoon tea.

However, the cakes used in celebrations have to be topped with cream, said a resident of Chaklala Scheme III, Ahmed Malik.

He said his children loved having chocolate cakes, more than chocolate or other sweets.

“I would also prefer that they eat cake because it also has milk, eggs and butter which are good for them,” he added.

“It would be difficult to say which is more popular, traditional sweets or cakes, as both have their own identity and taste. But it is clear that cake is the best sweet in continental foods,” said Abbas Khan, a resident of Saddar.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2017