It was sweet, it was expensive, and only the elite could afford it. Today, we can’t imagine a birthday or a wedding without it. But the famous dessert loved by millions around the world actually has a surprisingly humble—and shocking—past. Did you know that you would probably spit out the very first “cakes” today?

Did It All Begin with a Bread Fraud?

According to historians, to find the absolute origins of this sweet indulgence, we have to travel back to ancient Egypt. But don’t expect a fluffy sponge, mascarpone cream, or marzipan coating.

Inside Source: The first cakes were essentially just slightly upgraded loaves of bread. The Egyptians simply added honey, nuts, and dried fruit to the dough.

However, the real breakthrough came in ancient Greece. The locals started baking flat cakes made of flour and cheese called plakous. And this is exactly where a tradition we still hold today was born—the Greeks brought these round cakes as an offering to Artemis, the goddess of the Moon and hunting. To make the cake glow like the moon, they lit candles on top of it. Yes, the exact same candles you blow out at birthdays today!

Medieval Luxury: For the Rich and Famous Only!

If you lived in the Middle Ages, you could completely forget about cake unless you happened to sit on a royal throne. Back then, sugar was an extremely expensive luxury commodity imported from distant lands.

Pastry chefs in European royal courts were treated like celebrities. Baking a cake was pure alchemy because baking powder didn’t exist yet. To make the dough fluffy, bakers had to whip eggs by hand for hours and hours.