The Oxford English Dictionary defines a cake as ""a mixture of flour, butter, eggs, sugar, etc., baked in the oven"". How grossly understated, for the definition simply fails to capture the essence of a cake. The cake, quite literally "takes the cake" when it comes to the choice of a dessert or a teatime snack. This is because it makes for a hassle-free preparation. The ingredients are readily available, and you just need to mix them well and put it in an oven for baking. A cake is great for a great many occassions, including birthdays, anniversaries, or any time you want.

It is fun to decorate a cake. There are all kinds of decorations that look great. Depending on the occasion and whom the cake is for, you can have edible flowers, tiny figurines, trucks, trains, bottles and rattles and a host of other decorations. No wonder the cake is so popular. It's fun to make and decorate. It seems that cakes are always around for a special occasion. Cakes help celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, bridal showers and any other occasion you can think of.

For health and weight conscious people, the cake has adaptations that make it virtually fat-free. There are recipes for cakes that are sugar-free, butter-free and contain no eggs. Believe it or not, they taste good too. The basic ingredients for those of us who like to indulge are sugar, eggs, butter, cream (sometimes milk) and flour.

Vanilla is often added as is chocolate and fresh fruits.