A pop out cake, popout cake, jump out cake, or surprise cake is a large object made to serve as a surprise for a celebratory occasion. Externally, such a construction appears to be an oversized cake, and sometimes actually is, at least in part. However, the construction is usually

cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light ...

. The inside of the object has a space for someone, traditionally an attractive young woman, to crouch and hide until the moment of surprise, when she then stands up and comes out of the cake.

History

The ancient

Roman people grc, Ῥωμαῖοι, , native_name_lang = , image = Pompeii family feast painting Naples.jpg , image_caption = 1st century AD wall painting from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet , languages = , relig ...

held feasts featuring meat of one animal stuffed inside another. Eventually, Petronius attempted to make it look as if the animals stuffed inside appeared to be alive. In Medieval Europe, the entremets, a between-courses dish, developed into a form of entertainment, which could include the presentation of a pie with live animals, such as

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s and

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

s, bursting out. Such spectacles were known as early as the 15th century and continued into the 18th century, when it was memorialized in the nursery rhyme "

Sing a Song of Sixpence "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is an English nursery rhyme, perhaps originating in the 18th century. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 13191. The sixpence in the rhyme is a British coin that was first minted in 1551. Origins The rh ...

," wherein live blackbirds are placed in a pie shell to be served for a king's feast. On 5 November 1626, the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and

Duchess of Buckingham {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Duchess of Buckingham is a title given to the wife of the Duke of Buckingham, an extinct title created several times, formerly in the Peerage of England and latterly in the Peerage of the Uni ...

presented King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

and

Queen Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...

with a pie from which sprang the

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

Jeffrey Hudson Jeffrey Hudson (1619 – ''circa'' 1682) was a court dwarf of the English queen Henrietta Maria of France. He was famous as the "Queen's dwarf" and "Lord Minimus", and was considered one of the "wonders of the age" because of his extreme but ...

, in a suit of armor. The Girl in the Pie from The World October 13 1895

From the 19th century onwards, the pop out cake became exclusive to attractive young women jumping out of cakes during decadent parties. The concept became notorious after

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...

put on a dinner on May 20, 1895, that included a scantily-clad girl, Susie Johnson, emerging from a pie made from galvanized iron, accompanied by a recitation of "Sing a Song of Sixpence". A few months later, the "Pie Girl" having

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

, ''The World'' ran a lurid expose of the episode that emphasized the prominence of the guests, who included

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
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Charles Dana Gibson Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944) was an American illustrator. He was best known for his creation of the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent Euro-American woman at the turn of the ...

, and the scandalous nature of White's affairs. White himself was eventually murdered by

Harry Thaw Harry Kendall Thaw (February 12, 1871 – February 22, 1947) was the son of American coal and railroad baron William Thaw Sr.. Heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune, the younger Thaw is most notable for murdering the renowned architect Sta ...

, the husband of White's former lover,

Evelyn Nesbit Evelyn Nesbit (born Florence Evelyn Nesbit; December 25, 1884 or 1885 – January 17, 1967) was an American artists' model, chorus girl, and actress. She is best known for her years as a young woman in New York City, particularly her inv ...

. The episode became "a sign for the decadence of art and high society." Dan Hadani collection (990044445940205171)

A 1927 show at the famous French

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Ol ...

had a grand opening consisting in dozens of female dancers popping out of huge multi-tiered artificial cakes covered in real frosting. However, when the girls descended to the stage, the soles of their

high heels High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels, are a type of shoe with an angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the ...

were covered with frosting, which proved slippery and caused them to fall on stage, ruining the show. By the 1950s, women popping out of cakes was common during various social events such as office gatherings, conventions and bachelor parties. It eventually became common for

showgirl A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity. History Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...

s to pop out of cakes for celebratory occasions. By the 1970s, the popularity of the pop-out cake declined due to changing social values. However, it has remained part of pop culture, and the pop out cake has become something of a standard entertainment at

bachelorette ''Bachelorette'' (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in American English for a single, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word '' bachelor'', and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some individuals ...

and

bachelor parties A bachelor party (in the United States and sometimes in Canada), also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party (in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, and Ireland), or a buck's night (in Australia), is a party held/arranged by th ...

Specificities

Pop out cakes must be large enough to contain a woman in a squatting position, but not too high in order to allow her to gracefully get out of the cake. Sophisticated cakes can even include a little seat inside, so that the lady is more comfortable in case she has to remain in the cake for a long time before her popping out. There are many variants in shapes, sizes and heights. For a more impressive visual effect, some pop out cakes are so tall that the lady can't get out of the cake by herself; in these cases, only the upper part of her body is exhibited, and she is meant to remain inside of the cake for some time after her popping out, until the cake is wheeled offstage later during the party. Some of the most refined pop out cakes are tall multi-tiered constructions in which the upper tiers are designed to fold down inside the bottom tier when the woman pops out, allowing her to exit the cake without difficulty. An example of such a cake can be found in the 1992 movie ''

Under Siege ''Under Siege'' is a 1992 American action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis, written by J. F. Lawton, and starring Steven Seagal as a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, led by Tommy Lee Jones, after they commandeer the ...

''. This kind of cakes with folding tiers, though commonly featured in films,

TV shows A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s and

shows, are rarely used in real-life parties because the folding part tends to inconveniently drop and reveal the lady before the expected moment, in particular when the cake is tossed by the time it is wheeled onstage. Until the beginning of the 1970s most pop out cakes were real. Things changed in 1975 when "the AP newspaper published an interview with a baker that worked making them for a small fee of $2,000. They were built around huge cylinders that could house an adult." Nowadays, the construction is generally made of corrugated

, often covered with

whipped cream Whipped cream is liquid heavy cream that is whipped by a whisk or mixer until it is light and fluffy and holds its shape, or by the expansion of dissolved gas, forming a firm colloid. It is often sweetened, typically with white sugar, an ...

or frosting to make them look real. This kind of pop out cakes present the advantages of being cheaper to build and easier to move, due to their lightness, but they are also much more fragile and should be handled with care. At a reception given for important members of the General Motors Company in the late 1980s, the lady who popped out of such a cake was wearing pointy stilettos, and when she stepped on the cake to get out of it, the heels of her shoes punctured the flimsy cardboard upper part and sank into the hollow structure, leading the lady to fall backwards and make the whole cake collapse. At the opposite, expensive pop out cakes can be entirely constituted of real edible cake arranged around the central hole. The cake served at the 2018 men-only Presidents Club Charitable Trust dinner was made and hand-decorated by pastry chef Nuno Mendes, albeit the fact the woman who popped out of it was barefoot and turned out to have sweaty feet (due to the heat inside the cake) certainly prevented most people from eating it. Different designs also exist concerning the top part: nowadays it is usually made of thin, almost flexible cardboard, which breaks into pieces when the woman jumps out; while, until the 1960s, the lid was customarily a rigid circular plate put on the top of the structure. As an example, during a high budget reception given in the early 1950s, the lady inside of the cake inadvertently threw up the lid vertically, and it fell back on her, smashing the intricate feathered headdress she was wearing. Girl-in-the-pie illustration

Famous examples

Often the person jumping out of the cake is an

exotic dancer A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...

, showgirl, or

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

during a celebration. For example,

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

popped out of a cake in 2004 for her then-boyfriend Usher's 26th birthday party at the

Rainbow Room The Rainbow Room is a private event space on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Run by Tishman Speyer, it is among the highest venues in New York City. The Rainbow Room serves cla ...

. Comedian

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

fell out of a cake in celebration of David Letterman's 2015 retirement from '' Late Show''; Murray had been Letterman's first guest on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' when it debuted on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1982 and his first guest on '' Late Show with David Letterman'' when Letterman moved his show to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in 1993. American singer Katy Perry decided to reverse the concept, diving into a giant artificial cake after her last song at the end of a 2008 performance in Guadalajara,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, during the 2008 Los Premios MTV Latin America awards. She subsequently stepped in cake thrown on the stage during her stunt, which covered her ballet slippers, leading her to fall several times and crawl off the stage on her hands and knees. The Fall-Winter 2012/2013 lingerie fashion show by Zahia Dehar, held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on July 2, 2012, was divided into four themes, the second of which was entitled "Gâteaux et bonbons" ("Cakes and candy") and featured models popping out of giant artificial cupcakes before walking on the catwalk, although several of them reportedly had troubles opening the lid and remained trapped inside them until other models lifted the lids from the outside. During the

Miss Universe 2017 Miss Universe 2017 was the 66th Miss Universe pageant, held at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on November 26, 2017. At the end of the event, Iris Mittenaere of France crowned Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Af ...

beauty pageant, the National Costume of Miss Curaçao, Nashaira Balentien, evoked a pop out cake, with the bottom part looking like a multi-tiered cake covered with authentic sugar, and the upper part of her body popping out on the top. During her performance onstage she had difficulty descending from the podium and stepped on her costume. The pop out cake has been used as a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

. Sir

Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle FRS (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on other sci ...

was an advocate of the

Steady State theory In cosmology, the steady-state model, or steady state theory is an alternative to the Big Bang theory of evolution of the universe. In the steady-state model, the density of matter in the expanding universe remains unchanged due to a continuous ...

of the universe and considered theories that described a beginning as pseudoscience. When he coined the term " Big Bang" on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

for the theory that he opposed, he stated that it was as undignified a way to describe the beginnings of the Universe as "a party girl jumping out of a cake".

In fictional works

Pop out cakes are a common trope, used especially in television and films. Notable examples include: In the movie '' Some Like It Hot'' (1959), starring

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, in which a gangster pops out of a cake with a machine gun, killing almost everyone in the room; and pop outs by

Erika Eleniak Erika Eleniak (born September 29, 1969) is an American actress, ''Playboy'' Playmate, and model known for her role in ''Baywatch'' as Shauni McClain. Her film debut was in '' E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982). She starred in the films ''The B ...

in the movie ''

'' (1992); Mariah Carey in the

for the song " Loverboy" (2001); and

The Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...

in the September 11, 1992 " Joker's Favor" episode of '' Batman: The Animated Series''. Occasionally a joke of some kind is added, such as an old lady or a hairy man popping out of the cake, in comedies like '' Family Guy'' or ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''. Another common joke, notably featured in the ''Addams Family'' movie, is that the woman gets inside the cake before it is baked. An example of the pop out cake being more than an incidental element of a story can be found in '' Dalton City'', the 49th album of the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

comics series ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...

'', published in 1969, in which there is the

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

of a dancing girl named Belle who is meant to pop out of a huge cake made by Averell Dalton while yelling "Youpee" during a wedding party, but she repeatedly fails to open the lid of the (abnormally hard) cake. At the very end of the album she eventually succeeds in popping out, only to see that the party is long over and everyone has left.

References

Notes

Citations

{{Cakes 15th-century introductions Cakes Erotic dance