This Is What Every Single Birthday Cake Needs from Now On

Birthday parties (and parties of all types) were one of the first things to go due to the pandemic. Like all big gatherings, punctuated with a lot of talking and yelling, they were clearly some of the least safe types of events — especially when it came to that most classic of American birthday traditions: blowing out the candles. In May, Inside Edition wondered if the pandemic meant the end of the tradition. In July, the Washington Post declared it “basically spitting on your friends’ cake,” before asking the same question.  But now, reports Design Milk, there’s a way to blow out candles without creating a potential public health disaster.

The Top It cake shield, a clear case for your cake with a track system to hold candles of all shapes and sizes, is designed for exactly this purpose. Made from food-safe, flame-resistant polystyrene and polypropylene, the single-use covers hope to keep the birthday person from spreading more than just good cheer. The clear structure fits over the top of rectangular or round whole cakes (both $14.99), or over a single slice ($4.99) — in which case, I have to wonder why it’s necessary: even in a pandemic, I would imagine it’s totally okay to spit on your own personal slice of cake.

Given that nobody should be having parties with anyone besides the folks they already live and probably (let’s be honest) share germs with already, this doesn’t really seem like a thing people need right now. But certainly down the line, when things get safer and throwing a birthday party seems more like something you do to celebrate than to endanger your closest friends and family, having a way to get somewhat back to normal seems nice, even if it is entirely possible that we, as a society, may never again feel comfortable blowing air forcefully in the direction of other people.