Cake

"Dear Mario, please come to the castle. I've baked a cake for you. Yours truly, Princess Toadstool, Peach."

- Princess Peach

 is a form of sweet, baked dessert and a recurring object in the Mario franchise. Even though the appearance varies from game to game, it is often featured with more than one layer and is almost always decorated with cream and strawberries. Cakes are often associated with Princess Peach, as she usually bakes one for Mario upon her rescue. Throughout the Paper Mario series, there are many variations of cakes that can be prepared by the cooks, including Chocolate Cake, Couple's Cake, Fruity Cake, Mousse, Nutty Cake, Shroom Cake, and Strange Cake.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
The player at one point has to fight a boss called Bundt, a wedding cake that mysteriously came to life. Beating the top half will result in Raspberry being fought. Upon being defeated, the player is treated to a cinematic depicting Booster eating the cake whole before cutting to the victory screen.

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS
The game Super Mario 64 begins with an invitation letter from Princess Peach to Mario, which implies that she has baked a cake for him before she gets kidnapped. After Mario rescues her, she decides to thank him by baking a cake for him. The game's final scene shows a cake with two layers, with the words "Thank you" and statuettes of Mario and Princess Peach. The game stays on this screen until the player resets the system.

In Super Mario 64 DS, the game begins with the same letter, but Luigi and Wario follow Mario to the castle. The game is almost the same as Super Mario 64, but additional statuettes of the characters unlocked will appear on the cake at the end of the game. Unlike in the original, pressing any button on the end scene will return the player to the title screen.

Super Mario Galaxy
In Super Mario Galaxy, one of Toy Time Galaxy's planets is shaped like a cake on a plate. It is mandatory to go here in the third mission and "blow" out all of the candles using Mario's Spin move to create a Launch Star at the top. The inside of the cake can be entered via a Warp Pipe.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings hide in a cake for Princess Peach's birthday party to kidnap her. Then they use the cake to send her to an airship waiting outside the castle.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
An altered version of the cake from New Super Mario Bros. Wii cameos during the ending credits, and can be interacted with. It features several Fruits. Aside from this, Bowser repeatedly mentions he wants Peach to make him a giant cake due to his large size. Peach also mentions making a cake for Mario as they watch the Star Bits fall from the sky in her letter to Mario at the beginning.

Super Mario Odyssey
The Snow Kingdom had the Frost-Frosted Cake that was to act as the first prize for the Bound Bowl Grand Prix, although it ended up stolen by Bowser to have it act as his wedding cake for his and Princess Peach's marriage. The replacement for this was a Multi Moon. It was ultimately returned to its rightful owners, the Shiverians, after Bowser was defeated. Aside from this, cake was also mentioned in Mayor Pauline's quiz, where she mentions she liked cake, though she specified that it had to be "the good cake, not the packaged stuff."

Super Mario Run
In Super Mario Run, Princess Peach's Cake is a special item that can be purchased in the shop for Kingdom Builder mode. It costs 10,000 coins and is only available after the following requirements are completed:
 * World 6-4 has been completed
 * Peach has been rescued
 * 2000 Red Toads, 1000 each for Green and Blue Toads, and 500 each for Yellow and Purple Toads have been collected

Mario Party
One of the boards for Mario Party, Peach's Birthday Cake, is a large and elaborate birthday cake and Princess Peach's home board. Aside from that, Bowser's "gift" was a Bowser Cake, which is a dud item that costs the player several coins. It is a spiked shell with frosting and candles, and cannot be eaten.

Mario Party 2
Cakes return in Mario Party 2, in the minigame Cake Factory.

Mario Party Superstars
The Peach's Birthday Cake board returns in Mario Party Superstars, alongside the Bowser Cake. In this game, Bowser states that the cake is made of rock. Regular cakes also appear in the minigame Cake Factory, appearing as often as they did in the Mario Party 2 version of this minigame.

Mario Kart Arcade GP series
A slice of cake, simply known as the Cake, appears as one of Peach's special items in Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2.

The Cake is a recovery item. Upon being used, it removes all bad conditions from the user's kart, such as square tires, burst tires, or Thunder Cloud. In addition, the Cake provides a shield for approximately half a second upon being used. With good timing, this can be used to block incoming items or be immune to the explosion of a Time Bomb.

In Mario Kart Arcade GP, a variant of the Cake known as the Cake+ can be unlocked. This variant greatly increases the duration of the shield the item provides.

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, if Mario reclaims Tayce T.'s Frying Pan from the Pink Station area of Shy Guy's Toy Box and returns it to her, the cook will prepare him a Cake. After Mario receives this Cake, Tayce T. mentions that she baked a Cake to win over her nameless, now late husband, rendering the making of Cakes troublesome for her. Of note is that this backstory is extremely similar to the one given for Wonky and his story about Zess T.'s Couple's Cake in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Regardless, she will bake additional Cakes for Mario when he brings her Cake Mixes, which can be found in the Shy Guys' playground in the Blue Station area of Shy Guy's Toy Box (west of a hallway with Anti Guy). A Cake restores fifteen FP and sells for the most at Star Haven, where it can be sold for fifteen coins. Cooking a Cake is highly recommended, as it is a vast improvement over the single FP that the Cake Mix will heal.

In Shy Guy's Toy Box, Gourmet Guy, who is blocking a railroad crossing in the Pink Station area, craves for a Cake and won't budge until Mario gives him one. Mario must bring him a Cake baked by Tayce T., and when Gourmet Guy eats it, he will jump around the area before flying offscreen, clearing the crossing for Mario to progress (and dropping a Cookbook in the process).

During an intermission after Chapter 4, Peach is required to bake a Special Strawberry Cake for Gourmet Guy.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a cake was delivered to Mario in the Glitz Pit by a fan of his. If Mario and his partner eat it, it will refill all of the party's stats. If Mario decides not to consume it, Shellshock will eat it instead, boasting about how good the cake was. Later, Rawk Hawk gives Mario a Poisoned Cake.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
Cakes make a brief appearance in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey during Bowser's battle against Midbus in Fawful Theater. They are occasionally thrown at Midbus from the audience, healing his HP by 20 if he manages to consume one. Bowser can punch them or inhale them before they are eaten by Midbus; in the latter case, Bowser will recover 20 of his own HP instead. Cakes of various types are also seen in the "Victory Feast" sequence.

A cake also appears in the game's ending, being delivered to Bowser by Birdley on behalf of Princess Peach.

Names in other languages
Kuchen Torta