Yolanda White wanted to bake the perfect cake to celebrate Chicago’s 186th birthday on Saturday.

White, the owner of Miss Landa Cakes in South Shore, couldn’t decide so she baked two. The first one was a vanilla cake with a strawberry glaze, chopped strawberries, vanilla custard and a cream cheese buttercream.

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“To me it kind of represents all of the different tastes of Chicago. Everybody has a favorite dessert,” said White, who decorated the cake to resemble the city’s famous flag, which features four red stars sandwiched between two light blue horizontal bars.

But she didn’t stop there. White also baked an atomic cake, a cake that got its start on the South Side back in the 1940s.

“The atomic cake is a South Side dessert. I wanted to include something for everybody,” White said at an official city birthday celebration Saturday afternoon at the John Hancock Center.

The City of Chicago, the Magnificent Mile Association, and World Business Chicago (WBC) hosted the celebration at the Chicago Food Stop at the Hancock.

Natalia Kapani, director of public sector investment strategy for WBC, said the event was to highlight local food vendors and bring more visitors to the Magnificent Mile. She said the WBC received funding from the City of Chicago under the city’s recovery plan.

“Michigan Avenue was obviously impacted by the pandemic. The goal was to take spaces that were left vacant and give an opportunity for local businesses that may not be able to afford rent on Michigan Avenue, a chance to showcase their products and represent the neighborhoods downtown,” Kapani said. “We have food vendors from all over the city here. So we have free Vienna beef sausages, Eli’s cheesecake and then a bunch of other local businesses that are permanently in this space that are giving away food to celebrate the birthday of Chicago.”

Music, face painting, along with red, white and blue balloons added to the atmosphere with attendees singing “Happy Birthday To Ya!” for Chicago.

Even Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who lost her re-election bid last week, arrived to help cut the birthday cake.

Maria Cesario, who lives on the North Side but grew up on the South Side, said the party was wonderful.

“I think it’s great, and I see that the city is opening up to more diversity each year,” Cesario said.

Dario Durham, who co-hosts a podcast called 77 Flavors of Chicago, helped organize the event. He said his podcast highlights Chicago food through the city’s 77 distinct communities.

“Sometimes we get a bad rap. People think it’s just pizza and hot dogs, but Chicago is so much more,” Durham said. “This was a lot of fun to plan.”

Jacob Lopata, the owner of Xoca World, was among the food vendors. Xoca is a type of soda made from cacao, the same fruit that chocolate comes from. However, the drink is sweet and fruity, and tastes nothing like chocolate.

“We’re able to expose people to a lot of local products here, local businesses trying to make a name for themselves so this event is wonderful,” Lopata said.

For Peter Caruso, the celebration provided an opportunity to expose more people to his Chicago-made giardiniera.

“We love the event. It’s a great way for small businesses to get on Michigan Avenue,” Caruso said.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Chicago, which had been populated by native tribes, received its first non-native resident, Jean-Baptist-Point Du Sable, in 1779. On March 4, 1837, the Illinois state legislature enacted a city charter to incorporate the City of Chicago. At the time, the city had more than 4,000 residents, according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago.

Michael Puente is a general assignment reporter for WBEZ. Follow him on Twitter @MikePuenteNews.