Piece of cake

An easily accomplished task, an American expression, dates from the 1930s, from the allusion to something that is easy to eat. Although this particular expression is of relatively modern American origin, cake has long been associated with easy and/or pleasant tasks as in the now archaic expression ‘cakes and ale’ which first appears in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night Act II, Scene III, “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?” See also All beer and skittles.