Nothing brings me pleasure fairly like searching the aisles of an vintage mall. Each nook of each sales space is a brand new likelihood to find one thing beautiful, uncommon, and most significantly, helpful. My most cherished kitchen instruments have come from neighborhood property gross sales or small classic retailers with espresso stations and frosted home-baked items at their entrance, and it was one in all these weekend outings that introduced the cake breaker to my consideration. I gripped the slick deal with, noting the tines jutting out equally to these of an afro decide. The pale however cheery packaging included appeals to midcentury homemakers, promising good slices — however why would bakers, previous or current, want a giant comb for cake?
A cake breaker is solely a instrument used to chop cake with out flattening it. Baked treats that require a extra delicate contact, like angel’s meals, chiffon, and sponge truffles, are susceptible to ripping or being smushed in the event that they’re minimize with a regular chef’s knife. Serrated knives would possibly go simpler on compression, however they will depart behind a multitude of crumbs. That is the place the cake breaker, often known as a cake rake or chiffon cake slicer, is available in. To make use of it, you slide the prongs into the cake with a delicate wiggling movement and simply slice via. The reasonably sharp particular person pins pierce the slice, firmly holding the portion in place whereas making a seamlessly straight line via the sponge. And the instrument’s handiness doesn’t finish with reducing — it’s also possible to use it to switch these gentle, cloud-like slices to particular person plates.
First patented as a meals breaker, the cake breaker was invented by Cale J. Schneider in 1932 and took off within the Fifties (consider the go-to present for bridal showers and housewarming events). Schneider was supposedly impressed by his spouse’s frustration with having to serve dense angel meals cake to dinner visitors. The breaker is a light-weight utensil that is available in a spread of shades and costs; you’ll be able to select from dozens of brightly coloured, bakelite-handled choices or choose a sterling silver charmer that screams heirloom. No matter worth level, cake breakers are an excellent marriage of problem-solving and prettiness. My very own favourite is a beautiful tortoiseshell-handled piece made by Langner Manufacturing Co. as part of their “Hostess” kitchenware line. It’s inexpensive, lovely, and takes up minimal area in my baking drawer.
You could find loads of cake breakers dwelling outdoors their packaging — there are lots of on each Etsy and eBay — however there’s one thing particular about buying one in its authentic field. The designs are splendidly kitschy and encourage me to throw on my laciest apron to bake one thing that’s centerpiece-worthy. Purchase one, pull it out at your subsequent get-together, and let the inevitable questions start. It’s an instantaneous dialog starter, and that’s what actually issues whenever you collect round a cake.
Rai Mincey is a meals author and baking fanatic whose focuses embody culinary historical past, seasonal cooking, and Southern delicacies. She splits her time between Birmingham, Alabama, and Tulum, Mexico.