-the richer the better. Baked in deep
round-bottomed, handleless coffee cups, and iced, it made the helpful
snow balls. Baked in square pans, rather shallow, cut into bars,
crisped, frosted and piled cob-house fashion, it made pens. Sliced
crosswise and interlaid with jelly it became jelly cake. To supplement
it, there were marble cake, spice cake, plum cake, ever so many more
cakes--but they were--only supplements.

Stacks were either round or square, baked in pans of graduated size,
set one on the other after cooling thoroughly, then frosted and
re-frosted till they had a polar suggestion. If round there was commonly
a hole running down the middle, into this was fitted a wide mouthed but
small glass bottle, to hold the stems of the evergreen plume topping the
stack. Here or there in the plume, shone a paper rose or starflower--in
the wreath of evergreen laid about the base, were tulips, lilies, and
bigger roses, all made of paper. Occasionally trailing myrtle, well
washed and dried, was put about the components of the stacks just before
they were set in place. If the heart-cakes had missed being latticed,
they likewise were myrtle-wreathed. The bride's cake was left
dead-white, but it always stood on something footed, and had a wreath of
evergreen and paper flowers, laid upon a lace-cut paper about the foot.

Baking it was an art. So many things had to go in it--the darning
needle, thimble, picayune, ring, and button. The makers would have
scorned utterly the modern subterfuge of baking plain, and thrusting in
the portents of fate before frosting. They mixed the batter a trifle
stiff, washed and scoured everything, shut eyes, dropped them, and
stirred them well about. Thus nobody had the least idea where they
finally landed--so the cutting was bound to be strictly fair. It made
much fun--the bride herself cut the first slice--hoping it might hold
the picayune, and thus symbolize good fortune. The ring presaged the
next bride or groom, the darning needle single blessedness to the end,
the thimble, many to sew for, or feed, the button, fickleness or
disappointment. After the bridal party had done cutting, other young
folk tempted fate. Bride's cake was not for eating--instead, fragments
of it, duly wrapped and put under the pillow, were thought to make
whatever the sleeper dreamed come true. Especially if the dream included
a sweetheart, actual or potential. The dreams were supposed to be truly
related next day at the