A Series of Things: The Modern Cake Tester

Sometimes one needs to test the doneness of a baking thing before it comes out o’ the oven. There are tools for that: Some people use toothpicks; others use metal cake testers. When Tim and I went to buy a cake tester many many years ago, we bought one adhered to its own presentation cardboard, proclaiming it to be a Modern Cake Tester.

It being the 1980s, that completely cracked us up.

We have never used the Modern Cake Tester without announcing that we were doing so, calling it by its full name. It used to reside in that catch-all utensil drawer that every kitchen has, and often the initial announcement of its use would come when one of us was banging through that drawer screaming “Where’s the Modern Cake Tester?”. Usually we’d find it. But its skinniness could make it extremely elusive.

At long last, someone got the bright idea to keep the Modern Cake Tester on the magnetic strip on the wall with the OK-knives (as distinguished from the “good” knives, which are pretty good, but likely would never be considered “great” knives). That magnetic strip is a fine home for the Modern Cake Tester. Here it is. He’s the third guy in from the right, two over from the pizza cutter.

What’s in a name? That which we call a Modern Cake Tester by any other name would test as clean at doneness. But would I love it so?

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