Hi all- I was hoping I could pick your brain for a second on the feasibility of baking charms or rings into cakes without making anyone ill or making the cake taste icky. I was assigned a cake for a friend’s New Year’s Eve party, and as I’ve made many of Rose’s cakes from the Cake Bible with great success, was planning on using one of the foolproof recipes from that book. I would love to bake a ring or charm into the cake so we could play the traditional “whoever gets the piece with the ring in it is lucky for the whole year” game, but I’ve never done this before and would prefer people to remember “the charming new year’s eve cake tradition” rather than “the dreadful tasting cake that gave everyone lead poisoning”.

Does anyone have any pointers on this? What materials would be ok to bake into a cake and not affect the taste of the cake or the structure of the charm? Would certain cakes be better candidates for this type of thing? If nothing else, I am not above baking a cake, cutting a hole in it to deposit the charm, and frosting everything very thickly so that no one is the wiser.

Thanks in advance! Any ideas you have would be appreciated!

I’m smiling as I read your post, because I did something similar when I served a roast goose one year. My 80-year-old father-in-law is a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, so when I plated his serving of goose, I slipped a blue plastic “sapphire” under it, in honor of the short story “The Blue Carbuncle.” We all watched him eat the slice of goose, push the sapphire off to the side, without comment, and proceed to the potatoes. I had to tell him what the practical joke was, at which point he was amused.

I assume your guests will be on the alert for the hidden charm, and will not think your kitchen quality control leaves something to be desired after biting into a suspicious object. Having said that, if you want to actually bake something into the cake, you need to choose a material that is a.) heat resistant, 2.) non-reactive with the food. A pure gold coin would be ideal, since gold is inert and heat-resistant. (I’m not sure about silver.) The problem with most coins these days is that they are not a pure metal. Maybe a coin-collector could chime in here with some pointers on how to find something appropriate. Another problem with putting the object into the batter is that it may sink to the bottom.

I would probably do what you suggested and insert the charm in the cake after it is baked. This would give you more leeway on what materials to use. You could use something plastic. Glass or ceramic would also work if the object won’t break when dinged with a fork. I would make the charm big enough that nobody would accidentally swallow it. It might also help to pre-cut the cake into serving pieces, insert the charm squarely into one of those pieces, and proceed to decorate them so they all look alike. Good luck! This is a “charming” tradition.

Hah- a sapphire! That’s a great touch!

Thanks so much for the advice. The gold coin would work, but you’re right- so many coins are now adays made with other supplemental metals that I’m not sure I’d trust one, and my bank account can barely afford heavy cream, much less a pure gold coin for a once-a-year tradition. I also never considered the charm unable to be suspended in the batter and sink to the bottom. Inserting something after the cake is baked might be the best way to go, especially on short notice. Thanks again for the help!

I would very much prefer making thin slit and insert the coin, post bake.  But in any case, how do u prevent cutting thru and revealing the coin accidently when serving?

This reminds me of weddings where you lay ribbons under the cake, one ribbon hides a ring, tied, then every guest pulls a ribbon, in hopes of the charmed one.

Hector, we were at a wedding like that, the bride was from Venezuela. But I never knew how the cake was constructed. The bride made the cake herself, it was amazing, and she probably stayed up til 3 or 4 a.m. the night before doing it.
I didn’t remember that the ribbons were under the cake, but I suppose they must have been.

Hector, I have never heard of the ribbon/ring tradition.  What a lovely idea.

Hector, thanks for sharing the ribbon story, how lovely!

Aren’t both pennies and cooking pots made of copper?  I’m no expert, but if I were doing it I would try a very well-cleaned (not with toxic metal polish!) penny.

Ribbons are placed on the cake plate prior placing the cake.  They slide right out.  You can tie a ring to each ribbon, so all ribbons have the same pulling weight, some people get viscious and test loose each ribbon!  But only one ring is real gold, the others can be bronze or key chain rings as far as I am concerned!

I think pulling ribbons would be fun for xmas or when giving door prizes.  You can fit a little money envelope or a number to correspond a list of gifts.

Boy Hector, I almost like the ribbon idea better than attempting to do a patch job on a hole in the baked cake. It not only avoids the whole issue of disguising the ring’s hiding place within the cake, but also the problem of cutting it within a specific slice of cake, and the slim-but-ever-present chance that one of my friends will ingest it accidentally. I also like the idea of ribbons coming out from below the cake on the stand. Makes me wish I’d baked the chocolate fudge cake in a tube pan somehow- I could put the charms/ribbons in the center and fill it with whipped cream or a light whipped ganache. The ribbons could then be draped out over the cake- might look really pretty!

Thanks so much for all the ideas- you’re really got me thinking of other ways to make this work! Rose’s Chocolate Fudge cake is cooling on the rack as we speak, the ganache is at the ready, and if I have some pretty ribbon in the house, I may try that idea instead. I’ll report back what I ended up doing- happy new year all!

i would go with the ribbons idea!

Our tradition was to put money in the Christmas pudding, never in a cake! It was a boiled, suet-based pudding that tasted like a very good fruitcake and was served with sauce (a brown sugar one at our house). The money was always well-wrapped in a little square of waxed paper.

I understand the custom is quite common in the UK, where the pudding charms are often silver. Only nowadays, people have to sign a waiver in restaurants before being allowed to have one!!