The Salem witch trials witch cake was a peculiar aspect of the events that took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 17th century. During this time, a mass hysteria spread throughout the town, leading to the accusation and execution of numerous individuals for practicing witchcraft. In an attempt to identify the supposed witches, the community resorted to various methods of detection, one of which included the creation and consumption of a witch cake. This cake was believed to possess mystical properties that could reveal the identity of the witches involved. The witch cake was made using a mixture of rye meal and the urine of the afflicted girls, who claimed to be under the influence of witches. It was then baked and fed to a dog.
A Witch Cake for Early April
Those who are familiar with the established narrative of the Salem Witch Trials will recognize the reference to a “witch cake”, in that case concocted of the urine of the afflicted mixed with rye meal and ashes, baked in cake form and fed to a dog with the hope that the beast would somehow reveal the name of the malevolent witch. In 1692 Tituba assisted Mary Sibley in the preparation of a witch cake in order to identify the person(s) responsible for bewitching the young girls in Samuel Parris’s household, an act that would later be used to condemn her. In Salem the witch cake was clearly used as a form of counter-magical test; while in Britain it was more commonly used as a defensive amulet against the bewitchment of a person or household. There are many surviving examples of anti-witchcraft charms and amulets in British collections, everything from pierced “hag-stones” to very familiar horseshoes, but more perishable cakes are hard to find. But here is one, which doesn’t look very perishable at all!
This witch cake, which dates not from the seventeenth but rather the twentieth century, is part of the large (around 1400 items) collection of charms, amulets and talismans accumulated by British folklorist Edward Lovett (1852-1933), who seems to have been more interested in the magical artifacts and beliefs of his own time than those of the past. Lovett was an amateur folklorist in a time when that pursuit was being professionalized: he worked as a bank cashier by day and walked the streets of London by night, listening to the stories and purchasing the personal charms of street hawkers, sailors, and washerwomen, or whoever came upon his path armed with “protection”. (You can follow his steps here). This research formed the basis of his fascinating book Magic in Modern London (1925), and his collection can now be found chiefly in three institutions: the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University, the Cuming Museum on South London (which has been closed due to a fire, but many of its collections have been preserved and digitized), and the Wellcome Museum. The items below, including a cow’s heart stuck with pins and nails (upper right-hand corner, used by a dairyman as a talisman against a man he believed had put a curse on his cows), and the two anti-witchcraft charms, the ram’s horn with attached key and hag-stone below, all come from the Cuming collection, along with the more familiar charms. Acorns abound, to guard against lightning, and the wishbone wrapped in blue and red ribbon is almost a work of art!
And below are some Lovett amulets purchased from British soldiers who fought in the First World War: hand votives guard against the “evil eye”, geological charms protect the wearer from a host of evils, and black cats were actually lucky in some parts of Britain, unlike the rest of the world.
Back to the Witch Cake, about which I don’t have too much information. There is Lovett’s own description: around about Flamborough Head [in Yorkshire], “witch cakes are to be met with in almost every cottage. These are circular-shaped, with a hole in the middle and with spikes projecting on all sides. If you hang one up in your cottage and once a year burn it and replace it with another [presumably during Holy Week, or the first week of April], you will have good luck. But no recipe!
Witch Cakes
Alternatively: If you do not have a dog at hand, you may also burn the cake, punishing the spirit with the torments of Hell. Burying the cake to trap the demon in the earth is also an acceptable substitution.
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From the History Shapes Cookbook, available now:
Friends, don’t hesitate. If you or your loved ones have been the victim of demonic possession by a witch, warlock, or an evil mage of any kind, then the Witch Cake is the recipe for you.
Witch Cakes come from a time when evil spirits were thought to roam free and possess good, Christian folks all willy-nilly. During that era, this small cake made of rye meal had a very special mission. When combined with the urine of an afflicted person, the Witch Cake acted as both demon alarm and a way to give it the boot.
There's a lot to unpack here. Unfortunately, we don't know a lot more than the basics listed above.
What we do know is that if you found yourself in the unfortunate predicament of being enchanted by the dark forces of Satan, you made a Witch Cake. It was thought that traces of possession would pass through a person's urine, because sure, why not? Combining that malevolent pee-pee with rye or another grain would “trap” the spirit or witch in a physical form.
To rid yourself of the witch, you had to rid yourself of the cake. You could bury it, burn it, or you could feed it to the family dog. Dogs were thought to be the “animal helpers” of witches. Forcing Rover to gulp down your tinkle cake would compel him to speak the name of the witch responsible for your troubles. Didn’t have talking dogs on your Witch Cake bingo card, did you?
Among members of the fringe religious groups that settled in early America, this whole process was a lot more common than you might think. To put another way, the United States was at least partially founded by people who collected each other’s piss and thought dogs could talk. And it gets crazier: Witch Cakes were the entire reason that the infamous Salem witch trials began.
Around 1692, Reverend Samuel Parris' daughter was acting bonkers and no one could figure out why. While he was out of town, his nosy neighbor Mary Sibley told Parris' Native American slaves John Indian and his wife, Tituba, to make a Witch Cake to get to the bottom of it. John and Tituba fed the cake to the Parris family dog and Fido was supposed to eat the cake, trip out, and reveal the name of its evil master.
We don't know what the cake fed to the Parris family dog looked like. The only two surviving Witch Cakes are from the 1850s and they look like "spiky bagels" according to Scarborough Museums Trust.
Yeah, it didn't work.
When Parris returned home and found out what his slaves had done, he got just as pissed as the cake and went bonkers himself trying to find witches in his community. At least 25 people would die over the nearly year-and-a-half-long Salem witch trials.
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In the 1600s, baked goods made with flour and urine were believed to ward off evil
Atlas Obscura has a weirdly fun piece about "witch cakes," a popular baked good from the 1600s. As it turns out, the Salem Witch Trials were not, uhhh, taking the piss:
The origins of the tragic trials lay within Reverend Samuel Parris's own home. In January 1692, his daughter, Betty, and his niece, Abigail Williams, claimed to be suffering from fits and feelings of being attacked by an invisible force. Thinking it the work of witchcraft, a local woman named Mary Sibley proposed countering the dark magic by baking a cake using flour and the girls' urine, then feeding it to a dog. While the reverend and his wife were away, Sibley had the Parris's enslaved servants, Tituba and John, make the cake and give it to the family pet.
[…]
When Parris found out, he was incensed. Not only did the cake fail to change the girls' symptoms, more people came forward with claims of being bewitched. Also, some of the girls now accused Tituba, who merely carried out Mary Sibley's orders, of witchcraft (Sibley was never accused). To Parris, it was the cake, more so than the girls' symptoms, that unleashed evil upon Salem.
I can't imagine why Arthur Miller left this detail out of The Crucible. But these pee-based witch cakes were hardly unique to the denizens of modern-day Danvers:
They exist alongside other charms, such as hag stones and witch bottles. The latter were similar to the cakes, in that they also used a bewitched person's urine, along with materials such as hair, iron nails, and bent pins.
The term "witch cakes" is more of a modern rebranding. They were mostly known as "urine cakes" or, if the writer was feeling fancy, a cake made with a person's "water." While a far cry from a delicious cake ingredient, urine was the crucial element in warding off witches. The belief in the cake's efficacy was rooted in sympathetic magic: the best way to break that connection was to take a physical representation of the bewitched (i.e., their urine) and manipulate it in some way.
It's a weirdly fascinating article, if you have the stomach for it.
It was then baked and fed to a dog. The theory behind this method was that the cake, once eaten by the dog, would cause the witch to experience pain and react, thus exposing their true identity. This practice, borrowed from English folklore, was based on the belief that witches had the ability to afflict individuals through supernatural means.
The cutest cake on the internet
A woodland rabbit cake deserves an award for being the cutest cake on the internet. I love the Calico Critters standing on it- I've never seen them used as cake… READ THE REST
By using the witch cake, the people of Salem hoped to uncover the witches within their midst and bring an end to the supposed spells and afflictions. However, the witch cake method proved to be ineffective in identifying the witches. The trials continued, and a total of twenty people were executed, nineteen of whom were hanged and one pressed to death. The Salem witch trials witch cake stands as a stark reminder of the extreme measures taken during this dark period in American history. It epitomizes the widespread fear and paranoia that gripped the community, leading to the wrongful accusation and execution of innocent individuals based on mere speculation and superstition. The witch cake serves as a haunting symbol of the tragic consequences that can occur when fear and ignorance take hold of society. In hindsight, the witch cake method seems absurd and nonsensical. It reflects the desperation and irrationality that dominated the mindset of the people of Salem at that time. Thankfully, lessons have been learned from this dark chapter, and the injustice and hysteria of the Salem witch trials serves as a cautionary tale for future generations..
Reviews for "The Peculiar Story of the Salem Witch Trials Witch Cake"
1. Sarah - 2 stars - I was really excited to try the Salem witch trials witch cake, but I was sorely disappointed. The cake was dry and lacked any real flavor. Additionally, the texture was a bit too dense for my liking. I had heard so much about this historical delicacy, but it just didn't live up to the hype for me. I would not recommend.
2. John - 1 star - The Salem witch trials witch cake was an absolute disaster. It tasted like burnt rubber and the aftertaste lingered for hours. The ingredients seemed to be haphazardly thrown together without any real thought to the flavors. It was a waste of money and I regretted even taking a bite. I would highly suggest avoiding this cake at all costs.
3. Emily - 3 stars - I have mixed feelings about the Salem witch trials witch cake. While I appreciate the historical significance and the effort put into recreating this traditional recipe, the taste just didn't do it for me. The cake was overly sweet and the spices were overpowering. However, I can see how some people might enjoy the unique flavors and appreciate the cultural experience. It's really a matter of personal preference, so I would recommend giving it a try if you're curious but don't have high expectations.