When I was little my favorite birthday cake was angel food with pink frosting. It had to be angel food and it had to be pink. (Today it is chocolate. Of course.) I don’t remember the plate, just the cake.
Whether your favorite cake is angel food with pink frosting or it’s chocolate with chocolate frosting, it just tastes better when it is served on a pretty plate like this Mayfair pink depression glass one. Depression glass makers made cake plates like this in only a few patterns: Hocking’s Mayfair, Miss America, Cameo and Princess, Federal’s Sharon from Federal and Jeannette’s Doric, Cherry Blossom, Sunflower and Adam. I didn’t find any cake plates listed for depression glass from Hazel Atlas.
The cake plates in all these patterns are similar. They have little feet that keep the plate off the table and a flat surface. Now if you make cakes at all you will think “of course the top is flat”, because if you put a cake on a sloped surface the cake will sink in the center. (Unless you goof and your cake is one of those strange rubber-like confections.) It’s odd but most of the torte plates and cake plates that I’ve seen in elegant glass patterns are not flat. They have depressions in the center.
There are a couple things to know about depression glass cake plates. People used these for cakes. A lot. They will have some wear. The edges of the feet and rims get rough with use. If that bothers you then you’ll want to ask about it or check plates over before you buy one.
Another point is if you put a cake on this then you want to hold onto the handle (conveniently located on the Hocking plates) when you cut the cake. Otherwise it could go skittering off the cupboard, cake, plate and frosting. Messy!
Both these points are minor. Go ahead and enjoy a vintage piece like this. You can put cupcakes or cookies on it if you don’t plan to let them eat cake!
Thanks for visiting our Pink Saturday pink depression glass post this week, and as always a big thank you to Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for organizing this fun event. Please be sure to visit the other bloggers to see how pink we can be.