According to ripleys, they baked special “dumb cakes” and followed a stringent ritual that was supposed to give them information about their future spouses. The first reference to this romantic divination practice, which took place for as long as 300 years, dates back to the 1680s, according to Oxford Reference. 

A LITERAL RECIPE FOR LOVE

The ritual typically involved three young women, and the process was a bit laborious. Some recipes for the cake required unsavoury ingredients such as soot, urine, hair, and nail clippings, but most required water as well as salt, wheat meal, and barley meal (sometimes measured in “egg shells” instead of cups, tablespoons, etc.).

It’s unclear exactly where the tradition started, but at least one historian, Ruth Enda Kelley, firmly believes it has its roots in the Scottish Isle of Lewis, according to Atlas Obscura. The practice may also be tied to a Scottish Highlands tradition in which salty bread is made on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, to foretell who one’s sweetheart will be in a dream.

Dumb cakes were often prepared during certain times of the year that some people believed were most conducive to love divination: Halloween, Christmas Eve, St. Agnes’s Eve (January 20), and midsummer.

A SILENT TREATMENT FOR YOUR TREAT

A vital aspect of the dumb cake ritual is that the women had to make the cakes in complete silence. If the bakers broke this rule, the spell would be broken, and they wouldn’t get the answers they wanted about their future husbands.

It’s possible this part of the ritual came from a misunderstanding of the Middle English word “dom,” which could mean fate or destiny, but was instead interpreted as “dumb.” The term “dumb” was previously used to describe people who are unable to speak, although that usage is considered outdated and offensive today.  

The Joyride does not encourage that you try this recipe at home, but if you want to read more about this recipe and how it was used, click here. If you somehow still don't trust that read there, you can try this one here which goes into deeper detail about the cake, the recipe and also talks about what is known as "the dumb supper".