deadcake

plural deadcakes · alternative dead cake

1. historicalA small cake or cookie served at a funeral in Dutch-settled colonial New York, often inscribed with the initials of the deceased.

   In addition, they delivered a bottle of wine, a pair of gloves, and two “deadcakes” that were actually large cookies not to be eaten, but kept as a memento of the deceased.

   2009, Don Corbly, The Last Colonials, →ISBN, page 191

   2 more examples

   The cakes were of an especial kind and were called "deadcakes." In the case of a funeral in the family of the rich, or of those high-up in the official life of the Colony, large sums were spent on the wine and it was not unusual for a supply of it to be put in the cellar long before the first death so that it would be on hand and improving by age.

   1905, George S. Roberts, Old Schenectady, page 45

   ...and of the festivities following Dutch Reformed Church funerals, during which the men who had been invited met after the interment and heartily (some said riotously) toasted the departed with choice wine and "deadcakes" prepared especially for the occasion.

   1980, Jonathan Pearson, First Reformed Church of Schenectady, Three centuries: the history of the First Reformed Church of Schenectady, 1689-1980