Dessert Servers 101

Not everything that looks like a server takes the cake. A pie, cake, or pastry server has an almost-flat blade, is generally triangular in shape, and comes to some sort of point to get under the dessert. This is a list of some objects that look a bit like dessert servers but were designed for other functions.

From top:

Jelly trowel: It's like a sharp-beaked seabird, shaped to get to the bottom of things, and it's much narrower than a pie server.

Vegetable or berry implement: This server looks a lot like a dessert server, but the fairly deep bowl indicates that it was used for vegetables or berries. The scalloped bottom edge makes it possible to drain a bit of liquid before you serve.

Fish server: The slightly fishy outline suggests what it was for. This one is plain and symmetrical, though many fish servers have marine motifs and a shape more similar to the crumber (below).

Tomato server: The round disk is the giveaway to this tool's purpose.

Crumber: It's asymmetrical, with walls on three sides, so that what has spilled on the tablecloth doesn't also spill over the back.