Centuries ago, a woman who wanted to have a child might munch on a liebesknochen, a cream-filled, German pastry whose name literally means bone of love (the German liebe is related to the English love and to the Latin libido; the German knochen, meaning bone, is related to the English knuckle). Unlike edible underwear, a mere novelty item in our culture, liebesknochen originated as a genuine fertility remedy for childless couples. If, however, this creamy pastry did not do the trick, a barren Fraulein might also try vielliebchen, a cake whose appearance left little to the imagination: long and tube-like with two almonds ornamenting one end. The cake’s name derives from the German vielliebchen, literally meaning many darlings. The ancient Romans had similar fertility foods: coliphila, meaning love food, and siligone, meaning bread seed, were both breads shaped like genitalia.