Tuesday
Oct132009
Erring on the Side of Caution...Is Still Erring
October 13, 2009 I admit it: this may partially be my fault.
[wicked grin]
See, Wreckerators now have the following dilemma:
1. Actual cake "decorating" could land them here on Cake Wrecks, but
2. they still have to put something on their cakes, so...
3.
Bada bing, bada boom."Yes sir, there's NO WAY this groom's cake will end up on Cake Wrecks now. Hah! Take THAT, Jen!"
Ah, thank goodness for technology. Who needs airbrushes, poo swirls, and plastic flotsam now?
FYI, Wreckerators: spell check is not missing-word check.This bakery is covering all the bases:
Mmm. Papery.Just don't try this at home, folks. Remember, these people are what we call "professionals."
"Is it edible? Well, sure, I suppose... Uh, do you need extra fiber?"
Sue P., Christine B., Liana E., & Beth E., Congratulation Your
Accomplishments!
- Related Wreckage: Cake Wreckin' Under-Achievers, Unite!
Reader Comments (116)
Who needs airbrushes poo swirls and punctuation Not me Thats for sure
OMG! Lead story on the NYTimes webpage!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?hp
Hilariously unappetizing.
Also --
CONGRATULATIONS on being the front-and-center story on the New York Times website! You've made it big!
Wow! Cakewrecks on the front page of the New York Times website! Way to go!
Just saw you on the NY Times as well.
"Contralulation’s"
Nice mention in today’s Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/709116–it-s-like-your-favourite-blog-but-on-paper
Nah, the personal trainers just have to hand out those t-shirts they sell at the beach.
Omg! the NYT! Front and center online! CONTRAGULATIONS!
Hey, Jen--you do know you made it to the New York Times today, don't you?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?hpw
Round my neck of the woods that classifies as "the big time..."
You're in the New York Times!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?ref=technology
Karen
I'm sure you already know, but congrats on the NYTimes article!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?em
I read your blog EVERYDAY!
hey gary,
this is the website i was talking about sugar art products.
www.sunflowersugarartusa.com
by the way congrats on the nytimes article!
Paper?! I think i like the idea. =D
Summer
http://www.soloden.com/" rel="nofollow">A Writers Den
http://julesmariano.com/" rel="nofollow">Brown Mestizo
So, on the third picture...did anyone else spot the one that was decorated http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/06/graduate-celebrate-decorate.html" rel="nofollow">styrafoam?
That made me laugh as much as anything else.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?_r=2&hp
new york times!!
congratulations on your review in the NYTimes- absolutely incredible!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?_r=1
Congrats on making the NY Times today! How exciting!
The only problem I had with my cake decorator for my wedding is that she wouldn't even just outline-and-fill on the coat-of-arms sugar-paper print we had. I mean, how hard is that? Seriously. Tracing and filling so it doesn't look like a sugar-paper print can't possibly be that out-there, can it? 'Cuz she was adamant about not doing so.
(Otherwise, everything tasted and looked fantastic. It was just that one tiny thing that really bothered.)
Gee whiz, and the last one isn't even spelled right! Blargh.
I know people are feeling the economy crunch but seriously, being frugal doesn't necessarily mean one has to be tacky.
Although I can design a mean flyer in Publisher. Maybe there's a job for me as a wreckorator! XD
Re: NYT--I cracked up when I read that Mary Alice from Ace of Cakes reads CW to make sure their cakes don't end up here...That's so cool. (well, a few have, but in a good way...although there was the Star Trek flap but that was still a Sunday Sweet!)
Jen & John, you have officially arrived. Wreck on! =D
Well, I am a professional decorator, at least I get paid for doing it. Although I have made many thousands of cakes over the years, lots of flowers, lots of figure piping, transferring pictures to cakes has always been something people want. While I have never understood the appeal of putting someone's face on a cake and then eating it, people are willing to pay for it, and it pays our wages. Some days 50% of our orders are photo cakes. In the olden days we had a "KopyKake" projector that would project pictures down onto the cake and we had to outline around the picture with black piping gel, then fill it in with colored gel or airbrush the colors in. It seldom looks very good...faces were difficult. The cakes we make with the Photoocake process is much more rewarding, and turns out much better. Pictures on cakes are a product people want, and are willing to pay for. The "paper" we use to print on is edible, some of it is even fondant sheets. The only cake I have a problem with in today's post is the scroll one; poorly done. A border around the pictures on the other two cakes would have taken away the "piece of paper on a cake" look. A customer obviously brought in the pictures and asked the bakery to put it on a cake for them. The bakery got paid to do it, and Jen is getting paid for making fun of them I guess.
The Photocake computer, scanner and printer is expensive, the edible ink and edible sheets are expensive, and replacing the print heads every few months is expensive, and that is why those cakes cost more.
Also, I am almost certain that the cakes in the "bakery covering all the bases" are dummy cakes. Probably have too much display space available for the amount of business they do.
End of rant,
Lori
Oh God I hate all that air brushed junk! Blah!
I'm not wild about those edible ink wafers they put on those cakes either. They look freakish.
youre featured on yahoo!!! http://www.yahoo.com/ quoting your ny times article!! yayyyyyyyyy
Hahah! and congrats on making the NY Times dining & wine section online!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?no_interstitial
Just saw that the article about you on NY Times is currently the most emailed article on the site! Way to go!
congrats on the yahoo front page story!!
Congrats on the NY Times article! I hope the second leg of the book tour goes well!
Laura
"Congradlashuns" on the "article" in the "NY Times"!!!! Hear's too many more wrecks to come!!!!
(Oo, I like the double meaning there - haha)
WV: Kinab - what happens when a criminal has a cold.
Congratulations on your continued success. I read the article on Yahoo and giggles that Mary Alice would check to see if their work would end up here.
Well, if it were a Sunday, it would.
WV-bearmoon - What happens before the bear you-know-whats in the woods.
NOO! You took down the anti-nazi cake?
Come on! The cake was ugly whether or not those ninja stars were swastikas. And the ninja stars weren't even remotely subtle. It was still a wreck. Nothing like the gorgeous cakes on their website, and I doubt the experienced baker did the piping.
And obviously the baker is using heavy-handed tactics if she shut down both you and Yelp. Come on! If she'd apologize, explain why the less skilled decorator did the cake, and refund the woman's money, this would just be a story to laugh at instead of a kerfluffle.
So, so sad you've set a precedent of removing entries when the baker complains. That's a very slippery slope to start down with a blog like this.
Congratulations on your NYTimes article! =)
oh my goodness jen, you were featured on Yahoo! woohoo congrats! and this is hilarious, as always :D i love your blog!
I like those little Japanese candies that come wrapped in rice paper - the ones you pop into your mouth wrapping and all. But these look like just regular copy paper. Ugh.
I just read the article about you and the site in the New York Times. Way to go! My sister told me about your blog and I check it every morning.
I've been a follower for about a year and was so excited to see the New York Time article on the Yahoo! homepage. Congrats and keep up the great work. It makes me smile every day!
Late to the party today, but super huge congrats on your appearance in the NY Times! Glad you and John are back up to speed after the tour mishap/illnesses over the past couple weeks. Ummm, that's all I had to say really - great blog, love ya, keep up the awesome wreckiness! :)
Katrina Stonoff,
We've actually taken down 7 posts in the past year and a half due to sad or irate bakers. It takes a lot for it to happen but it's almost always with good reason.
The baker of today's cake was receiving racist hate mail and that is where we draw the line. That's when it stops being funny.
Sorry we took it down but we did. Tomorrow is a new day and a new wreck.
Best,
john
ps. It could be worse...we could be like PoW or AFP. They take down posts by the hour.
Oh my gosh, The NY Times???? How sweet is that??
congrats jen! you made the New York Times! here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?no_interstitial
yay!
best wishes,
elizabeth
Well, I certainly don't support racist hate mail especially since it was obvious that the baker didn't intend offense.
However I'm disappointed to hear that you'll take down photos if the bakers ask. You lose credibility, IMO, by that tactic. I start to wonder how many of those beautifully executed wrecks were specifically created in the hopes of getting a little free Cakewreck publicity.
I also think the baker deserves the bad publicity. Regardless of racist undertones, which I absolutely understand was not intended, the cake didn't come close to the quality of the ones on her site. It was not professional at all, and from many of the comments on Yelp, this isn't the first time it's happened.
Still, I'm sorry about your very rough day, especially since you are supposed to be recuperating, and Jen should be flying high on the success of her book and tour.
Katrina,
If we lose credibility by taking down a post when the baker is truly saddened or, like today, frightened, than so be it. It's not worth it.
john
I think you folks did the right thing in removing today's post at the baker's request.
Wreck-y cake or not, she's still a human being who shouldn't have to deal with hate messages. I'd be very sad if any of those came from regular, everyday Wrecktators.
I turned my husband on to this site and when we got our copy of the book, we spent an evening reading it out loud together and laughing 'til our sides ached. (Our personal, wetting-our-pants-laughing favorite is still the fireman...you know which one I'm talking about...) I visit the site everyday for the laughs.
It's really disappointing - though sadly not as surprising as it should be, even the internets - that the baker received racist hate mail. I think you guys made the right call pulling the last post based on that.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html?no_interstitial
The link above is to the New York Times' website and. more specifacally, the artiicle they did on- you guesed it- CakWrecks! Yes, you probably saw this already, maybe even talked with the writer, but just in case- there it is! CONGRATULASHUNS; JEN 4 BEING RECOGNIZED BY THE NY TIMES IN BIG LETTERS
Fair enough.
And I agree with Just a Girl: I'd like to think none of the hate mail came from regular readers. We all understand this is just for fun (I say this as someone who learned long ago to laugh at her own mistakes).
Thanks for posting my comment. I didn't think you would (though I knew you'd read it, and I was writing more for you than the public anyway).
Congratulations on the NY Times news article. I just saw it as a Featured story on my Yahoo News! Great Job!
Heavens Above~~How I Hate It When Every Word In A Sentence Is Capitalized....
(...and just *maybe* the "Aspirations" cake didn't know how to do a capital "O" that wouldn't come out just looking like another fancy squiggle.)
(who thehell nose?)
=^??^=
Hey just seen you guys on yahoo.com. too cool
I usually read your lj feed, but you hit the times and I was curious if there was baker wank yet.
There was. Classy.
Hey, quick question (or 2 or 3 or 5) for ya:
That "covering all the bases" cake...
Why is it so dark in that store? Do they dim the lights so that people (as in, "potential customers") can't see the cakes well enough to really appreciate the (clears throat) artwork?
OR, if the store is actually closed, why do they need light at all? Will the cakes get nightmares about themselves without a nightlight?
OR, maybe the light is to attract thieves who are looking for a late-night snack, and the cakes are sitting on an alarm wired to the P.D.?
So many questions....
so little interest in the answers.
>^~-^<