KILL IT WITH FIRE!! (Oh wait, they already did...)
June 17, 2009 This Wreck is from last year, but since they ran the episode on Food Network recently I've been inundated with requests - nay, demands - that I feature it immediately. (And by the way, you guys are just so cute when you get bossy.)
We're fortunate that CW reader Jason got a hold of the actual episode this week, because he made a quick minute-and-a-half recap that captures the true Wrecktastic essence of this masterpiece. It also had John nearly crying with laughter, so you must watch:
I should mention that the challenge was to create a birthday cake for Kerry Vincent, aka the Simon Cowell of cake competitions. This is not the lady you screw up in front of. Or make towering spikes of cake and fruit and paper lathered up with melted goo and then set aflame in front of.
Yep, there were small bowls of alcohol set in the cake, which the creators lit to simulate birthday candles. Unsurprisingly to everyone except perhaps the bakers themselves, the cake then caught on fire.
Here it is covered with a fine dusting of fire extinguisher foam, which most everyone agreed was a visual improvement:
Now THAT is a Cake Wreck, folks.Still, before you guys rip on these gals too much, consider how boring the world would be without those daring innovators who are willing to go down in flames [smirk] for the sake of their art. I say we applaud these brave souls, and encourage all the ingenuity, forward-thinking, and pyromania that we can. [nodding seriously] Wreck on, my friends, wreck on.
- Related Wreckage: Sandra Lee Shows Us How It's (Not) Done
Reader Comments (368)
I'd have been absolutely mortified to even be associated with presenting that to Kerry Vincent! Kinda like a train wreck- you don't wanna look, but you can't help it!
I watched this episode. This baker has done other disasterous cakes on those competition shows. She's a nut. Honestly I really think she ought to do her abstract "art" with a different medium than cake art, because the world of cake and icing doesn't and can't accommdate some of the stupid ideas with which she comes up. Ug, and she's so delisional too.
Chrissy
I was just checking out her site, and remember her from the Christmas Tree competition too, where she put on a ton of ornaments and then wrapped the entire thing so you couldn't see any of it. I am amazed that she puts this stuff on her site!
I think I have seen this baker on a another challenge...the candy bridge one perhaps. She is um...different...I've done the cake thing and yes it is art for sure, but, I don't think it should be abstract, I need a whole lot of acid to get this cake kind of art.
What IS that???
Amy B.
That thing was hideous before the fire... what the heck were they trying for? Oh man.
Was she absent from school the day they taught that paper and fire don't play well together? I don't get why she would cover a cake with paper anyway, let alone add fire knowing there was so much paper. She may be Darwin Award material in the future.
the baker who did that is crazy. my favorite was when she did "cereal bridges" and she made hers sideways and covered in seaweed. she (weirdly enough) lives in fargo, nd (where i am) part of the year, and has a crazy, messed up yard as well. they ran a whole article about her in the fargo forum, and i don't think they even mentioned her cakes.
Oh dear god, not only is her work a brand new definition of wrecktastic, but her website is too! *shudders*
I caught that episode the other night with my six year old and we were possibly even more horrified than the judges. That "baker" (and I use the term loosely) is a whack job.
Y'know, somehow I can't help but think this had to be a plant. Food Network notices its ratings falling, so brings on someone to totally hose up a cake...instant ratings.
The competition shows begin to bore me after the 400th one...
Oh man that's all sorts of a mess. I saw her earlier this year on the bridge cake challenge where she decided to make a vertical bridge (because we all know those exist...) that ended up being a complete disaster (or joke really).
I understand that my cake decorating knowledge is still not very expansive, but surely you'r suposed to take the baking paper off before decoration it.
Also,I'm fairly sure it's common knowlage that sugar is flamable.
And is it just me or does it look a little like that wedding cake wreck from a while back.
oh dear, that is a Wreck w/ a capital W! I hate when a project keeps getting worse the more you try to 'fix' it.
I don't know if you've seen this yet, or if you can use the image, but I read it and I thought of you:
http://failblog.org/2009/06/10/cake-fail-2/
It seems like Holly's parents already have a career in mind for her...
Stevie is a notorious wreck-maker. She's one of those artists that believes that her 'art' is above criticism because it's art. ::rolls eyes:: She takes it most seriously. But the truth is, she makes crap. Real art is beyond her reach.
She was PROUD of that piece of crap! And she gushed when one of the judges made some platitudes about understanding her 'vision' or 'art' or whatnot... OMG...
I've seen two shows with her 'work' and they were both disgusting. And seeing how she manhandled everything, who the hell would want to eat something that has been squished and manipulated like that? It's disgusting. She's a total slob in the kitchen too. Her website speaks it all; her overblown sense of talent, and the wrecktastic truth of her product...
I find no enjoyment in her participation in these challenges. I don't really understand why the Food Network asks her to be on. There are enough "characters" without involving her. It looked like she brought pieces of old cake to use for her design. Nasty. Someone in her life must have told her that she is talented...someone on acid!
Bec
she reminds me of my days as an architecture student in studio class: there would always be that one person with the "conceptual" design that "no one got," which loosely translates to a pile of crap. these people are amazingly tenacious - the girl in my architecture class persevered for four years before giving it up despite subtle and not-so-subtle hints to change her major. creative industries such as architecture and (serious) professional cooking/baking just do not forgive that kind of crap - the sheer amount of stress and pressure she must go through to keep making this stuff and appearing on shows must be astounding. i hope she quits.
i agree so much with everyones comments already!
I just have to add.. her website is almost as painful as the wrecks! Goodness.. it reminds me of the angelfire.com website I made as a 14 year old BSB fan in 97 !! Yuck
My wife and I were watching this episode and the whole time we were laughing at this cake and wondering how long it'd take to appear on your blog!
I'm just trying to figure out WTH they were thinking???? Like Kerry would even like that mess!
Wasn't that also the woman who did the Christmas Tree episode where she decorated it really nicely and then WRAPPED the entire tree in edible sheets of gelatin? What a nut job!
I also loved how hard Kerry laughed when they sprayed it with a fire extinguisher.
The cake didn't really look all that appealing to begin before they set it on fire...Maybe it's just me?
wow, this cake actually does look like SOMETHING... a garbage land fill! It really is a wreck because you just can't tear your eyes away!!
Truly the most hideous and wreckworthy cake I've ever seen. And that was before the fire. Good Lord am I terrified for the world now.
I think that this really may be the worst cakewreck I've ever seen. It's in a class all its own- this is the standard of horribleness to which all future cakewreckers should aspire. *impressed*
...but, wait, you mean they didn't mean for it to turn out that way? 0_0
What a flaming pile! Just perfect. Bring on the Fire Marshal! The extinguisher dusted it like fine snow. Awesome. I am speechless. What was Kerry's reaction?
The strawberry sticks resemble nothing more than dozens of tiny severed heads on pikes. Off with her head...Ack!!
I hope they don't invite her back for another competition. She really has not made anything even close to the quality of the other people on the show. She'll only be remembered for this horrible cake and that falling bridge thing. Even her website is a mess. I definately wouldn't get her to decorate a cake for me.
It's time they take her off and give another unknown a chance to make a name for themselves and hopefully stir up some business.
That may actually be the worst cake of all Cake Wrecks. It's mind-boggling.
I watched that episode of Cake Challenge just other night. I was so annoyed by Stevie, I really don't like her. She came with her plans already drawn up before she came. She didn't care who her customer was or what the customer wanted. Then she proceeded to make this disaster. Her kitchen was discusting while she was working, it looked like she threw food all over. I am annoyed at Food Network for even allowing her on. I hope they never invite her back. Sorry, I'll get off my box now.
My God . . . I just checked out the link someone posted to some of Stevie's other creations, and the woman can make dipped strawberries look like something I just vomited up. Sometimes it's best to be brutally honest with children when they develop an interest in something that is clearly beyond their abilities, because otherwise you just wind up encouraging them to grow up into people like Stevie. Bleah.
Wow...poor design, less-than-quality ingredients (if you're going to use strawberries as a professional, make sure they're actually RIPE), an I-Know-Better-Than-You attitude and crappy execution...hey! I think I've done plays with this lady!
You mean she DIDN'T do that on purpose to get at someone (Kerry) she disliked so much? I think she's had run ins with Kerry before....
OMG that woman is insane. I was appalled by the condition of her kitchen. I'm not always the neatest baker but I NEVER have a kitchen that disastrous and unsanitary. It was sickening!
And I'd like to say that the other guys cake, with the Chanel purse? Was a little bit wrecktastic as well, considering how COMPLETELY off base it was for Kerry.
Jason is awesome though! I'm so glad he won. That cake was beautiful. I would have been happy for Zane if he though, he did a great job for having to step into the limelight unexpectedly!
Oh man. So hilarious, but so very sad. They worked very hard on that flaming pile of crap. I can see what their vision was, but the execution? Whooo boy. I love this site. It always makes my day.
If anyone wants to catch the whole thing, that episode is airing again this afternoon on Food Network, at 7pm eastern time/6pm Central.
Leisa
Oh man, Stevie Famulari!! We get so mad every time we see her on a cake challenge! I would give my left mixer to have a shot on that show and she's on for the second (or maybe third) time and likes like a buffoon each and every time! I hope that Food Network bans her from any future competitions!
I really think she wrecked that one on purpose just to stick it to Kerry Vincent.
Oh-My-God. I mean that was purposeful, right? Right?
I'm all for following one's creative impulses, but to ask others to have an open mind, then complain when people "don't get it" means she's the one with the closed mind. Is a FN Challenge really the venue for her work to be appreciated? Does she seriously expect to compete with these other folks? It's an apples and oranges situation. Also, if you don't want to accept the challenge of working with an assignment, like a particular customer, then don't enter this competition! Duh. I make custom jewelry, but if I have some other design I want to express, then I'll just make it and maybe sell it later or not.
Does FN really need the ratings? Certainly got Stevie a lot of traffic on her website. Sigh.
That and the fact that this particular baker (why for the life of me can't I remember her name) has always make "creative" stuff. Rememeber her edible christmas tree decorations?? it was basically a tree wrapped in edible plastic wrap stuff. No one on the judging panel was impressed at all.
Apparently she forgot that cake is supposed to be EATEN. Or did she deliberately make it inedible so nobody would ruin her "vision" by cutting it up?
She was going for a King Kong thing, right? Sacrificing those poor, innocent strawberries to the beast...
XD It's Kerry's job to be a critic. She may not be sunshine, but she does do her job well.
I was just thinking about how much I'd like them to have a Cake Wrecks challenge.
I'm not even pro.
Seriously I could do better. I bet most of us that read the blog could have done better! Not even close to pro and we could.
Saw this CakeWreckers site..
and holy..!!!
Look at this!
http://www.steviefamulari.net/popups/B3j.html
... Seriously?!
... and the rest of it..
wow.. she's 2 tons of crazy in a tiny human package!
I am so happy you touched on this, if people haven't seen this show, you need to. Stevie, the decorator, is so pushy and hates Keri so much, it's uncomfortable to watch. She even said the customer isn't always right. WTF?
When I watched that episode this weekend, I became annoyed on a couple levels. Firstly, I call these idiots "Reality Show Ratings Plants". You know, those talentless, clueless, emotional trainwrecks that every single "reality show" inserts among real competitors - obviously encouraged to stir up drama and lunacy for ratings. I hate that this kind of crap has become the standard for tv now.
Secondly, if this woman wasn't a plant and truly what foodies consider some sort of visionary culinary artist, I have news for them: Dadaism is dead and has no place in the culinary arts. It demeans true culinary artists and makes those that embrace this sort of nonsense look ridiculous. There is nothing innovative or creative about anti-art as art. It's been done to death for over a century and should no longer be taken seriously. Neo-Dadaists are the attention-whore trolls of the art world. It's time to ignore them. Instead, this woman will become another celebrity because she's a complete idiot and for whatever reason, people love that. Borrrrriinnnng.
I find it insulting to the other cake designers that Food Network continues to invite Stevie to these challenges.
Kind of makes me wonder if they put her on the show simply so people like you and me would talk about it later.
Mission accomplished. Any publicity is good publicity, so they say.