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)
Wow, just wow. I missed that the first time around! Wonder when that challenge will be on again?
I. have. no. words. These were professionals? Did they snort the sugar before they baked?
Wow, so sorry I missed this episode. That thing, I just don't get what it was supposed to be.
This episode is on Food Network again RIGHT NOW!
I could not believe she called this a cake & I can not believe she does this for a living. If you ask me, I wouldn't go to her for a cake... Amazing what goes on in peoples minds.
My favorite part of the video? The porn music. PERFECT to set the mood for a flaming disaster like this one....
No idea where they were going with this idea... Those poor impaled strawberries!
Why did anyone think that setting fire to something covered in sugar and bowls of alcohol was a good idea?
WV: fraphavi -- The fraphavi decorator says to Food Network execs, "See the numbers visiting my site after this one episode? This proves I'm right and a hit. Now gimmee my own show!"
Oh my gosh! That episode is on my TV at this very minute! Now I'm psyched to watch it through to the end. (I am a notorious channel-changer). The cake that they ended up with SURE was a LOT different than their original concept sketch. What on earth went wrong?
oh the horror!
Holy cow. That's...just awful. What on earth were they thinking?!? I've seen some wrecky stuff on those FN challenges, but never anything quite that wrecktastic!
Megan @ adventuresofacarnivore.com
watching the episode now, that thing was a hot ass mess. What a nightmare!
I am sitting here watching Challenge on Food Network and decide to check out Cake Wrecks. I see the fire cake on this site as I am watching it on tv. It was a total mess. I can't believe she tried to make that cake. It was screaming cake wreck from the beginning. I can't wait to see what the judges say! It's coming up after the commercials.
It was only aired or the 1st time on sunday.
I don't know which was more disgusting - the cake or the decorator's arrogance.
I just came back from this woman's website http://www.steviefamulari.net/
>heave<
Sweet Jesus. Help her find her way... This woman is meant to be anything that doesn't require her to be creative. Janitor maybe? I would say ditch digger but I'd be afraid she would decide to get creative with her shovel and then she'd hit a gas main. I'm... speechless. And sad. And confused.
Sorry but I have to admit that people are so ignorant for saying that this is a cake wreck. It's simply a different style of art. People who say that this is ugly has no background in art.
It upsets me how people are unappreciative of other styles other than their own.
The sketch was simply an inspiration and wasn't supposed to look like final product.
HOLY ICING! CAKE WOMAN! That SUCKED! What were they trying to create a big pile of strawberry topped SH&T?
whoa. I just finished watching that episode about 45 minutes ago. I KNEW that cake would be on here. It's just too wrecktastic. I had a pretty hard time figuring out WTF the concept for it even *was*. Something to do ith her opinion of Kerry's personality, I guess?
Urg, Stevie just seems so...I don't even know. Stupid? Arrogant? Insane, maybe? Her work is, every time I've seen it, horrible. It uually looks like something that's n sitting in somone's basement growing mold and getting chewed on by rats. I'm all abut being different and edgy, but she's trying too hard, and she can't even listen to a client about what they like/want.
And can I just say the state of her kitchen made me want to either cry or vomit? I would not wnt to eat anything she made ever. :(
Also,why is it that she didn't seem to anticipate that alcohol+cake+sugar paper was a disaster waiting to happen? Pretty much everyone else did. *headdesk*
Oh, so funny! I just finished watching this episode of Food Network Challenge and spent the whole time thinking, "This cake needs to be on Cake Wrecks." One of the most amazing things to me was that throughout the whole fiasco she maintained that her cake was a beautiful piece of art that most people weren't open-minded enough to appreciate! I was in shock the whole episode!
This must be what Miss Havisham's wedding cake looked like to Pip!
We watched this episode the other night, with my 6 year old. Even *he* didn't like it! He said it was ugly. Now that's bad. lol
All she needed was a plastic Gollum and a couple of plastic Hobbitsies perched on the thing, and she could have gotten away with saying that it was supposed to be a cake representation of Mount Doom! Oh yess, we could have won the contessst, my Precioussss!!
To the person asking about the song: Yes, it's the Beastie Boys. Ricky's Theme, off the Ill Communication album.
WOW! What an awesome wreck! That is the queen of all cake wrecks and should rule for a long, long, long time!!!
Karen
Whoa... Is that even a cake!?
I agree with Clare about setting it on fire...
Did the competitor's behavior concern anyone else? The way she was acting, I couldn't help but wonder if she's manic or something.
I mean seriously, purposefully making her mixer explode powdered sugar everywhere and setting her cake on fire in front of everyone?!?! What. the. hell?
Maybe I'm crazy but I think the only thing you could do to that cake is set it on fire and kill it. Ugh, wtf was that? and why did they let them be on tv?
oh.. i just went to her website. Why do they let her near the food network studios? She's the one who wrapped the christmas tree in what looked like white plastic garbage bags.
I'm still looking and wondering "what is that supposed to be ?" and feeling a little queasy too...what a mess !
In response to Anonymous who is sad that no one "gets" the art:
You can create whatever art piece you want, but if that were my cake and I was paying my hard-earned dollars for it, you'd better believe I would be getting each and every one of those hard-earned dollars back at the end of the day.
Food Network has hit upon a ratings bonanza. How many hits to her website have been generated since the show aired? How many blogs are currently villifying/defending this cake and Stevie's "artistic vision"? The cake is wrecktastic, but she'll be back on Food Network Challenge soon and often.
thank GOD it was set on fire! someone had to put that transporter malfunction out of its misery!
I like fire lol.. pyromania is cool er somethng... but yeah that cake was much prettier after its dusting of flame retardant chemicals... And I LOVE food network challenges.. mindless fun My grandma and i watch them and call eachother to "discuss" the cakes the next day...this time... there were no words it was more "did you see?? Fire???" and that was it. That was wrecktatude on a pretty EPIC level.... it looked like a elementary school science fair project gone wrong... and I am better for seeing it... nothing more thereputic than a good laugh! Thanks for this blog... I usually need laughs.
I love how it was a wreck even before it was on fire..
Dude.
SERIOUSLY.
Whoa.
I--and I comment here enough that some of you may understand how exceptional the following fact truly is--am speechless.
How can you even SNARK on a thing like that?? It's so reality-challenged that it DEFIES SNARK!
Seriously. DUDE. Whoa.
Apparently, there are still more opportunities to view this wreck's creation on Food Network. According to their site, this episode airs again Saturday (6/20) at 4pm ET/PT and Sunday (6/21) at 6pm ET/PT.
Ladies and gentlemen, set your VCRs. ;-)
I visited this 'artists' website and there isn't one thing on her site that looks professional. It all looks like it was done by 4th graders. Impatient, non professional 4th graders. I'm not sure how she even got on the FN challenge. I saw it too and it was pathetic. Really humiliatingly horrible. Poor Stevie.
And they didn't win? That's shocking...
Holy... what the hell were they on?
I think that has to be the quintessential wreck of all time. How hideous....and I didn't think anything with so much chocolate and strawberries could be bad!
What the hey was she thinking with plastering the cake with rice paper? Too lazy to roll out fondant?! eeesh...
Were they aiming for a horror theme...?
Wow... I just saw the whole episode. I had to Tivo it when I saw the clip on this site and luckily for me it was on again this evening.
The rest of the footage was even more of a train wreck than the cake itself. The state of her kitchen was just disgusting and the cake make no sense. When she decided that they wouldn't have enough cake to complete the height and decided to cover the wooden dowels with strawberries instead my mouth just hung open!
I think there is something seriously wrong with that baker. When she was having trouble putting the cake together she kept repeating that she wanted to laugh but couldn't. I thought she meant it was too horrible, but apparently she normally laughs when things go horribly wrong (??) and she eventually did so.
I thought that cake was bad enough but then I saw her website. Nothing there looks remotely edible and if I hired her to make a dessert for an event I would be seriously angry if she brought one of those disgusting creations!
Okay so I must say that cake wrecks was the first thing I thought of when I saw this episode the other night. And this same decorator has been on at least one previous episode of food challenge. The other challenge she competed in was one in which the contestants had to build famous bridges out of breakfast cereal. She chose to construct the mega bridge in bangkok. If anyone can find the episode it is well worth watching. Let's just say it was another mega disaster. But she has truly (not to mention horribly)outdone herself with this flaming birthday cake.
It looks like a set backdrop from the movie "The Dark Crystal". Ewwwww.
That poor woman. Someone lied to her and told her that her work is great. If you've not been on her website, it's quite a treat. Especially "Coco", the chocolate vagina that's under Medium Scale Edible Landscapes. It has read jelly bean type candies coming out....ugh.
Okay, I have to wonder... why did they (apparently) slice up sheet cakes and stack them to make the "walls" of this cake? In concept, the walls looked pretty interesting - use sheet cake sideways and supported by dowels if necessary, yes? And I'm sorry, but there are times when you actually do need fondant, and creating a sleek geometric design is one of them. Yargh.
WV: bedat. As in, "as soon as Ophelia saw this wreck video she had to go to bedat once."
christ on a bike! "who bothered to create you and WHY?!"
What a disgrace to cake decorators everywhere. I saw her website- her "Coco" and "Wedding Cakes" make me want to cry... HORRENDOUS. Her chocolate covered strawberries look covered in mold. Basically- there is NOTHING on her site that I would even THINK about putting into my mouth. DISGUSTING. I've never been mad at a competitor before- but if I met her I might want to smash a cake in her face.