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)
That episode was on last night and it was horrifying. I almost threw-up about five times. The kitchen was filthy and the cake... well the cake is definately a wreck.
They showed an artists rendering of what her cake was supposed to look like near the top of the show. The rendering actually looked good. Nice clean lines, lots of color. How she went from that design to mud mountain is beyond me.
Best line of the night came from Kerry's husband during the judging. (paraphrasing)"No cake has ever truly wowed her on this show. Well, you have 'Wow'ed her."
Wait a sec, did she put the bowl she was using for chocolate on the FLOOR??
That's totally not sanitary. Also makes me think her cakes are not meant to be eaten.
I'd be scared to eat her other cakes if she's that sloppy with cleanliness when putting them together.
wv: plabitiz. The condition you might contract if you ate a slice of this cake.
Miss Jen, I'd almost say that was an insult to 4th graders. LOL My 2nd grader can do better work than THAT. I don't even get what the original concept was supposed to be. Or how the heck she EVER wound up on TV as a professional. Like they say, any PR is good PR.
oh my
Hmm, sounds like anonymous at 8:29 might be Ms. Famulari herself!
I watched this episode last night, and vowed that I would e-mail it to Cake Wrecks this morning. And I laughed when I saw that it was already on here!!!
If you can catch the episode on reruns, you have to watch it. The minute and a half doesn't even begin to capture the disaster that Stevie Famulari is. The cake was falling apart as she was building it, the kitchen was atrocious, and she took nothing into account about Kerry VIncent while creating a birthday cake for her. When Kerry called her on it, she had the gall to tell Kerry that she doesn't agree with "the client is always right". Um . . . you're a baker, making cakes that look like the client asks you to. If you don't like clients, you shouldn't be behind a bakery counter.
Definitely look for this on reruns. The full hour is definitely entertaining! :)
I am guilty of checking out her website & giving her the hit increase but seriously?! WTF? She really likes gummy fruit huh?
@Miss Jen - I think 4th graders would do better. Maybe she has a sweatshop full of 4 & 5 year olds? "Cmon kids, lets finger paint!"
Wow, this has to got to be close the record number of comments for any cake, wreck or not.
To the person who proclaimed those who don't get the concept of this type of art "ignorant," let me say that I hold a degree in art history from a prestigious university, and while the concept may be interesting and innovative, my professional opinion is that the execution is lacking. That's my real issue with Stevie's edible art. Yes, I understand that on the Food Network Challenge there were serious time constraints, plus filming conditions are rarely ideal for the creation of food products, but one would assume Stevie had neither issue when making the creations she proudly displays on her website, many of which also demonstrate somewhat sloppy execution. Stevie sketches quite nicely, I must say, so it's a shame she has trouble executing her vision fully.
I saw this episode and I couldn't believe how NONE of the judges called her out on this ginormous piece of crap! They called her out for being a slob, but nobody really said anything that indicated that they thought her cake was less than...disappointing.
IMHO, this was nothing more than a giant F-YOU to Kerry. What else could it have been? A serious attempt at a birthday cake that Kerry would like? I don't think so.
What really bothered me in the episode was her attitude. Kerry Vincent may be a difficult person to face when she's judging you, but she's still a person. And someone who never in her life had a birthday cake of her own, who says of herself that even when she was a little girl, she wasn't a little girl. She deserved better, and fortunately at least two of the decorators (the guy who won and Zane) tried to do so intelligently and with a good spirit.
The "cake"-maker who made the wreck was arrogant, rude, and-- I think-- genuinely mean-spirited. About the only positive in her behavior and the idiocy she produced is that it reflected so poorly on her, not only as a decorator, but as a person.
Hopefully she won't be back on Food Network. I'd rather be impressed by something that takes skill than appalled by someone throwing an eight-hour tantrum.
What gets me on this wreck is the amount of actual food wasted on it! I mean, NO ONE is ever gonna eat any of it...total waste!
What was the MOST mortifying of this was the shape her kitchen was in after she was done making this monstrosity!!
How funny! I just watched that episode and thought of this site...
They had this episode on yesterday around 7pm!! Coincidence??
Ok I just followed up and checked out her website...
o m g.
To the anonymous person who said that we just "don't get it" and that those things are "art", are you for real? I went to art school. That stuff is crap. The first thing they teach you is GOOD CRAFT.
Actually, if I were to make Teri Vincent a cake, that's *almost* exactly what I'd do. I'd wrap it in paper and set in on fire.
Then I'd leave it on her doorstep.
thats just a mess. the episode was on yesterday and i tried to watch it but my hubby (who hates food shows) changed it as soon as he got home (while i was making dinner) so i didnt get to see the good (bad) stuff
That was a freaking disgusting cake and the fire only improved on the design!
I thought the cake was horrific, but I figured maybe she was having a bad day. Maybe dipped a bit too much into those bowls of alcohol. And then I went to her site.
Yes, nothing says "I survived breast cancer" like a lopped-off chocolate boob in a plastic box. Yum!
And I don't know if tacking gummy bears to a dirty window with what looks like chewed gum classifies as 'edible'.
There really are no words for how incredibly bad that cake is. If anyone wants to see that particular episode again it plays twice on Sat.
Oh my, how embarrassing!
I MUST TiVo this one.
The best is that she features this disaster on her own website; even the "after" photos. Check out the project of a Christmas tree wrapped in lasagna noodles. Looks like human skin...
http://www.steviefamulari.net/tvproj.html
That thing deserved to burn - did they actually think what they were making looked good or even appetizing? Good lord!
I also have to admit that I clicked on her website but I was so appalled at the homepage I went no further. Clearly her bad tasted extends way beyond cakes into scads of other realms of her life.
This woman is not a baker, pastry chef or has any of the training/experience that comes with working with desserts for mass human consumption.
She has always said that she is an artist. Her medium just happens to be food ingredients. I've never heard Stevie call herself anything other than that. Just because it's 'edible art' doesn't mean that it should be eaten. It's art that just happens to use ingredients that are edible.
I think some people need to remember that and simmer down a bit.
I've seen another episode of Food Network Challenge where this woman tried to make a cereal bridge and ruined EVERYTHING. How did she get on Food Network again? That show is the place for cake wrecks.
...Wha? The concept art looks like a sort of funky menorah, but the finished product is clearly a post-nuclear-apocalypse landscape. Now does that happen?
Then again, it IS the same "artist" who isn't quite sure how bridges are supposed to work.
The funny part is that cake creator actually seemed proud of herself that it caught on fire! I was happy too 'cause that cake was just plain fugly!
her cakes are always "edible art" meaning, up for interpretation. I really don't understand why they ask her to be on the show in the first place....although, she does provide some ghastly entertainment.
Ok, having seen the show, in non-judge mode Ms. Vincent does seem to be a much more pleasant person, if not at all relaxed, so I take back half of the wicked witch comments.
Ms. Fumalari... Totally insane and definitely had it out for Ms. Vincent. The icing she was using looked absolutely disgusting, and the way she glopped it on for glue was horrifying to watch. I think she had a mental snap at about the point she put the mixer on high with the powdered sugar in it because that's when it went from "This isn't working, I'm so frustrated!" to "Ok, it's not working, so let's see how much worse we can make it!" Claiming to have been proud of it was... Had to have been sheer stick-it-out-to-the-end-ness.
Her attitude was also disgraceful - one might not like Ms. Vincent much, but that's little reason to so deliberately make that mess. I originally thought it was going to be one of those unfortunate things that happens when a novice is under pressure and ill-prepared, and kind of a "That's the cake that karma bought," deal. That wasn't the case at all, as it turned out. It was a crazy woman with a vendetta.
Okay, now I'm dying to see this episode, but don't get the food network here! Can someone please find and post a link to video... must share in the wreckiness!!
There's art, then there's fingerpainting in the solarium before your meds. Good god.
My guess is she started with the dowels for the support system in the cake, and then they probably ran out of cake? Maybe they were drinking the alcohol? Maybe they thought themselves mad scientists creating the new Frankenstein? Mission accomplished.
Oh my gosh! I know I just submitted a comment, but then i went to her website... scary. Please just check out this sculpture. Truly appalling.
http://www.steviefamulari.net/popups/B4k.html
It looked like Candy Land on crack. I must try to go DVR that asap.
I just showed this to my oldest son..he squinted and said it looks like a tower of poop..then I told him it was a cake.
Let me just say, I am not a fan of Kerry Vincent, mostly because she seems so unpersonable to me, in fact, her interaction with Norm was the most personality I've ever seen her have!
That being said, that cake "artist" is rude, annoying, and uppity. She actually told Kerry that she didn't want to hear from her, she just wanted to tell her to have an open mind! You don't tell that to a client.
In addition, her "the customer is always right isn't my company's motto" line, *IF* I were to ever get a brain injury and buy a cake from her, and she insulted me in such a way, I'd be getting my money back fast than she could say "expression."
If she wants to be an artist, be an artist, if she wants to be a cake decorator, be a cake decorator. They seriously need to stop giving her spots on these shows. Everyone I've seen her in, she's been a disaster, she always has a melt down, and her cakes are horrid. I was secretly cheering with Kerry that whole episode, and laughed my @$$ off when it had to be put extinguished.
I'm looking at her website now, ugh.
To Anonymous who said we just don't get "it." This isn't an art show. It's a cake contest. A cake contest to make a birthday cake for a surprise client. Not a chance for self expressionism.
So, she describes herself as an "artist," WHY is she on a cake decorating contest?!
Just a word, you can actually send a comment about Challenge through the Food Network's website. I already sent mine asking they don't allow her to return.
Does CW Reader Jason know that his video clip (complete with his commentary) is on her site?! Ho.Ly. Cow! Seriously! Click on Mystery Client Cake and bam! There's his video embedded - "bad execution" comment and all!!!! I'm howling over that!!! She's not the sharpest crayon in the box, is she?
I watched that episode and the one she did with the bridge. This is not good advertising for her business. Both times she screwed up and had no plan.
I don't think she is a cake decorator at all, just a misplaced artist that somehow managed to come to the attention of the Food Network staff. I think she's a "plant" to cause dissension on the set. I looked at her website and have seen all three Food Network Challenges she has been on and have never seen anything remotely good from her. Artistic? Maybe if you consider an industrial dump site art... Just my opinion, though.
I watched this one the other night and from the moment it started, it really was a train wreck you couldn't not watch! It was so sad it was almost funny.
My only thought was - if she acts this badly for the potential of winning $10,000, how does she act for her 'real' clients?!
All I have to say is - wow - nothing more then wow. I hate that I increased traffic to her site but I sat there in utter disgust and HORROR at what she has done?!?!
It's funny in a tragic psychotic way.
*whoever made the comment*
there's art, then there is finger painting on the solarium of your mind before the meds
*couldn't have said it better myself*
*cries in terror*
AND SHE TEACHES?!
There are so many things about this I don't understand. I really don't understand the paper. Why did she put paper on the cake? Is this a new frosting technique? Clearly I'm going to have to seek out this episode and watch it, else I'll never sleep with all this unanswered confusion.
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.
If you check out her site, she put up that VID!!
For those who missed this episode, it's currently airing right now (EST) on Food Network, and will also rerun tomorrow :3