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What's a Wreck?

A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

Now, don't you have a photo you want to send me? ;)

- Jen
Monday
Apr132009

Passover these Wrecks

Let's hear it for my Jewish homies: Oyyy yeaaah!

Ok, obviously it's a bit difficult to find professional Passover cakes - Wrecks or otherwise - considering the whole leaven thing. However, I thought these were pretty amusing:

Hey, Passover is a celebration of the Israelites escaping Egypt, right? So Moses parting the Red Sea kind of counts as a Passover cake, right?

Well, I thought it was hilariously creative, anyway, so I had to share. Thanks to Blair T. for showing us how Divinity School students rock the party.

These next ones are more Label Wrecks than Cake Wrecks, but I think you'll agree they're Wrecks regardless. First, Niobe found this nicely packaged "Passover Coconut Cake"...


Complete with a "rich in tradition" greeting:

What's wrecky about that, you ask? Well, nothing. But wait...what's this on the back?

"Not Kosher for Passover?!?"

Well, I guess if you are having a "a Passover rich in tradition," you'll just have to hope this cake keeps well for later.

At least they're upfront about it, though. Check out what I found over on Yodster's Flickr stream, titled "How a Russian Baker Makes a Cake Kosher for Passover."

Yodster even breaks it down into two handy steps:

Step 1: Cross out flour on the ingredients list.

Step 2: Add a star of David.


See? So easy, anyone can do it!

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Reader Comments (61)

Not only is it New Style Bakery, it's New Style Passover.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterThe Courteous Chihuahua

nice to see that wreckages and their wreckerators are non denominational in nature.
oy!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMarieA

This is a whole new realm of wrecks, this is hilarious!! LOL

Thanks for sharing these!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterChristine

Hahaha... Hilariosity. At least they're trying : - )

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterArlynn

Yeah...and corn syrup and baking powder are not kosher for passover either (no corn and no leavening allowed). I LOVE the Moses parting the Red Sea one!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterGoddess

Moses Cake rocks!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLauren

On the last one, he should have crossed out the baking powder as well (that's leavening)- and, for some purists, the corn syrup. Had he done that, I would have totally been suckered into buying that cake for Passover. ;-)

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterJohnnyB

oy vay

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterHorribleLicensePlates

Just so you know, it's not hard to make a cake that is kosher for Passover. Flourless chocolate cake is one option, but I've eaten many other kinds of kosher for Passover cakes.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCali

Oh wow. Just wow.
I'm going to go back to eating my Matzah thank you very much.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBaking and Mistaking

Stealing a joke from Jim Gaffigan, the inscription on the Moses cake needs to read: Ta-Da!!!!!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterThe Courteous Chihuahua

ok, first cake, totally awesome! Not in the execution of it necessarily, but overall, two thumbs up.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLaura Dotson-Thomson

The "Not Kosher for Passover" cake reminds me of the people that put a warning that says "May contain peanuts" on the jar of peanut butter. It's a whole new realm of "WTF?"

And I just have to say I LOVE the Moses cake...yet another use for Sweedish fish that I hadn't thought of!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLeslie

I think that I can speak for the whole of the Jewish community when I say that for too long we have felt apart from our non-Jewish brothers and sisters in Cake Wreck land. I am so pleased to see that we have wrecks of our own. It will truly be a great day when people of all races, religions and creeds can share in a world full of wrecks!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLittle Fish

It would've been much more efficient if they had put the Star of David over the word "flour," conserving ink and not wasting two places on the box of this traditional-wish cake.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBob

Thanks for using my submission!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBEAT

In Communist Russia, cake bakes you!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Mmmm flourless chocolate cake.... Here is one I make that truly is kosher (as far as I can tell, being a recovering Catholic)and truly delicious!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Flourless-Chocolate-Cake-I/Detail.aspx

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterI Love Baby Quilts!

Two notes about Passover baking.

1) Baking powder is permitted. Really. The leavening that is forbidden on Passover is leftover risen dough, used to leaven the next batch of bread (e.g sourdough starter).

Just make sure it's marked "Kosher for Passover". It should be available in the Passover section of a supermarket.

See
http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/PESACH-menusantips/Why_baking_powder_and_baking_soda_is_KLP_according_to_Rabbi_Horowitz_of_Manisevitz_Corporation.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDF1030F936A35757C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

I use baking powder in my matzo balls. It makes them fluffy. Separating the eggs does, too, but then I find that the batter is so airy that it dissolves into the soup.

2) Here's how to make an edible Passover dessert: look in a cookbook (or search engine) for recipes for flourless cakes, for example,
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/cake/mp-cake-coll-2.html#29

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterWarren Burstein

Wow, are those Swedish Fish on the Red Sea cake?

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLH

You know, the only thing that could have made the second one more wrecktacular was the addition of lard on the ingredients list. :P Alas, it is a cake, not a pie.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered Commentertesting 1,2,3

Regarding the coconut cake, all the ingredients technically are kosher for Passover, but it hasn't been _certified_ (basically, a rabbi checks to make sure that it's been made on equipment that's been completely cleansed of all leavening [aka chametz]). Crumbs Bakery here in NYC makes wonderful K for P cupcakes, but states up front that they're not certified. More religious/observant people won't touch anything not officially approved.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterStephanie

The first cake doesn't look so bad, except for a possible error in perspective. If the water were unbroken, I'd take it for a side view, judging by the seaweed.

Boy, cake wrecks are usually uglier and rarely half as dishonest as the last one. "The cake is a li...ar!"

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterdeckardcanine

Did you know the original star of david was a http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/152589/Star-of-David" REL="nofollow">5 pointed star?

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

I like the dead fish on the sea floor!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Waaiiiit...on that Moses cake. I see dolphins, seahorses, Sweedish fish and...pineapples?!?

Are those supposed to be sea turtles or are those pineapples being washed away in the parting of the sea?

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLeslie again

Those were hilarious. Off to send this to my hubby and to my poor friend whose birthday always seems to land in the middle of Passover! She's all set now!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterRose

Disguise the fact that they're non-kosher! That's the way to do it! LOL

~Amy B.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAmy

Oy. That's ALMOST as bad as the Hanukkah Hams that were sold at a local store. I kid you not.

These wrecks are HORRIBLE. Did Moses just lay down a big pile of doo to part the sea or something?

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCWise

Well, I guess if you are having a "a Passover rich in tradition," you'll just have to hope this cake keeps well for later. Not to mention you'd have to store it somewhere else... You can't have leaven in your house during days of unleavened bread!

As for the other wreck, he forgot to cross out baking powder, and for the more strict believers, corn syrup! What a crack-up!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterRebekah

You know, a whole lot of the "Sunday Sweets" have that same stiff and smooth icing. Sure, it looks pretty, but how does it taste?

Aren't cakes for eating???

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

hi, i just wanted to let you know that oddee.com posted your wrecks on their website, using your tagline, and not mentioning cakewrecks at all.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterjessica

Why bother parting a sea that's no deeper than a child's wading pool (?) is what I don't get.
That, and also why the creatures there are floating on the top of the water. Floating on their sides. I understand that this can sometimes be idicative of a thing's being dead. (Or perhaps it is the Dead Sea?)
Could there have been a pollution problem already, way back THEN?
Wow. Ya gotta question something new every day! =^??^=

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered Commentersendingtheclowns

That Moses cake is awesome!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterSandi

Pretty meshuga, if you ask me.

Except for the Moses cake. That's totally cool, even if the perspective isn't quite right.

Word verification: unomesse. Unomesse, I'll eat just about any kind of cake.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterScritzy

I just noticed that the first cake has Moses crossing the red sea with the ten commandments. I think someone got the time line confused. Very funny though.

Thanks for the post!

WV: eustom, n. A gross custom. Some consider gefilte fish to be an eustom

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLHSES

And isn't baking powder NKFP*? I mean, leaven and stuff.




*not kosher for passover

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered Commentermadrobins

That cake is awesome!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMika

If the coconut cake says it's not kosher for Passover, it's probably more than just not certified. It was probably made on the same equipment that had just been used that day for leavened baked goods, which makes it not K for P for anyone, certification or not.

And yes, there's nothing in baking powder that would make it forbidden on Pesach. It just needs to be made on properly cleaned equipment.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMilhouse

No, LH. They are Sweedish fish! ;)

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

I think if I brought these home for Passover my grandmother would plotz!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterKay

Hey, Jen, these cakes are chock full of wrecky awesomeness.

Thanks for keeping us laughing, and kudos to wonder-hubby John for giving you a break yesterday.

WV: patental = these cakes have the patental to make me verklempt.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAyanna

In the Russian bakery's defense they might have crossed out the flour because they didn't use it so they just crossed it out because the labels are pre-made. I worked in food service and that's what we did for certain things when we had the pre-made labels. We just crossed it out and did not use those ingredients.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLauren

YES! I love this. Just cross out the non-Kosher (unKosher?) ingredients and slap that sucker back up on the shelf. That's something that "I" would do!

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

I think the Moses cake is amazingly well done.

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCory

jessica - I went to their site, and you are totally right! They have _completely_ plagiarized Jen, and gave her no credit at all.

I used their contact form to scold them - maybe some more Wreckers should do the same?

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterRana

I love these wrecks, man.

P.S. RE: what jessica said...

hi, i just wanted to let you know that oddee.com posted your wrecks on their website, using your tagline, and not mentioning cakewrecks at all. I got an email from them after I sent a message about the lack of credit and blatant use of copy, and wanted to verify the details:

Hi Karen,
Each picture has a link back to its source, check it out closely.,.. and
yes, we spoke with cakewreks' owners
Have fun
Oddee.com
Just checking...

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterKaren Smith

Just a quickie ... love your site. But the parting of the Red Sea was the actual final leaving of Egypt as the Egyptians chased after the Israelites ... even though the Passover began with the night of the firstborn dying ... they left the very next day as a result of it ... leading to the Red Sea. :) But he does have those 10 Commandments, doesn't he? Not exactly when he ought to just yet.

michele

April 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Love the Moses cake. I think he's actually parting the sea inside my 5th grade aquarium. - loriborealis

April 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

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