Monday, February 16, 2009

It's a Form of Flattery. Honest.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Happy Presidents' Day, y'all! To help you get in the President-celebrating mood, I rounded up every presidential cake-specimen I could find. Consequently, this will be a pretty short post.


First, since Lincoln's birthday is part of the celebration, we've got to start with this lovely example sent in by Michael N.:

Love the Lincoln Memorial on top.

Then there's this rather less lovely Reagan cake:

That nose is going to haunt my dreams, I just know it.

(Note: This one's been floating around the interwebs for a while, so my apologies if it's not actually a pro job. In my defense, most of the pro cakes I see look a lot worse than this.)


Now remember, Grace D.: if someone makes a cake bust in your likeness, it's a compliment...

...Not that they want to knife you in the head.

I already featured a bunch of Obama cakes after the election, but be sure to check out the giant 5,900 cupcake mosaic of him and Lincoln from Friday's post, too.

And lastly, naturally this post wouldn't be complete without a George Washington cake.

Erm..... [frantically searching the 'net]


Ah, how 'bout this?


Ok, so it's perfectly centered, spelled correctly, and otherwise rather wreckless - sorry. Oh! But look! The balloons on the bottom are upside down! Eh? Eh? That counts, right?

Hey, I spent at least 15 whole minutes searching for a better Washington cake, alright? This is the best I got. Honestly, you'd think bakers out there would see today as an opportunity to get in touch with their creative, powdered-wig-wearing side. But no-ooo. Hmph. Downright inconsiderate, is what that is.

All that to say: if you have something better, send it soon and maybe I'll post it.

And stay tuned for more Valentine's Wrecks.

UPDATE: Well, you guys certainly are sending in some...interesting...Washington items. So far I've gotten a pie made in George, Washington, a hilarious but not post-able Washington Monument cake (no, you can't see it; it's not professionally made), what I suspect is more of a Georgette Washington cake spotted at the fair, and my current favorite:

George Washington Carver.

Sure, M.Zak, that's close enough.

Anonymous said...

How the heck is there a Ronald Reagan cake but not a George Washington cake? *scratches her head* Must be those crazy air traffic controllers partying again.
A few years ago my friend sent me a picture of a Richard Nixon cake...it was in some sort of odd context, but I'll have to see if I can dig it up for you.

Kat said...

The top border is so big! Ugh, don't they know the bottom, if anything, should be the big one? IMO :)

Patrick said...

I thought that was Bill Clinton until I scrolled down.

Baking and Mistaking said...

Why Ronnie, you're not looking so good these days....

Anonymous said...

The Ronald Reagan cake reminds me of the "normal" people in the Eye of the Beholder episode of the Twilight Zone! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHp9q3QTmVQ

Artist @ Large said...

oh this is my first post! Here's a kinda bad Obama cake

http://lawandasdelights.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/President_cake.311113727.JPG

I'll keep looking...maybe?
Oh my name is Carla!

Artist @ Large said...

Hi Carla again,

Here's a cake

http://www.mmaa.org/sites/4d7874e8-0b8f-4445-9da2-d00c8bec7902/uploads/BushCakePhoto-web.jpg

Artist @ Large said...

That bush cake is made by Helena Keeffe or at least it's copyrighted by her...

-Carla

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting the Lincoln Cake! It was done by Cake Girls in Chicago (thecakegirls.com). Here's a closeup of the memorial http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v644/186/62/20000400/n20000400_34966020_995.jpg

Unknown said...

I have to say - the George Washington cake actually looks pretty delicious!

HorribleLicensePlates said...

That straight cheek wrinkle on Ron is really bothering me.

Hali Chambers said...

Wait, that's NOT Bill Clinton?

liz said...

for my birthday last year my friends got me a photo cake with teddy roosevelt and william taft on it. it was pretty awesome.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ilovemuffins/Birthday#5192277335402287474

Jenny Saunders said...

Is that a straight pin on Reagan's left cheek? Geez, when you want a wiggly line you get a straight one...when you want a straight line you get a crooked one...you can't win in the Cake Wreck world! LOL

Torii said...

George Washington Carter's mustache scares me....like it's some evil creature waiting to jump off and attack...

Tabitha (From Single to Married) said...

ha! Happy President's Day to you, George Washington cake or not!

The Courteous Chihuahua said...

The Bill Clinton cake looks like a cross between a TV evangelist and a used car salesman. How appropriate.

Marcos said...

Hm, that George Washington cake is even a few years old - it says "273rd", which was 2005.

There does seem to be a shameful lack of George Washington cakes on the 'net.

jackie31337 said...

The George Washington Carver cake was my favorite out of the bunch. In elementary school, my brother did a report about George Washington Carver, and he got so enthusiastic about the topic. He was a constant stream of trivia about George Washington Carver for a while.

WV: tries, as in "how many tries does it take to find a George Washington cake?"

Leah McNally said...

The Ronald Regan cake gave me a scary flashback of the Jelly Belly factory tour in Fairfield, CA. They have a similar jellybean mosaic of Ronnie, only it's 6' tall. http://www.jellybelly.com/Art_Gallery/bean_art_gallery.aspx

Wilhelmina Gottschalk said...

I would like to know what flavor the George Washington Carver cake is... because it would still stand to lose major points if there isn't peanut butter involved. :-)

The Office Scribe said...

The closest I could find to a George Washington Cake was when I Googled "Quarter Cake" and found some lovely profile-esque pics of our first president.

Danielle said...

The lack of Washington cakes is probably 'cause it's traditional to make cherry pie for Washington's birthday 'cause of the whole cherry thing. Isn't it? Or did my mom just like the excuse to make cherry pie?

Anonymous said...

Carver's gonna get carved. :P

WVOTD: poorac -- Poor air conditioning is blamed for some cake wrecks.

MJS said...

Here's a black and white photo of a George Washington cake. No history, and I didn't find it in the Library of Congress photo collection.

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Fancy-Cake-with-George-Washington-Posters_i2848686_.htm

Unknown said...

I believe it's supposed to be Carly Fiorina (former head of HP) but it sure looks a lot more like Bill Clinton.... (except the earring)

laura beth said...

I think it is hilarious that in the George Washington cake, they used two different kinds of E's...hmm idiosyncracies in handwriting- I'm no handwriting analyst.. but that has to mean something.. If you're Greek or you know Greek, it seems that there is a lower case E (epsilon) and at the end of "George" there is a capital epsilon... hmm peculiar... and who is Carly?

Doublebanker said...

Should we be celebrating the birthday or the deathday...always get that confused!

Check out my $50 Gif Card giveaway!

DB

Hunter said...

Hey, I've eaten pie at the Martha Inn in George, WA! It was actually a tradition in my family when I was a kid that you had to stop there on the way any time you drove through Eastern WA.

WM said...

Ok...now I'm con-fooosed??? I thought the CARLY cake was CLINTON, but now I'm not so sure(the earring thing?), except that I couldn't find any photos of her(Carly) with gray hair and Clinton does have gray hair but it's a little too bouffant for Clinton, but in the photos, Carly's hair is always combed forward...to much for brain to grasp...ARRGGHH

the ginabean said...

Wow...is Pres. Carter's nose actually 3D? It's hard to tell. I never knew he was one of the uglier Presidents until I saw this cake...now I know.

I'm OH.SO.ESCITED for the upcoming Valentines Cakes.

Unknown said...

Well, some good, some not so.
You win some, you loose some.;-)
~Amy B.

Kathryn Magendie said...

Seems I'm not the only one who didn't know that wasn't a weirdly effiminate Bill Clinton! *laugh*

Anonymous said...

The Iowa State Fair had a George Washington Carver bust carved out of butter this past summer! This cake looks better. (I thought peanut butter would have been more appropriate...)

Liz said...

Ok, so the Ronald Reagan (checks spelling, is British) cake actually looks so real I thought the poor man was having a stroke... am pleased to learn through Wiki that he didn't have one.

Anonymous said...

Georgette looks a little *too* happy to see the animals in DC. LOL. S/he scares me!

Anonymous said...

I found a few Washington things :)
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0c94e34boh7GN/610x.jpg
https://www.allposters.com/-sp/Fancy-Cake-with-George-Washington-Posters_i2848686_.htm

And the monument
http://thecollinsfamily.name/__oneclick_uploads/2007/07/july-4-cake.jpg

Brenda said...

Cake busts are new to me. I could not participate in one b/c

1. I cannot eat hair. Even if it is made of icing.
and
2. I cannot eat a nose. Period.
3. I furthermore cannot eat a mustache.

Melanie said...

That poor Bill Clinton looks like a washed out Don King!

Anonymous said...

i want to see the non professional but hilarious one!!

My Life and My Loves said...

is that bill? he's looking a little girly.

Kat said...

That 3D nose on Ronald Reagen's face is just creepy. And that one wrinkle is kinda freakin' me out. Sometimes you have to wonder.....
WHAT WERE THOSE WRECKERATORS THINKING!?


~Katy

Anonymous said...

Let's notice on the Ronald Reagan cake, the flag is going in the wrong direction.

Anonymous said...

Here is a George Washington Cake from a cookbook. Professional. Check it out.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/268997948_6309455c9c.jpg?v=0

-matt

Anonymous said...

I thought that was an amazing mix of Bill and Hillary together in a cake, but now I am completely confused.

Unknown said...

Love the Lincoln cake! I blogged about it, and credited you. Keep up the great work!

J.Bacon said...

I pretty much love the George Washington Carver cake!

Anonymous said...

My favorite is George Washington Carver. He looks so surprised to be a cake!

Anonymous said...

"Who was George Washington Carver?"
"Um ... the guy who chopped up George Washington?"

I'm sure there's some kind of pun we can make about these cakes with that.

Jessica Bell said...

A little more eyebrow, and I would swear that the Reagan cake is actually an edible tribute to Boris Karloff.

Anonymous said...

Quick question.... has anyone else noticed that on the Ronald Reagan cake, the American Flag was BACKWARDS???? Yeeeaaaahhh.... just a minor detail, that.

Anonymous said...

I should soooooo have a Richard Nixon cake at my birthday. That would be really badass.

Marcos said...

It's a picture of him standing in front of an actual physical flag, which has no idea of "backwards", it's just a question of which side you're on. See what was probably the reference pic here:

http://www.forge22.com/wallpaper/widescreen/Ronald%20Reagan%201680x1050.jpg

If you're making a one-sided flag print of some sort, then the blue field goes in the upper left, but even then there are exceptions, for instance on the starboard side of a vessel or the right sleeve of a uniform.

Anonymous said...

Uh oh! you're treading on sacred ground with the post of the Bill Clinton looking cake...That is Colette Peters' work...see for yourself on her website. Given Colette's reputation, I think this is forgivable.

JoJo said...

hey, i know this is a few days late, but i took a photo of a bill clinton cake at the Demel Konditorei in 2006, the photo is at

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd150/starstar_JoJo/EuropePhotos549.jpg

it's pretty hilarious.

Anonymous said...

very original. Fred Smilek is the acting president of the Society to Save Endangered Species. It was founded two years ago by Fred Smilek along with his two best friends Charles and Jonathan. http://www.fredjsmilek.com

Anonymous said...

'twas half of a heart. The sweet half.

Krystal said...

I would like that Abe Lincoln cake to be my birthday cake! it's awesome

Cupcakes Lady said...

The Ronald Regan cake...now thats a wreck ;)xx