Created to commemorate the students and teachers that make our communities proud, today's cakes truly deserve to be in a class of their own.
Ah, you can always count on teachers to critique your work.
Just be glad they couldn't find the red gel icing.
Ah, you can always count on teachers to critique your work.Just be glad they couldn't find the red gel icing.
Who knew that the HoFsTra STudenrT GoveraNeNT AssoCiaTion were such big fans of croquet? (I think my spell check just exploded.)
Oddly enough, I believe "Happy School Social" was the name of my 3rd grade dance. Yep. Slightly sad, awkward spaces, the occasional glaring failure...gee, there are all kinds of parallels going on here.
Hey, "Alumni Mentors," thanks SOOO much for everything. You're really "great." We are SOOO "glad" you could teach us how to "communicate" properly.And lastly....
A certain school was celebrating great scores on the TAKS, which I believe is some kind of state-mandated testing like the FCAT, which we all know teachers everywhere adore and wish they had more of. Anyway, the cake was supposed to say "Congratulations for doing an exemplary job on TAKS", and the woman ordering asked that "TAKS" be in all capital letters.
Here's what they got:
"Congratulatiun for doing and Exernplary Jabon TAKS Capitol Letter"That'll be $44.99, please!
Many thanks to Brittany S., Stephanie W., Sarah M., Mary R., & Vanessa for the "exernplary" wreckporting.
- Related Wreckage: Ode to Irony
- Related Wreckage: Ode to Irony
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Worryingly, the "happy school social" cake looks like it's made from kebab meat.
Was that also true of your 3rd grade dance?
Maybe the last cake should have been in sarcastic quotes and used to train the kids who didn't do well on TAKS.
"Okay, kids. Find all the mistakes and you can have a piece. And you'll have another chance next year on TAKS!"
Sidenote: When I was in Texas public school (forever ago), it was called TASP. I think they changed it because if you try to say "TASP" more than once a day, your brain will asplode.
Oh man! On that first cake, instead of the sign reading "Sorry your cake is ugly (blame Kroger)" maybe it should have said "Hey what did you really expect with only 15 minutes notice?".
The grocery store bakery... for times SO special that any place open on the way to work will do
Auugggghhh!!! The first cake burned out my retinas!!! I can’t go on!
:D
Being Mozart’s birthday today, I give all of thee…a Mozart Cake!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36761760@N02/3481078492/
^..^
TigerWolfgang
Ugh. Ugh, ugh. What is wrong with the employees of todays supermarkets??!?! I'm a teenager and I'm sure I could do better. Maybe I'll get a cake decorating job this summer. UGH.
*sigh*
As an AU "alumni" I "truly" appreciate the "ironic symbolism" in a communication cake that "thanks" mentors...
Capitol Letters! (it is in D.C. ya know)
Don't know how many lawyer type people you get, but Hofstra is a law school.
I assume the croquet mallet is supposed to be a gavel.
WV: lincenti. License to eat pasta?
The balloons were done so well on the last one... such a shame that someone with a 6 year old skill level (or less) was assigned to the text. (and im detecting another phone order mishap here as well i think)
I can't believe they spelled "exemplary" right.
The random capitalization one hurts me. Badly.
Go Vera Nents!!!
So how quickly do you think they wrote the hot mess on that last cake? It looks like my handwriting when I'm holding a kid with my right arm and writing with my left hand!
TAKS is the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and Exemplary is the highest level a school or district can get. It's a super gigantic deal and my four kids are sick to death of hearing about it!
Yep - TAKS is Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, (when I took it it was TAAS - Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) which as a teacher (sort of) is a bunch of bull. Too much focus on scores and not enough on actually learning and retaining information. But I digress...
Those are some special cakes. Maybe the one with all the caps is a kid who forgot they weren't typing a text message or IM?
Love the TAKS cake! Being a Texas public school teacher, I can see the ironic joy! Go Texas! TASP, TABS, TEAMS, TAAS, TAKS, and the newly announced STAAR!
Yah know,it will take only 1 or 2 minutes to write out the message with a toothpick into the frosting, before doing the lettering.
Gavel or mallet
matters not to miniscule
fleeing cyan worms.
My sister and I are both shaking our heads at these. Sad, sad, sad...
But funny.
The "I think my spell check just exploded" line cracked me up hugely. :)
"Jabon Taks". That'd be a good name for a science fiction character. I'll have to remember that.
I love the rAndoM capiTalIztion.
I think that helps hide spelling mistakes...yes?
Always kind of sad to see schools misspelling words and using incorrect grammar on cakes, signs, banners, etc.
Uhm, wow...
That last one? I honestly had to read it a dozen times, or more, before I had the least idea of what it was supposed to say. And I'm STILL not convinced I got it right!
A bad day for the English Language, but a good one for Wreck fans everywhere. :D
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Alumni Mentors cake is actually a proper use of quotation marks. Aside from passive-aggressive emphasis, it really seems like quotation marks had another purpose... dear me, what could it be?
Oh yeah, quoting someone's words! Hence QUOTATION marks!
So as long as "Thank you Alumni Mentors" is something someone is saying--highly likely--this is a 100% correct use of quotation marks.
If it had said "Thank you Alumni 'Mentors'" or something, you would be right. But as is, it's like the Cake Wrecks community is now so spooked by quotation marks that it sets off an alarm in the brain no matter whether it's used correctly or not.
WOW. Just. WOW.
What uglY messEs :D
I'm strangely proud that the school of "communication" I graduated from turned out a Cake Wreck.
I'm also now craving mounds of white icing...
"Jabon" is Spanish for "soap," so that Texas school must have done an "exemplary soap TAKS," for which it got a congratulatory letter from the Capitol (maybe from the Governor?).
The spell-checker of my computer tried to escape my computer and set itself on fire.
I think form here on out that if I am going to order a cake, I am going to the bakers with several drawings of what I want, letters and all. After the amount of time I would spend on it and coloring it, they had better return the favor. If not, I guess I'll call my solisitor.
I agree with dustthouart...
Not cake wrecks worthy unless I'm missing something else.
But the other ones definitely good choices. :)
and the "missspellers" or "mistOr spellors" we will haf wit us allways! ~ LOL
Ok, ok, I'm bad ~ Couldn't resist!
@DocRummel - I'm pretty sure that while Hofstra has a law school, it's also a full-up university.
My eyes are still burning from Wreck #1, though, so I could be completely confused.
@dustthouart, right on...
Because of this blog, I am now seeing quotation marks everywhere, such as the furniture store last weekend, where the sign on the desk said, "To write a "check" you must have a "license" or "I.D"."
I have an "I.D.", (wink wink) so I think I'll just whip out a piece of scrap paper and write out a "check" because that would "fulfill" their "rule".
I had to read the social workor cake about 4 times before I managed to parse it correctly to figure out what it really said.
WF: mangsly - "That's one mangsly looking bunch of cakes!"
TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills) is the standardized testing used in Texas. It's very similar to the FCAT. Just an FYI.
I've lived, gone to school and taught in both states. :O)
Lynn
"Congratulatiun for doing and Exernplary Jabon TAKS Capitol Letter"
If my theory is correct that this was quoted from a congratulatory letter by the Texas Governor (whose office is in the Capitol), and Governor Rick Perry wrote the letter himself, this is probably EXACTLY how he spelled it: "Congratulatiun for doing and Exernplary Jabon TAKS."
The Guv's intellect is legendary around here.
Looking at the last one, it appears as if the "jabon TAKS" was previously corrected. I see a deep gouge of icing under that section. I can only imagine what they could have messed up and FIXED, and still had such bad results overall!
As a Hofstra Student, I can say that cake is the equivalent to the actual state of affairs of the Student Government Association, badly spelled and an all around Wreck.
@betsey
Eh, you're probably right. I know about the law school since they sent me lots of pretty ads after they saw my LSAT score. (They weren't quite so interested in my SAT/ACT performance apparently.)
That, and the gavel thing implied "law."
smogin: Law students like me need more than a smogin of humility.
Oh goodness, the last one! It's just even funnier because I work in a Texas public high school. :)
I agree with whoever said they should use this cake for the kids who didn't pass.
(Back in my day it was called the TAAS test.)
Hey, did you notice that on the last cake, not only is the writing messy, but "Jawbone" is misspelled?
As the submitter of the Alumni Mentors cake, I'll say that basically the reason that this cake shouldn't have quotation marks, despite being something that a person would be saying, is the same reason I'm not putting quotation marks around my comment right now.
Unless they were trying to convey, through cake, that the people who hosted the reception were quoting somebody who was not present and not the people hosting/attending the reception, then it shouldn't have quotation marks because you don't put quotation marks around your own writing. And if they WERE quoting somebody, being primarily a journalism program, they should have attributed it.
Also, I'm far, far too excited to see my submission on Cake Wrecks. This made my day!
shouldn't it be that we're "glad" the "mentors" could "teach"?
Wow! A double whammy for me today. I'm a former AU "student" and currently have children bemoaning the existence of the TAKS tests at their "exemplary" school. Ha! I do feel "special".
Sweet!
These cakes make me glad I usually just make my own. They may not be professional, but they will ALWAYS be spelled correctly.
whaa?! and here i sit thinking i was the lone texan of the bunch.
i shall forward the TAKS wreck to my hubby, who is at this very moment, trying to knock some sense into his fourth-graders at a texas public school, in preparation for the upcoming TAKS test.
sadly, the person who inscribed this cake is probably a product of our public school system.
sigh.
I love the Hofstra cake. I had to show my husband. He got a kick out of it, since he works there!
Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning? :) *shot*
It's too bad the TAKS cake decorator couldn't have saved all of her mistakes for the acronym, since it sounds (from the Texas teacher posters) like pretty much any acronym would have worked.
Liz in Seattle
I am in LOVE with this blog! I am in Nursing school at The University of Alabama and my life gets pretty hectic, but whenever I need a good laugh I always look at this blog! You guys are AMAZING and absolutely HILARIOUS!! Thank you for giving me a good laugh when I need it most!
Oh, I wish that Cake Wrecks had been around when I was a student at AU's School of Communications. This is not the first, trust me.
The TAKS cake is so perfect. The biggest problem in public education in Texas is the TAKS! When Texas went to TAKS they also made the students results part of the decision about teachers keeping their jobs and bonus'. The cake just goes to show what happens when you teach kids how to test well, but you don't actually teach them anything worth while.
Is it even remotely possible, given the horrific spelling on the rest of the 'TAKS' cake that 'TAKS' is actually supposed to be 'tax'? Like, I dunno, maybe someone is really really grateful to the guy who did their taxes and wants to congratulatiun them for their exernplary jabon?
The tests in Texas have been TASP, TAAS, and now TAKS. TAKS stands for Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.... Which is a large baloney because some of passed in 20minutes, while some took 8 hours to pass/fail the math. Oi toledo! Poor Texas, we all fail.
Rimiti- I thought about remiti-l math... but 2+2=5 no matter what!
Oh my gosh, the TAKS cake is so perfect. Did you see the announcement that starting in 2011 TEXAS is changing the TAKS test to STARR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness)? Can't wait to see how they mess that up!
This is SO funny it made me cough, and usually that is not good, but it was so good to laugh, I don't think I cared! :) LOLZERZ. I love how everything is just better with "qotes", because, yeah, that totally makes a statement (perhaps unintentional?).
TAKS is the Texas standardized test that drives Texas students and teachers insane. Just announced this week as of 2011-2012 school year it will become the STAAR test.
FAIL
Ok, so right after I left your blog I headed over to another "mommy" type blog and continued laughing my butt off. So, it's not a cake, but you gotta see this.... http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2010/01/sorry-for-what.html
The School Social cake is actually a multi-tasking cake. All they forgot was the comma: "Happy School Social, Work or Month".
It's sorta like those choose your own adventure books....
Andrea
Thank you, Mary R, for describing the correct use of quotation marks! The fact is that we should rarely see them on cakes but all too often do.
I only saw one other reference so I must say it - capitol refers to the building in which government is housed and capital is an upper case letter (as well as the reference to a city in which a capitol building can be found).
But, hey, the wreckerator did actually put TAKS all in caps, so that's good, right?
As a social worker working in an education setting I'd be happy with any kind of recognition cake ;^)
you can totally tell on the last one that they went over the "Janbon TAKS" with white icing. i wonder what was under there before....*shudder*
also, Jabon looks a lot like the french word "jambon" meaning ham.
Thanks for explaining TAKS. Thinking it was supposed to be TASK, I was gonna hafta AKS someone 'bout it.
@Mary R, valid point. i understand the flaw now... hm.
and it is agreed, quotation marks are not acceptable on cakes.
so what's your take on the SarcMark? :P
heheh
I wonder if the radiation-inspired colors on the first cake are the school colors of yellow and blue and the Kroger baker decided to get "kr8iv." There's no excuse though for the writing that looks it was done by a tired 8 year-old.
The cake with the quotation marks had me "dying" :o)
Perhaps there is a reason I left being a public high school English teacher behind and now proofread ads (oh yeah, you read that right: Someone DOES have to do it). But one coworker and I now think we should abandon ship and proofread cakes instead. Clearly, our frosting people need us.
I also must say, as I'm new here and still plowing through all of last year's entries, I CANNOT believe I missed the book tour, as you came right through my town. Your evil henchpeople must, must spread the word about this blog to everyone they know! No one must ever miss a Cake Wrecks tour again (SOB!).
Let's just hope that those cakes at least tasted good.
What a coincidence! My friends and I were just making fun of a poster about the civil war at my school. Instead of emancipation proclamation, it said emancapation porclamaion.
I'm thinking that the school social is actually a choice...
School Social,
Work or Month
Not certain what the month option would be, but given the choices, I'd go with that one!
One thing the American University cake has going for it is the very nice handwriting.
People don't actually pay for these cakes, do they?
Great timing as today in Aust our kids start their school year today...go Teachers!!!!
I second Jennie about the getting sick of exemplary, but it is a nice accomplishment. I moved to TX in high school (went to an exemplary high school) and got to take the benchmark (i.e. test test) for the benchmark for the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills, the predecessor of TAKS), then take TAAS, then SET the benchmark the brand new TAKS twice, both years I was in the state. O.o I was soooo tested out.
For the alumni mentors cake, isn't it quoting the students who are thanking their mentors? Seems right to me.
Of course, I could be "wrong." ;)
Wow! And to think that I was the only American University SOC grad out there who's a fan of Cake Wrecks! I wish I still lived in DC to experience an actual Cake Wreck.
@knine22
I haven't decided how I feel about the sarc mark yet. My friends and I always would just write what we were saying and at the end type /sarcasm to indicate we were done being snarky. So the idea is sound, but the mark itself looks a bit silly ; )
@Fanboy Wife
I plead the fifth about the taste of the cake. The caterers who made it usually make a really fabulous spread of fantastic food, so I don't want them to think people are ungrateful ; )
not sure if someone posted already... but TAKS = Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
So, I do not plan on trying to defend any of these cake decorators, but I am a cake decorator for a grocery store, but unlike any of these cakes, my colleague and I care greatly for our cakes and make sure they are presentable.
But, working in this industry, I know that some of these mistakes could have been prevented not by the decorator but by the person taking the order. The people taking the cake orders are not the brightest, causing misspelled words on the order forms all the time. But, unlike myself, these individuals obviously didn't care enough to find out more information.
The "1st Years" cake isn't a mistake. In chemistry graduate school (at least at mine's) the first year students are referred to as the "1st Years"
Ahhhh--that TAKS test is from Texas--it's as much a joke as that cake. (not why I'm proud to be from Texas, I can assure you!) They have changed the name of the test so many times, who could keep track?
Your site constantly reminds me that I truly could make it as a cake decorator--anyone displeased with my work will be referred to your site so they'll know my work was tri-billion times better. :)
Wow that TAKS cake is so freakin' terrible. I wouldn't pay for that in a million years. I live in Texas, the state of the TAKS test and also the home of TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and SKills).
About the Hofstra cake - what is that Thing up in the upper left hand corner??!! It is just a big blot of icing? (Oh, there's icing left over - let's just plop it right here!)
As a Hofstra Alumni (Class of '84 and '88) I aM vEry aShaMeD
I'm a test coordinator in Texas. I am sending a link to this post to all my test coordinator friends!
To be a little picky, the Texas state assessment program progressed like this:
TABS-Texas Assessment of Basic Skills
TEAMS-Texas Educational (I think?) Assessment of Minimum Skills
TAAS-Texas Assessment of Academic Skills
TAKS-Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
And they are changing it yet again, as mentioned earlier.
The TASP was an entirely different test, required for admission to public colleges and universities and teacher education programs at all colleges in Texas for a short while.
@trixie rix - first years could also refer to law school, or med school.
I think the "wreck" was not the first year so much, as the ugly cake :)
TAKS is the current state test in Taxas. As usual I got such a giggle out of the cakes, I sent a link around to my co-workers who also got a big chuckle. We wondered, what score did the wreckorater get on TAKS?
I shared this cael with oneo fmy classes and let them find the mistakes! They were aghast that anyone would expect to be paid for such work.
Thanks for this post from a teacher/cake decorator/long time reader/first time poster. It's slightly saddening but overall funny. I should post up the pictures of the cakes that we buy for the different school events. We've had some interesting ones.
Dude getting an ugly cake and putting a sign like that is just wrong... lol
Next time, someone should get a poo colored cake or a cupcake cake from Wally world and put a sign saying
"Great job Retired teachers-maybe you should've picked a prettier cake next time!"
!!!! We fans of correct grammar and spelling should definitely have our sedatives handy when viewing this site.
The extra hilarious thing about the last cake is that it was probably made to reward kids after taking the TAKS test, AKA the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the standardized test us chilluns in Texas have to take every year to determine whether or not we can progress to the next grade.
So kids, Congratulatiun for doing and Exernplary Jabon TAKS Capitol Letter!
I have to say, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time... I will be back often.
What a fun and lighthearted site, thanks for putting a smile on my face.
The FCAT...what a huge waste of time. I can just imagine the reaction if a cake showed up at my school after the FCAT looking like that TAKS cake. I mean really, who wouldn't want to do well when the reward is something so lovely?
Hofstra's a local school; I think I'm going to go make fun of them, now (and remind everyone on my own campus to spell-check their cakes).
Wow...indeed. xx