Amanda of Bluebird Cakes tells me this is Plex from the kids show Yo Gabba Gabba. I've never seen the show, but with robots this adorable, I may have to check it out.Wallace & Gromit are looking dapper:
To be honest, I'm not sure how much of this Strawberry Shortcake is actually cake (she may be all gumpaste), but she's so cute-tastic I couldn't resist including her:
(Sub'd by Erin S., made by Elizabeth's Cakes)The bonnet! The kitty cat! The itty bitty strawberry!
[collapses from cuteness]
Here's something you don't see too often: hand painted cakery!
(Sub'd by Robin G., made by Natasha of Amelie's House)This was inspired by Beatrix Potter's Tailor of Gloucester. Isn't it awesome?
(Baker Unknown)This Thomas the Tank Engine cake finally shows us an acceptable use of edible image printing:
Finally. Something that almost makes up for the photo cakes of people either drunk or on toilets. (I said "almost," alright?)
And lastly, the sponge everyone hates to love or loves to hate:
(Made by Kevin of K's Cakes)I've seen a LOT of Spongebob cakes, guys, and this just might be the best. Kudos, Kevin.
- Similar Sweets: SS Visits the 80s
Update from John- Thanks to everybody who corrected us on the whole Hattifattener/moomin thing. I'm sure it's still wrong but we tried. Also, thanks to Rebecca's three year old who pointed out that Thomas is actually a tank engine. I bow to your superior knowledge young Jedi.
Update from John- Thanks to everybody who corrected us on the whole Hattifattener/moomin thing. I'm sure it's still wrong but we tried. Also, thanks to Rebecca's three year old who pointed out that Thomas is actually a tank engine. I bow to your superior knowledge young Jedi.
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I can't believe you've never heard of the Moomins! They were the best part of Saturday morning TV, not least because they were really creepy.
So cute! I LOVE that Thomas cake...I mean my son would love that Thomas cake. Sure I do. :)
My three year old would be the first to correct you..."It's Thomas the TANK ENGINE, Mom!" (Not that I've ever head that one before...)
The strange hippo creatures are 'Moomins', from a Finnish cartoon series. That's the cake I am most envious of on this whole site :D
We <3 Yo Gabba Gabba here; me, my six year old AND my sixteen year old. CUTE cakes, especially the Strawberry Shortcake one.
Yes, the little robot is cute - but beware of Yo Gabba Gabba. That show OBVIOUSLY involved large quantities of very strong hallucinogenic drugs at some point during the creative process! I don't allow it in my house!
And I also died of cute from the Strawberry Short-Cake!
Woo yea first! I love ur blog. heeheeeheheheheheheheeheeeeeMWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA BLARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG IMMA FIRING MY LAZAR BLARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.
That right there was my life story.
The mouse cake is beautiful!!!
agirlinherkitchen.blogspot.com
Lovely, just lovely.
But how can you bring yourself to chop strawbeyy shortcake up or worse toss her in the garbage can at the end of the party.
Just to clarify about the Moomin cake: the Hattifatteners (never knew they were called that in English) are the little white things with arms going around the sides of the cake. The characters on top are the Moomins themselves. From left to right: Moomintroll, Snifflemiss, Moomin Papa, and Moomin Mama(although I'm just guessing because you can't see her apron here).
I'd love to know where this cake is from, because you VERY rarely see elaborate character cakes like this in Finland.
The Moomins is a wonderful, surreal melancholic collection of characters created by Finnish-Swedish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. There are a whole host of cartoon books and novels about them. There was a Polish-German TV series based on the books produced in the 1980s which achieved cult fame in Britain, and then later, a Japanese remake. The characters on the top of the cake are (L_R) Moomintroll, The Snork Maiden, Moominpappa and Moominmamma. The hattifatteners (minor characters in the books) are around the edge of the cake. It's well worth checking out the books and the 1980s series if you can find them.
Anna, UK
I recognized the Moomin characters right away! I think the Hattifatteners are something different, though. Wikipedia has a decent summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin
I encountered the books when I was already an adult, and loved them. Even though one of the characters has a tendency to say "Keep your pecker up!" as an encouraging phrase. I think when the books were translated from Finnish, they used a British idiom. Still....
:)
I guess I can be the first to point out that it's "Gromit" not "Grommet", as he is a dog and not a small metal ring.
Love love love the site as always.
I don't recognized all of them either. But they are gorgeous.
Technically, the hattifattners (sp) are the worm-like creatures around the cake. The four critters on the top are Moomintroll, the Snork Maiden and Moomintroll's parents.
That's a wonderful series of kid's books. I adored them when I was a child.
yep, the moomin cake is adorable! moomins are characters created by finnish author tove jansson. moomins are extremely popular of course in finland but also in japan (where the series were made). i grew up watching moomins and still as an "adult" i think it's one of the greatest series made for children! :)
Don't worry about trying to watch "Yo Gabba Gabba". It's one reason that I am glad I do NOT have cable (because I don't have to watch it). ;-)
But these cakes are seriously cute!
Moomincake!
For the non-Scandinavians (and non-Suomiphiles):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin
Awww.... the Wallace and Grommit cake looks like it could come to life!
Thanks for another great post. Have a great week!
Great cakes! The Beatrix Potter hand-painted cake is just stellar... and a little insane. Where do people find the time, the talent, the skill? That said - I issue a challenge to find a nice/cute/gorgeous or at least mildly acceptable "Calvin&Hobbes" cake. Not that the fact of cake needs to be improved, but those two will make anything even better. Does anyone knoe of that kind of a cake? I have been secretly hoping to see one here one fine Sunday for ages.
Omg, I want a Moomin cake! That's adorable.
But yeah, they're a Swedish/Finnish cartoon with trolls that kinda look like hippos. I came to love it when I was in Norway lol
Oh, the Beatrix Potter one is too beautiful to cut. At least when it's already a wreck, you don't feel bad about wrecking it with a knife.
The Moomins look really good- they are from a famous children's book series which is big, well everywhere but here. They are Swedish originally.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin
Liz
It's Moomin, with an "n" at the end -- the Moomins (or Moomintrolls) are a Finnish book/comic book series by Tove Jansson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin They're a little weird, but super cute. :)
Those weird little things in the tree house are called Moomins (from Tove Jansson's books), and the even weirder little things at the base of the cake are Hattifatteners. Highly recommend reading the books, not just watching the Japanese cartoon!
The Moomin trolls are originally from Finland, and have all sorts of wierd (but admittably cute) creatures in it. My favourite is "Small My" (in Swedish: "Lilla My"), a small girl with the most crazy and angry ideas. Tove Janson was the writer of these children stories, called "Mumin" in Swedish. :)
/Camilla, Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Moomims are perfect! Just believe us on that. And then go read Finn Family Moomintroll.
Moomin! I grew up with it, it is delightfully scary. :) (I think it's more more known in Scandinavia than anywhere else.)
And that Mouse-cake was so cute I could die!
I'm in cake heaven! Thanks for posting the Sunday Sweets. :-) How did they do the icing on Strawberry Shortcake's cake? Amazing! Love them all. :-)
about the moomin-cake: those are characters from books by a Finnish author. very popular in scandinavia :)
if you wanna know more : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin
greetings from sweden :)
the characters in the 6th cake are called moomins or moomintrolls. they're from the books by Tove Jansson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin
:)
Catatonicsleep
Moomins rock!
These are some spectacular sweets.
*Loving* the Moomin (not Moomim) cake, from the wonderful books by Tove Jansson, recently deceased. I grew up on them. Thanks!
Hey, wait! Where's Saturday's cakes?
But that Wallace and Gromit cake is just so cute!
Those are Moomins, not Hattifatteners! They (Hattifatteners) look more like evil marshmallows.
Avoid Yo Gabba Gabba. Trust me on this one. It's a kid's show on acid. It is the weirdest damn thing I have ever seen and I refuse to put it on in my house. It's the HR Puffenstuff for the next generation. Stay. Away.
Ooh, a Moomin cake! I grew up on the stories, since they were written in my country (Finland), and I can recommend them to people of all ages. They are wonderfully anarchistic kids' stories, but can also be enjoyed by adults for their philosophic content.
OMG MOOMIN CAKE!!!! :D
Ahem, sorry.
That one is totally my favourite, on principle, of today's batch... even though the sheer quality of the Beatrix Potter cake takes my breath away.
These are super-cute.
I'm the second to point out the typo: Wallace and Gromit, not Grommet :)
I see the Moomins (Muumit in Finnish) are the hit of this week's Sunday Sweets. My favorite also. One of the main reasons I got a code-free DVD player was so that I could get the Moomin cartoons on DVD for my son to watch. They are very much loved in Finland and in Japan. Finnair even painted the characters on one of its planes that flew from Finland to Japan.
Was Spongebob in spongecake?
You mean those hippos aren't Hungry Hungry?
OMFG a Muumipeikko cake! And it's so adorable! <3
I definitely know what I want on my next birthday cake now. :)
moomins are awesome. i saw a whole exhibition about tove jansson yesterday, her drawings are amazing... definitely check out the books!
Argh the moomins used to scare me so much as a kid! especially the things in the woods and that angry girl!
These are beautiful! The Beatrix Potter cake was amazing...
And put me in the ANTI Yo Gabba Gabba club. That cake is adorable, but the show is a mixture of Barney's annoying "everyone gets along" philosophy and teletubbies' random changing of scenes/no plot line.
If I received that Strawberry Shortcake, I would spend the rest of my days guarding it from those evil individuals who think you should eat cake! So freaking cute!!!
the one with the hattifatteners (never heard of) looks like a piece of wedgewood! and the hand-painting on the one above is absolutely incredible! such amazing work....
Really? That's the best spongebob cake?? It's not even sitting up
Thank you so much for featuring me on Sunday Sweets! It's such and honor! Strawberry Shortcake is hand molded out of gum paste, but the cupcake is real. It was for the display of an Iron Cupcake Competition. No worries, she was never cut or thrown away. I her took down to Oklahoma for the Sugar Art Show, and she now is having a little party in my dinning room with Captain Hook and Tinkerbell ;) Thanks again!!
The Yo Gabba Gabba cake is cute, but the show is unbelievably annoying. Worse than Barney and Teletubbies combined.
If Strawberry Shortcake (who's called Charlotte de Fraises here in France) is all fondant, I'd be sorely tempted to let her dry so I could keep her forever and ever.
I made a Peter Rabbit cake for a baby shower, and painted Peter Rabbit with thinned food colouring. Mine wasn't nearly as breathtaking as the Tailor of Gloucester cake above, but it got raves from everyone. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that painting cakes isn't as hard as I thought it would be, either. Just make sure to give your icing a chance to skin before painting it.
WV: progized. The cakes Jen posts from Monday to Friday need to be progized.
Add me to the NO Yo Gabba crew!!!
OMG. OMG. OMG. I made CakeWrecks ... and on a Sunday Sweets Day, not a wrecktastic day! Thank you whoever submitted my Sponge Bob cake!
MOOMINS!!!!!
That is all I have to say =D
I may have to get that Plex cake for my next birthday. That's awesome!
I dunno, I kind of like Yo Gabba Gabba. I find all kinds of cute in-jokes for parents, and love to watch whatever celebrity they have teaching a crazy kid dance. As for being "on acid", my children's favorite part of Dumbo is the "Pink Elephants" sequence. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. So to speak.
And that mouse cake? Ack, so gorgeous.
I love the Stawberry Shortcake one. I watched her show as a kid and had the dolls. I hate how they've modernized her to look like another anime cartoon. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I've never heard of the Moomins, but I love cakes with a night sky theme and it's gorgeous.
OMG...Moomins!! I used to watch this show when I was little. I had totally forgotten about these little guys!! Thanks for the blast from the past!! :D
I love the strawberry shortcake one! And yes, the Yo Gabba Gabba cake is cute, but that show is WEIRD! I agree with the lady who said something about them being on drugs while making it...=P It gave the girl i nanny nightmares!
I adore the Beatrix Potter one. I now want a Two Bad Mice cake!
Love that Strawberry Shortcake cake! (Sounds redundant, doesn't it?) I also like that is old school Strawberry Shortcake and not the new, "hip" S.S. Cakes like that reassure me that despite all the wrecks, there are some fantastic cake decorators out there.
I've seen Yo Gabba Gabba exactly twice, right after a trans-Atlantic flight, when I was horribly jet-lagged. It made perfect sense to me at the time. Maybe that says something about the show. ;)
I think you should watch Yo Gabba Gabba just once. I *love* turning it on for unsuspecting adults and watching their faces as they try to wrap their heads around it!
Great cakes. Just to make it even more confusing, the hippos are called Mummitrolde here :) I've never seen them in the states, but I've become a big fan since moving to Denmark. A little spooky, some of the stories, but very cute!
I have to laugh at all the anti-Yo Gabba Gabba comments......we watch it as a family every day. We all love it...how can you not like a show that has Biz Markie, Mark Mothersbaugh, The Aquabats, and Jack Black (just to name a few) making regular appearances?
To compare it to Barney is ridiculous... Barbey is inane drivel....you have to have a sense of humor to "get" YGG.
LOVE the plex cake! I'm 22 and both me, the 2-yo I babysit and his 10-yo sister just LOVE Yo Gabba Gabba! It's one of the shows I love to watch with them because it gets them up and laughing and dancing around the living room and singing along. It's so interactive! And so what if it's trippy, so was fraggle rock and that was one of my faves as a child. I think we have this idea that if something could be trippy to an adult who was on drugs or whatever then it's automatically somehow bad for children. But it's almost the opposite! Because things that we find trippy are usually bright and colourful and those are the things that kids like too.
oh...and the Plex cake is awesome! I would love to get one like that for my son's b-day. His favorite character is Brobee though so maybe I should try to find someone to do one of him.
Well, I actually [opens umbrella to fend off rotten tomatoes] kind of like Yo Gabba Gabba. I agree that it is definitely reminiscent of H.R. Pufnstuf, but at least they kept the drug references out of the title (as far as I know). It is totally weird, but a lot less creepy than the 1970s ever could have hoped to have been. I'll just be here getting my "Dancy-dance" on alone then, I guess... :D
I agree on the Moomins! The books by Tove Jansen are fantastic! They're so cute! And that cake! Perfect.
Yo gabba gabba characters were featured people-sized in Kia's superbowl ads.
Anonymous at 10:07 my husband's groom's cake was frosted with Calvin and Hobbes posed like the cover of the 10th anniversary book. I recently posted on facebook during the olympics that Lysacek's short program included our wedding processional (Finale from Firebird Suite). One friend was glad to remember where she recognized it from and another friend mentioned that cake....next week is our FOURTEENTH anniversary so quite a memorable cake. . Would have submitted it as a sweet already, but most of my belongings are in a pod while we are in housing limbo. I would be remiss not to say that this site has helped preserve my very sanity during this time.
I loved the Finn Family Moomintroll as a kid. I had all the books! Very odd and weird in a Scandinavian way that I love.
And that Beatrix Potter cake is the best! Thank you!
First - Have to agree with the poster who said Yo Gabba Gabba is this generations HR Puffinstuff. Seriously weird stuff.
Second - That Wallace and Gromit cake is fantastic! Very nice.
Third - That mouse cake is way too lovely to slice into. Mad skills!
Lovely cakes! Especially the one with Taylor!
But seriously now, SS for "Sunday Sweets"? :)) I thought it stands for something else...no offense
Can someone please point out to me which parts of the Thomas cake are edible photo icing? I cant figure it out but I am a total novice.
Just do a google search on the Moomins.
WV: consingl Some of the people who recieved these wrecks may need consingling.
Those of you that hate Yo Gabba Gabba have clearly never seen a toddler go into paroxysms of bliss at the first sight of DJ Lance Rock and his bright orange jumpsuit. The Jack Black episode was classic. We will be having a Gabba-themed party for my daughter's 2nd birthday in 2 weeks. I will keep you posted on how well the cake turns out. :-)
Moomin cake! Jen, you have made my day, no, my week, no I can't lie, you've made my year. They were my favourite books growing up and I love them still today. You must, must, must read Finn Family Moomintroll.
My third favourite books were Beatrix Potter's so the Tailor of Gloucester cake was also a hit with me.
No AA Milne though ( my second favourite author!) slightly disappointing (though they have to be the original EH Shepard versions NOT the horrible, horrible Disney ones....)
wv: foroo: some of the cake wrecks make me want to foroo up but never the SUnday Sweets.
Sadly enough, I recognized the Moomin cake right away. I'm 13, but my father is(...how should I put it...enthusiastic? yes) enthusiastic about the Moomins. We own the books, the comic books, the tiny plastic figurines AND a pillow case with the characters printed on it. So I'd have to be completely oblivious not to recognize it...them...at least I don't remember their names...
MOOMIN CAAAKE!!!
*dies of awesome*
lmao..I have a Thomas fan, too, but before I had a kid I made the mistake of calling him Thomas the Train, too, to a young child.
I work directy under the creators on Yo Gabba Gabba, and I can assure you that no drugs have ever been involved in the creative process.
Give it a chance, and remember it's made for kids, not adults. Though, I enjoy watching it.
To echo everyone else, I l;ove the Moomins!
Moomins! <3 <3 <3
The best part of the Strawberry Shortcake cake is that it's the OLD Strawberry Shortcake from the 80s. You know, before she got all hoochy in the 2000s.
Wow, I have a musical box exactly like the Tailor of Gloucester cake! Presume Natasha (as a fellow Brit) had one once too! Perfect in every way - and makes me want to go find my music box...
Love, love, love Yo Gabba Gabba! Greatest show ever for kids and adults. Very hippie, trippie and we love it. The music is sick (and right up your alley) and the lessons are all super positive social ones. That Plex is adorable.
Ooh, a Moomin cake! They're fairly popular in Russia, but no one in the U.S. seems to know about them... I've never seen the cartoon, but I adored the books.
The mouse cake is awesome, too.
Love the handpainted one!
~Amy B-H
Mooooomiiins!
Originally a sort of fuzzy felt stop animation thing and then followed maaaany years later with a cartoon. Just wasn't the same. Another Brit here with Moomin madness.
You've got to check out Yo Gabba Gabba. It's crazy trippy and tons of fun. Plus, awesome guests and musical groups (guests have been Jack Black, Tony Hawk, Elijah Wood for example and musical groups like The Aquabats, Supernova, Aggrolits, and Jimmy Eat World) make it really grown-up friendly.
The Beatrix Potter cake is topnotch! Wow! And for all you who aren't familiar w/ the Moomins, read the books! If you are one of those crazy adults who still loves children's books, the Moomin books are wonderful fun! Author is Tove Janssen. And they are NOT from a cartoon series--the cartoons are from the original book series. If you've only seen the cartoons and never read the books, you are missing out!
Be glad you don't know about Yo Gabba Gabba. Trust me!
Oh I would hate to cut into any of those beautiful cakes. Especially the beautiful handpainted one. So gorgeous. :)
Rashelle
Well at least the Yo Gabba Gabba cake wasn't a likeness of Muno, who looks like ummmm, uhhhh, well google it.
We love it at our house too. The Jack Black episode was so awesome.
Yo Gabba Gabba is a bad acid trip. The cake rocks, though.
The moomin characters were written by a Finnish writer called Tove Jansson. BUT. She did not write the books in Finnish, but in her mother tongue, Swedish, as she was a swedish speaking finn (small 5% minority here in Finland). I love to read these book to my 1 year old son (in Swedish, ofcourse, something is always lost in translation).
Fun facts about Moomins/Tove:
The character Tooticky in the books is based on her companion in life.
In the comicbooks (which are more anarchistic than the novels) the moomin family are smoking pot at one stage. In the books they did drink some hard liquor also, but in further editions it has been toned down to wine...
Tove used to love
I just love the moomins. I try to live up to the standards they live with in my life. Quote from Moominmamma as a vase breaks down in some kind of hurdle "It doesn't matter, it was so ugly anyway".
Go on. READ THEM! This is an order (you WILL love them). Forget the cartoons. First books, then cartoons.
WW: rabash
Don't watch Yo Gabba Gabba. Your brain will drip out your ears and you'll be scarred for ever by Moondo the Phallic Symbol.
That Spongebob is ok, but there are a few that I know of (on Flickr) that are standing or sitting upright that are even better.
I was very excited to see the moomins! They are Finnish trolls that you can also find throughout Scandinavia. I can't remember much about them, but the one with the anklet is a princess I think, and her English name is the Snork Maiden. Go figure!
Anna B
@Chris Partida--
Thanks for speaking up for Yo
Gabba Gabba-- I think that show is just about remembering the free inner spirit we all are supposed to have as children, and it's lots of fun to watch!
Oh do I really love that Strawberry Shortcake doll cake. I loved her as a kid and still do. Wow what talent. Almost makes up for those insane cake wrecks lol.
I am stunned, STUNNED!, by the Gabba hate here! I'm gonna have to assume anyone brushing it off as acid-fueled strangeness doesn't understand children. It's the type of stuff toddlers and preschoolers crave. My two year old is thrilled when it comes on. With the musical guests, songs, DJ Lance, dancing, it's fun to watch at any age.
Dont waste those minutes watching yo gabba gabba. You'll definatly discover that you could have done something a million times more interesting dureing that time and those minutes you'll never get back. thank goodness my son does not like it.
They're all so gorgeous, especially that Beatrix Potter one!
However, that Spongebob cake?!? Ick!!! I thought you were throwing in a wreck; I was utterly shocked to see this as a wreck. I DO love his little spongy holes, much better than just drawn little circles. The decorator was creative, but...meh. He looks a little, er, "special." And even moreso than usual.
I've never posted on CakeWrecks before, but I'm a long-time reader, and think this site is hilarious and wonderful! Just had to say...
I can't believe you haven't discovered MOOMINS yet (and yes, I know everyone's been saying that)! They are adorable and very worth looking into.
You simply must go out and get ahold of one of their books, either the comics or the novels. Comet in Moominland is excellent, as is Moominvalley in November (lovely characters). Moominmamma is a very comforting character to know, and will give you solace in times of trouble, I promise. :)
(And Sniff is hilarious)
Moomins! Wheee! And that Wallace and Gromit cake is gorgeous!
Yo Gabba Gabba is fantastic! My toddler is completely in love with foofa. He can hear her voice from across the house and comes running. His daddy even has a Gabba tshirt to wear when we take him to the stage show! Looks like the perfect cake for his 2ed birthday party :)
Oh, I LOVE the Beatrix Potter one!
And Moomins are awesome. I got a book in a book exchange once called "The Comet in Moominland" or something and it was wonderful. Not epic literature or anything, of course, but fun and whimsical. I read it while I was on an archaeological dig, so it was nice to have something light and happy for the downtimes between all the digging.
I used to have nightmares about the Moomins. They were terifying!
Moomin cake!!!! Squeeeeeeeeeee!
Don't listen to the Yo Gabba Gabba haters. That show is MADE OF AWESOME. Their 3rd season begins today with new episodes all week on Nickelodean. You should try to see it - even people without kids dig it - really! It's made by a bunch of cool people who wanted to make something amazing for their kids. Just this first week, the guest stars include Sarah Silverman, Weird Al Yankovic, Black Kids, Jack McBrayer, Paul Scheer, Weezer, Anthony Bourdain, Of Montreal, Mos Def, Devo, The Aquabats, Mark Mothersbaugh, Biz Markie and a special remix by Travis Barker. Okay, I'll admit I'm a little obsessed with the show - you need to see it and you'll understand why! LOL!
Wow. All that anti Yo Gabba Gabba. I'll admit, I was a bit leery of them when all I had seen was "Party in My Tummy" as one of the songs between shows on Nick Jr. (It's on You Tube. Go look it up.) But...the three year old really likes it. And it teaches him stuff, like "don't bite your friends." And it's more intelligently made that that awful purple dinosaur ever was. And I can usually get a hug out of my active kid if I start singing "Hugs are Fun" to him. Now if only they would do a topic about potty training.....
But horray for the new season starting in 20 minutes!
I love love love the moomincake! I want that for my birthday this week.
Here's a great Spongebob cake. I think it is better than the one above. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chocolatemoosecakes/4340550901/
For some reason the moomintroll series (which I grew up with) are very popular and loved EVERYWHERE in the world EXCEPT the US. There's even a theme park in Japan based on them. Why this is the case I don't know.
"I'm gonna have to assume anyone brushing it off as acid-fueled strangeness doesn't understand children."
Oh, I understand them. I have two myself - a 5 year old and a 1 year old. It's not that I don't get the allure to children it's that I think it's creepy and weird and acid fueled (I don't care WHAT the creators say) and I'm not about to put that stuff on in my house. I'm tortured by plenty of other children's TV shows. I draw the line at Yo Gabba Gabba.
I'm not saying you have to agree. But don't accuse me of not understanding my kids just because I'm not a fan of a particular show.
And this will be my last comment ever on Cake Wrecks. This is a great silly blog and I don't understand why we have to accusatory here. So I'm out and I'll read the posts and ignore comments from here on.
What the world needs now is more hand-painted cakes! That cake is just amazing!
Also, if you ever get to Gloucester, England, there is an adorable Beatrix Potter Museum downtown...right next to a darn fine pub (for the food, people, the food!) just nearby.
Yay for Plex! I can't believe how much anti-Gabba there is here. Yo Gabba Gabba makes me feel the way Pee-Wee's Playhouse did when I was a teenager. It's fun to be silly sometimes, you people need some Yo Gabba Gabba, seriously!
Jen,
In the name of all that is holy, PLEASE do not subject yourself to watching even a second of Yo Gabba Gabba! It is one of those shows as mind numbing to adults as Barney or the Teletubbies. Please, save yourself!!!
Don't say I didn't warn you! :)
Laura
My daughters were delighted over the Yo Gabba Gabba cake....and, yes, that show is a bit odd but my girls love it and my 4 year old eats better foods, now, thanks (in part) to that show (There's a party in my tummy....so yummy, so yummy!).
Its the guest appearances that are the most bizarre.....Frodo and Jack Black, to name a couple.
Great cakes.....I think the Sunday ones are my favorite!
Great post, CW! :) Meh to the "Moomins"; I have a gaggle of friends *directly from Finland* and I've never heard of the things in my life. I can't actually argue the Yo Gabba Gabba hate, because YGG is sweet, but it's in a super-sacherine sweet, someone-call-the-dentist-or-psychiatrist because my teeth/brain/eyes are about to fall out kind of sweet, if you see what I mean, and I. Know. Children's Shows! AGH! :)
Strawberry Shortcake is SO CUTE! Unreal! And yes, it *is* Thomas the "Tank Engine". I have no idea what it said before, but thank you for updating that; there are millions of preschoolers (who know how to read?) that are reading this blog that would be terribly dissappointed if you hadn't. Faugh! ;) JK
My favourite post ever!
Moomins & Beatrix Potter? Love love love.
I absolutely love the mouse cake. You just can't go wrong with cuteness.
OH GOD! The mouse cake is amazing! As the mum to 9 spoiled rotten pet rats, I want that cake so badly. Just make mine vegan.
Must send link to SO.
Adorable!
Love the Moomin cake! I too loved those books as a child, and their wonderful illustrations. They are rather strange, melancholy and wonderfully tolerant of inexplicable oddity. The hattifatteners were these silent beings who were shaped like upside down test tubes with eyes and tiny hands on their sides, who spent their lives traveling for unknown reasons and to unknown lands. It was all very Miyazaki.
I adore the Moominfamily! I read them all when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, and then rediscovered them a few years ago. The books, comic books, and TV series (which I didn't even know existed!) have all been reissued recently.
I watched part of Yo Gabba Gabba the other day, and although I don't have kids, I can understand exactly why they love it, and the songs I heard were surprisingly catchy. I would think that anyone that loves creative cake decorating would love the brilliant colors and odd imagery on the show!
These are seriously awesome cakes. I aspire to such greatness someday!
I was so excited to see the Moomin cake on here! The Moomin series were my favourite books as a child (my mother is from Finland)... I even have a couple of Moomin character tattoos. They're something of a national icon in Finland :)
My toddler loves Yo Gabba Gabba, and I find that I can have it on the TV without barfing from inane writing. Really, it's not actually more trippy than vintage Sesame Street.
I'm of the opinion that way too much children's programming is "sanitized pablum"— stuff that adults THINK children should like as opposed to what they actually like.
Mandatory disclaimer: I like Edward Gorey, vintage children's books that involve topics that modern books shy away from (heck, Betsy-Tacy has a serious discussion about a BABY DYING between five-year-olds— who were, incidentally, encouraged to go out and play without supervision), and original fairy tales, which are SERIOUSLY dark. So you can take my views on Yo Gabba Gabba with the proverbial grain of salt.
However, I will state that I saw one episode of Teletubbies and could almost feel my brain dribbling out my ears. Yo Gabba Gabba doesn't have that effect.
I actually own that particular Strawberry Shortcake doll! I scrolled down and nearly melted when I saw it. What a perfect cake!
I'm with the others who said they wouldn't want to cut into it!!! (although I can just smell the strawberry now!) It brought tears of joy to my eyes!!!
Coming from a Scandinavian background,I was also going to weigh in on the Moomin cake- But It looks like everyone already has!
And all are as befuddled as I was at how you don't know what they are,
But I guess it makes sense they aren't that well known here:)
Yo Gabba Gabba is a very interesting and cool kids show despite being strictly sweet and pleasant. The creator is a DJ and wanted to use interesting music in the show to expose children to it. If you watch the show and are into music, you can tell that's exactly what he did. They use weird tunings and funky minor chords in their jingles, which is something you definitely don't get a lot of on TV normally. The fact that cool musicians (Cornelius, The Shins, MGMT, Hot Hot Heat) have stopped by to contribute should say something! I love the idea even though I don't have children (bit young for it yet!) because expanding your mind to interesting musical ideas at a young age really contributes to your level of art appreciation when you're older. I'm all for what YBB is doing.
Also, to add, I grew up loving Moomins, even here in the US!
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that the adorable Moomin cake was made by JILL ( she's a cake decorator from Japan ) and you can see her fabulous works here on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/30324326@N03/sets/
I don't know what these people are talking about Gabba Gabba is GREAT!!! The music is amazing, the Roots have a great song on there called "love my family" (i think that's the name of the song), The Ting Tings have a GREAT happy birthday song they did on there. It's "hipster" music done kid style, my kids love the show and I love it too! Give it a chance.
Like a number of people here, I was delighted to see the Moomins. Yes, the little things around the sides *are* Hattifatteners; they are more like aspects of nature than people, so it's hard to characterize them as good or evil. Previous contributors have correctly identified the Moomins up top as Moomintroll, his beloved Snork Maiden, and Moominpappa and Moominmamma. Tove Jansson's books about the Moomins are rich and strange--full of odd creatures, indeed, but exhibiting a richness of characterization and growth from book to book seldom paralleled in what is ostensibly children's literature.
To read more about the Moomins: http://www.moomin.fi/eng/
Wallace and Gromit! they are the hilarious British duo of a funny older man who loves cheese and his smarter-than-thou doggie.
the Beatrix hand painted cake is lovely...!
Strawberry Shortcake almost looks like it's just the doll sitting there with her cupcake. that's how crazy-amazing that gumpaste figure is.
Oh my goodness. The Tailor of Gloucestor is my FAVOURITE Beatrix Potter story, and that cake is exquisite.
Right behind it is the Strawberry Shortcake entry, which might be all gumpaste but it is adorable! I was a big fan as a little girl.
Yo Gabba Gabba is not a cartoon, Jen. It's a great show, but changed it to a learning experience....
AUUUUUUUGH!
The Moomin cake is really cute. I love that show! It made my day to see the characters on a cake. =D
I don't know what the English translators were thinking, but the Norwegian and Swedish (and possibly Finnish) word for one of those white little fellas is hattifnatt. The name is not meant to suggest that they are fattening (to hattis or anything else). Of course as cake decorations containing sugar and/or fat they probably are fatten ing, but not originally...
The Moomins are wonderful. Some of the characters in the boos are modelled after my family's older generation members' friends.
Looking at that colour scheme on them, it suggests they're based on the Japanese cartoon version, as it's a Japanese thing to colour the white Moomins blue and yellow per gender. According to the original books, the snorks change colour based on mood, but that was discarded in the cartoons. :)
An interesting scrap of information, btw. The day when the news of the author Tove Jansson's death hit the world, Disney called Tove's niece and asked "how much". They declined, and I'm forever grateful for that!
The stories teach kids that there are scary things in the world and that children need to learn to compromise and not always get everything they want in a happy ending. That's why they're exceptionally good children's stories. They mirror life in a way that doesn't hasten the growing up process, but doesn't provide too much proverbial padding, either, as sadly so many modern children's stories do.
I wouldn't call the later Moomin (Mumin in the original Swedish) books children's literature: it's not just that they can be read by adults as well, they are probably better suited for it. But yes, if you haven't, you really ought to read them. They're wonderful.
(And I found it rather amusing that the captcha wants me to write ruotssi to post this.)
//JJ
You don't know Moomintroll? They're from a series of books written by a Finnish writer, Tove Janson. Moomintroll is the main character, and the others who look like him are Moomin Mama, Moomin Papa, and the Snork Maiden. The Hattifrattners are from the first book, Finn Family Moomintroll.
You're spot on with the Moomins! You'll see things featuring them all over Europe... When I went to Poland they had a show on TV and a comic book series. :]
The original novels featuring the Moomins have been translated into English, the animated show was dubbed in English as well... sadly it never really caught on here in the USA.
It really is an adorable kids franchise though!
http://hellointerloper.blogspot.com
I make every year one or two Moomin gingerbread house/houses. Gingerbread Moomin house is very popular in Finland. Look here http://ebetys.com/blog/category/Piparkakkuty%C3%B6t
and here
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=piparkakkutalo%20muumi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
The Moomin cake was made by Jill's Sugar Collection--which I discovered when clicking through the flickr link from the May 2nd Sunday Sweets! She does some really amazing work.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30324326@N03/3103068265/
Oh god I want a Moomin cake for my next birthday more than anything in the world.
today is my birthday! thanks for not doing anything super gross!