Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sunday Sweets: At Your Service

Sunday, November 28, 2010

For Thanksgiving this year, we thought we'd show you some really fantastic turkey cakes.

[looking around] [checking Google] [lifting up sofa cushions]

Huh. Right then.

For Thanksgiving this year, we thought we'd show you some really fantastic cakes that honor our firefighters, police officers, and medical professionals. These brave women and men do so much for us, so today we're gonna say thanks the sweetest way we know how:

With cake.

(I feel like that kinda goes without saying, but I didn't want you thinking we were going to show you some greeting cards or flower arrangements or big piles of money or something. Yeah. So, I suppose we should get started.)



Check it out: this cake has working lights!

Made by Connie1027

I'm also totally loving the little fire hydrant on the grass.


Check out this amazing firefighter's hat, also known as a "helmet."*

Submitted by Weslynn B. and made by Persnickety Cakes

*I actually looked that up just to make sure it wasn't called something technical like "Polycarbonate aspirated obsequious cranial protective unit," or... something.

Next we have a kickin' firefighter wedding topper:

Made by Tortenfiguren

Don't you love how the hose looks just like a hose? You know, as opposed to...uh...something else?


And speaking of hoses:

Found at the 2008 Orlando ICES Convention; baker unknown.

A real antique fire hose: the perfect compliment to any awesome firefighter cake. Oh, and I'd very much like a chocolate fire truck right now. Mmmm chooooocolate...


And for our final firefighter cake, I give you: Disney characters!

Submitted by Diane M; found here and made by Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons

Say, I think this may be the first time I've seen Mickey on a cake where it wasn't copyright infringement. Heh.


And now on to our boys and girls in blue:

Made by Made To Be Delicious

Or, ya know, England's boys and girls in blue. Um... Oi! 'At's a right smart 'elmet, guvna!


Ah, here's an American police cake:

By Cindy's Cakery

Nice detail!


Here's a shout-out to the K-9 Units out there:


Made by Creative Cake Designs

Awwww.

And finally, the perfect cake topper to transition us into the medical profession:

Made by Sleepy Robot 13

A robot policeman marrying a robot doctor.

(Told you it was perfect.)


Some amazing sculpted cupcakes:

I love that the pill pack is perforated, and the thermometer is registering a healthy 98.6.


And how fun is this?


I believe that's a saxophone in a medical bag. Before you ask: I don't know. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, though, and say this was for the 105th birthday of the Greater Saskatchewan St. Mary's General Hospital Medical Practitioners Naked Marching Band. Or maybe that's my wishful thinking talking.


Nurses, this one's for you:

Spotted at the 2008 Orlando ICES Convention; made by Sweet Ashley's.

I'm in awe: look at the bow made of (gumpaste) Band-aids! And the pill sprinkles!


This may be the only time you'll ever see edible tweezers:


I call dibs on the knee bonker doohickey! Oh, and the blue pills. [eyebrow waggle]


And finally, for our paramedics, EMTs and ambulance drivers:


Yeah. On top of everything else, this baker can totally write backwards. Rock on, Bake-Me-A-Cake. Rock on.


This post is dedicated to Josh, a firefighter who passed suddenly last week, and to everyone else who dedicates their lives to serving and protecting their fellow man. Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts.

And for the rest of us: let's find someone to thank in person this week, ok?


Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.
Christian Johnson said...

It appears that Robot Policeman is really looking forward to the honeymoon.....

Just sayin'.

Allie said...

I love these cakes! (Especially the nurse cake, but being a nurse makes me a bit biased!) The pill sprinkles are awesome!

~Allie

Shannon said...

As a resident of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan I am looking forward to the annual Greater Saskatchewan St. Mary's General Hospital Medical Practitioners Naked Marching Band Parade. Hope they do it in summer this year though. It's really too cold for outdoor nudity at the moment.

Karyl said...

Great post! Thank you to all who dedicate their lives to protecting us and to their families who support them!

NiteNurse said...

My condolences on the sudden loss of Josh, the firefighter. The men and women who pursue this dangerous work to save and help people are AWESOME. And they certainly deserve hoses on their cakes that truly look like...hoses. Good work, bakers!

On a more personal note, thanks for the nurse/medical cakes and the kind,kind words. I so want the scrubs with all the equipment. The stethoscope alone is ultra-fantastic. And, since it's been kinda a long weekend at work, the "touch lives" cake actually made me weepy--but in a good
way.

WV: oxedione: after her midnight dose of oxedione she felt so good she stayed up to bake a cake.

Terrell aka NN

Anonymous said...

This is the first time I've ever enjoyed finding a band-aid on a cake. :)


p.s. Is it actually spelled as "Oi"? I ask because I have only seen it in print in Harry Potter! Just wondering, UK readers...

Oy vey.

Tami said...

Excellent cakes!

God Bless Josh and his family in this awful time.

Anonymous said...

Aww these really were sweet. Please try to find some sunday sweets for our military, I would love that

Anonymous said...

Yes it's 'oi'. /

Jen, please please tell me that was intentional and you know what blue pills are, that would make my day haha :D

Jules AF said...

I love all of these.

Anonymous said...

I live in Regina, Saskatchewan and I hope that parade comes here too - and definitely in the summer!! Too much snow now. Married to a policeman - he loved the cakes!!

Anonymous said...

Aww, a Sunday Sweets post for me. How truly sweet!

I oohed and aahhed my way through this post with a giggle or two thrown in. Then had a quiet moment for Josh and his family.

Thanks is always appreciated, especially while we're still around to hear it.

P.S. Oh, and congrats to Mike Deluca wherever he is.

Fluffy Cow said...

*smile*

Perfect post.

angelscairns said...

I absolutely LOVE Sunday Sweets! The weekly wreckiness makes me cackle and guffaw, but Sunday Sweets make me smile and feel good.

They were all wonderful today but I really, really love the firefighter wedding topper - it is just so simple in its perfection

RND said...

A while ago on Epbot you mentioned turning a Bad Day into a BAD Day. I must admit, I liked the idea, and you have definitely brightened my day today. I was feeling sick (I won't bore you with details...) and once I was feeling well enough to plug in again, I knew I needed my weekly dose of Cakewrecks. (Followed by Epbot, my only source for little Fett, of course.)

Thank you,
RND

Anonymous said...

OMG those cupcakes. . . I want those cupcakes for my mom, the RN.

Anonymous said...

BTW- the knee bonker doohickey is called a pleximeter.

Ros said...

For an instant I wondered why the chocolate fire truck was not melting in the flames...

Dori said...

Beautiful...all of them! However, since I'm married to a EOD/K9 officer, I must admit the doggie one is my favorite! We love service dogs...they are amazing, smart and wonderful dogs!

Anonymous said...

I think the band-aid bow cake is Ashley Vicos. Great cakes!!

AlisonH said...

Wow. And my best wishes to Josh and his family and colleagues.

I actually did see a gorgeous cake yesterday with the most perfect turkey on top, with a Saturday-after-Thanksgiving sign saying $10 off. If I'd had a camera I'd have asked permission to snap its picture for your Sunday Sweets. It was fabulously well done.

Chris M. said...

Amazing cakes, and as a former volunteer firefighter, I have to 'fan the flames' of friendly rivalry and point out you presented the firefighter cakes first, of course!

Ashley Vicos said...

The nurse cake with the band aid bow was created by me!
Ashley Vicos
It is very special cake that I created in honor of my mom---a dedicated oncology nurse & amazing woman!
You can see many more pictures of this cake (with all of the sides and back story) on my facebook fanpage!
Ceheck out my website as well
www.Sweet-Ashleys.com

Michele said...

as another resident of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan I too am looking forward to the annual Greater Saskatchewan's St. Mary's General Hospital Medical Practitioners Naked Marching Band Parade! I also have a spouse in law enforcement and thoroughly enjoyed these cakes.

bookworm1973 said...

My dad, brother, several uncles & cousins are volunteer firemen; my brother is a paramedic; I have cousins in law enforcement and an aunt who is a nurse, so this post was even awesomer than usual. My dad is also retired military, so I add my vote for a military themed Sunday Sweets.

I also add my sincere condolences on the loss of Firefighter Josh. It's never easy to lose someone, and especially tough during the holidays. We lost my dad's younger brother in Sept and the grief is still fresh.

Anonymous said...

Oh I loved them all UNTIL the band-aid. Even in cake form, they skeeze me out. I can't even look at it!

Amanda

RaquiGirl said...

Okay, so if anyone has ever watched Cake Boss... I just saw an earlier episode on Netflix with the most amazing firefighter cake that even spewed smoke... it had a building facade with people being rescued and a fire engine with lights and everything. Phenomenal.

Suzanne said...

WOW!The detail is astounding.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful cakes! What a great way to say "Thank You!" to a whole lot of people who do wonderful things with very little thanks.
Josh's family, I will be praying for you.

Shayna said...

Nice. I love the wedding toppers... All of them! Cool as they are, though, the bandaids on that cake just look too real for me. It's kinda gross.
The pill sprinkles are genius, though!

Anonymous said...

As a Yorkshire Lass, I love the policeman's helmet! The detail is amazing! My other favourite is the ambulance - WOW!

As an aside, do American children play 'Cops and Robbers'? I used to love that game! I remember we even made our own version in one of my schools - 'Vampires and Werewolves'...

My sympathies to Josh's family, and God Bless.

Lucy

Jon from Bucksport said...

Love the post, just…one little thing…
Thanks for saying Paramedics and ambulance drivers and not just ambulance drivers but…
The term "ambulance driver" is derogatory. Anyone with a drivers license can go join a volunteer service and they will let you drive the ambulance the first day. Ok, maybe not to a call but, you know. Folks should always assume that anyone getting out of an ambulance is at least an EMT and they should never be called and ambulance driver!
Thanks for the great cakes John and Jen!! Keep up the good work!

Craig said...

#1 brought a very different 'Fireman Cake' to mind, even though in this one the hose looks like a hose and no one is holding it.

#4 That antique brass nozzle almost brings a note of steampunk.

#7 Very classy and dignified. Fitting, in other words.

Counting the K-9 cake as 8 and 8a...

#11 Maybe the doctor is a sax therapist.

#12 Nurses do touch lives. My fiancee, who is an LVN in process of becoming an RN, has certainly touched mine...

#13 Now that is some serious detail.

#14 Also incredibly detailed -- check the wipers. Was that a wedding cake? For two EMT's, right?

MissNay said...

Thanks guys!

john (the hubby of Jen) said...

Jon from Bucksport,

Actually, Ambulance Driving is a valid and valuable career choice for many people. In fact, I carefully worded it that way so as not to exclude them. While I understand that respect and credit should be given to all medical professionals, the term ambulance driver, when used properly, is not derogatory.

john

Cake Cop said...

"Matt and Ashlee 9-18-10" written on the cake featuring the ambulance...

Do you think their romance started when Ashlee, the paramedic, arrived at the scene of an accident to take Matt, the injured patient, to a local hospital?

tiny purple elephant said...

lovely.. loved the fire couple and the cutie pie dog. the scrubs and instruments were well done.

Lady Bright said...

Lovely cakes! A wonderful way to celebrate people who make such a big difference in everyone's day.

~~Di

ttv said...

Wow! It's perfectly made police cakes.

Cake Cop said...

PS. Must take an awful (maybe I should save the word "awful" to describe the wreckerator's contribution to the history of baking) lot of time and effort to produce these outstanding cake masterpieces.

I admire the imagination and creativity of the designers, and marvel at the fiddly and painstaking handiwork necessary to bring a concept to fruition.

Delicious art at its finest.

Kelly K said...

My husband is a firefighter/EMT and I thank you on his behalf for these beautiful, beautiful cakes!!!

Amanda Mac said...

As a nursing student (and wife of a RN), I LOVE those nurse cakes!!

Bree said...

My sister-in-law is a nurse and is working her 7pm - 7am shift right now. It's a hard job and many people have told me I would make a good nurse, but I couldn't hack the hours and having to work weekends and holidays. So thanks nurses, and everyone else out there keeping us safe. I think this was probably one of my favorite Sunday Sweets apart from the Doctor Who one. The cakes were astounding!

mollymcpaws said...

Ok the knee dohickey is called a reflex hammer!!

Been there and done that
Nurse for almost 40 years!

Gina said...

Aha! Hoses that don't look like wangs... I knew it could be done :)

Angela said...

Ironically I spent by black friday making 2 firemen cakes! The first one was a green iced cake with piped fire border and had 3 little gingerbread houses on it: one was a fire station with flag, one was a regular house and one was a burning house.

That one went over so well when we dropped it off at the fire station I decided to go home and bake another for one of the other stations to use up the rest of the icing. That was a true wreck. I ran out of icing half way through the border, the alternate icing I tried to use ran all over the place and the flaming gingerbread house took a header in the floor of my car. We dropped it off anyway with a "Well it should still taste good!" This is why I'm not a professional. ;)

Nicole said...

As another resident of Saskatoon, SK, I wish I could hit the "Like" or "Agree" button for Shannon's comment. :)

Nixie's Daddy said...

I love these cakes! Thanks to all the heroes out there every day!
By the way, the firefighter's helmet is usually called a Cairns, after the company that manufactures them. The history of the Cairns Fire Helmet can be found here, http://www.msafire.com/cairns_history.html
Love your blog! Joe

Rachel said...

Hooray for Saskatchewan!!!

Oldish Lady said...

It's incredibly well done, and I give anything to be that good, but ...

Does anyone know why the Virginia Sate Police Badge has a skeleton on it?

Barbarann Garrard said...

The nurse scrubs cake was made by me,Barbarann Garrard (AKA: Cake Rhapsody ) and wanted to note EVERYTHING was edible.. the cake and ALL of the "medical" supplies, pills, ect.
I am SO excited to have one of my cakes featured!
I am a hobby baker who has been making cakes for a lil over a year, and getting recognition means the world to me = )
to see more of my cakes :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47415862@N08/


or on facebook :
http://www.facebook.com/editprofile.php?sk=picture#!/profile.php?id=554586430

~Barbarann Garrard

Mary Kirkland said...

I love those fire trucks. I know little boys who would love those cakes for their birthdays. They were all so cute.

Kara said...

Are the decorations on the Disney cake and the police helmet cake edible or just stuck on? If they're real, then very nice.

Donna said...

I was just thinking "How stinkin cute is the firefighter wedding couple" when I spotted the Disney cake. Too sweet!

LaurenH said...

"Oh I loved them all UNTIL the band-aid. Even in cake form, they skeeze me out. I can't even look at it!"

Awesome! I'm not the only one! Seriously, they're well-done but I was thinking "No WAY I could ever eat a Band-Aid on a cake...even one made of frosting (or whatever else edible)!" Ha ha...I would totally enjoy a cupcake with a handful of 'pills' on top though :D

Anonymous said...

These are all AMAZING! What a charming surprize!

jmadison77 said...

Amazing on the detail of the Virginia state seal...that's pretty difficult. Whoever mentioned it, it shouldn't be a skeleton, it should be a warrior type woman standing with one foot on a man (who represents tyranny...note the crown laying farther away if you look up the actual seal) and the motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis"--Thus always to tyrants. If you can't tell, I'm a proud Virginian and will raise a glass for Ofc Deluca, and another for Firefighter Josh.

debra said...

I work with a pediatrician that would LOVE the saxophone in the doctor's bag cake. He also plays jazz saxophone and has 3 bands... a jazz band, a classic rock/dance band, a gospel band.

Anonymous said...

Wow, those are so cool. Love all the intricate detail!

Alicia said...

Alicia here for Buttercream Dreams.

Here's the back story...
Yes it was for a retired man who was turning 105. He played the saxophone to pay his way through medical school, and still loves to play.

I'm so honored that one of my cakes made it into the Sunday Sweets! YAY! To see more you can check out my blog: www.buttercreamdreamskc.blogspot.com

Thanks for the recognition!

Alicia Patrick

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the recipeint of the saxophone in the medical bag cake was earning their Doctorate Degree in Music? Just a thought :o)

Jen said...

Seeing as my mother isn't online right now, she's likely working an overnight shift at the hospital. I sent her the cakes, too, thinking she'll love the nurse cakes.

Khazar said...

The cupcakes with the Dilantins is great. They're the orange & white pills. They are for seizures.

And Dori, you're right about how wonderful service dogs are.

Mike and Shayla said...

Good, I'm not the only one who has an aversion to band aids. It's definitely not a wreck, because it really is lovely and well made, but I would request a non-bandaged slice if I were at that party. :)

lady said...

I work with a pediatrician that would LOVE the saxophone in the doctor's bag cake. He also plays jazz saxophone and has 3 bands... a jazz band, a classic rock/dance band, a gospel band.

Anonymous said...

The only thing that bugs me is the caduceus being used incorrectly...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadeuceus
where it should be the rod of Asclepius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius
But, thats just me...

Frazzled-Razzle-RN said...

I would totally check into buying one of these cakes if you lived near me. Thanks for sharing these photos.

Anonymous said...

Jon,

As an EMT-B, I have to agree with Jon from Bucksport. In general, EMS professionals consider the term "Ambulance Driver" as an insult. So, if you were trying to honor someone who somehow is an ambulance driver without being an EMT, in your attempt to make sure they weren't being left out, you glaringly were leaving out the other trained medical professionals who work in those ambulances (all EMTs other than Paramedics.)

Loved the cakes: some beautiful work honoring some wonderful people.

My condolences to the family of our fallen comrade, Josh.

Genie F.

john (the hubby of Jen) said...

Genie F.

I wrote a post honoring civil service. I tried to be inclusive. I'm sorry I offended you in my attempt to honor a profession you are ashamed of. I'll try not to be so careless with my praise in the future.

john

Braden said...

You looked up the firefighters' hat, but you forgot to look up the tweezers. That is actually a pair of hemostats - an instrument used often in surgery, and even more often by nurses to help hold tape and scissors within easy reach.

Anonymous said...

@Braden: I thought the same thing at first, until I noticed that there actually IS a pair of tweezers -- in the upper left-hand corner.

~Kathy D~

wv: mumentr... these cakes make great mumentrs for the recipients.

Selky said...

Thank you so much for posting these amazing cakes. And as the mother of a disabled child,thank you to all the wonderful medical professionals out there. My son and I are so thankful for the amazing doctors, nurses and surgons that have touched our lives.
WB: Piterpse - the word that discribes the sound of your cats feet and nails clicking and pitter pattering around in the middle of the night.

Anonymous said...

Aheh heh...
Good luck in China!

Anonymous said...

As a fellow EMT, thank you so much for the beautiful tribute! I must say, I especially love the ambulance cake, but that may just be bias. :)

Thank you everyone for your public service on a daily basis. More importantly, be safe out there.

Thanks, Jon.

-Sam from NY

Hannah Baker said...

Jen and John,

Thank you so much for taking the time to put together this great post with these great cakes. Just summarizing my actions, i.e., putting in a request at a site that ridicules bad cakes for a memorial for my recently deceased cousin, Makes me sound kind of stupid, but I think the end result was lovely. I planned to present it to my family but never found a good time. That is until a few weeks ago when I blurted it out to my mom. She sent the link to Josh's wife who posted it on facebook and everyone loved it.

Once again, I thank you.

-Hannah,
a.k.a. Josh's little cousin

Eve S. D'ropper said...

Wow. The detail on these cakes always astound me, but...wow. These are beautiful! A wonderful shout-out to those who keep our community going! Beautiful job, cakemakers! :)

~Eve S. D'ropper, of http://wordsfromthehallway.blogspot.com

P.S. Shannon from Saskatchewan? LOL on your comment.