Sunday Sweets: Threadcakes 2011

It's Threadcakes time again, peeps! This is the contest inviting you (yes, YOU) to make a cake of your favorite Threadless shirt design. There are fun prizes, and your cakes are judged by the likes of Mary Alice from Ace of Cakes, Bakerella, Bake and Destroy, and yes, even yours truly. :D

One of my favorite parts is seeing how folks interpret a 2D illustration into a 3D cake sculpture. You know, like this:

"The Friendly Spirit"

By Rebecca Mcdowell

So fun. The moss is made from green coloring and ground almonds! Genius.

Here's a fun throwback to our old-school arcade pals:

"This Game Sucks"

And its 3D interpretation:

By Elina Prawito of bake-a-boo

Now I want to play Super Mario Bros.

This zombie sandwich is an adorable choice for Threadcakes:

"Breaaad"

And this little cake is to die for!

By Melissa Cody

I love how his little zombie legs are bursting through the baggie! Great detail.


You would think this next heavily detailed design would be impossible to replicate in cake:

"Carpooling is Fun!"

But this baker totally brought it to life. Adorable!

By Jessica Keller

Click on the link to read Jessica's extensive process in creating this cake. And if you think Jessica's style looks familiar, it's because she made the Yoshi cake from last year's contest!


This is a cute design on its own:

"Pros Cons"

But the baker really thought outside the (cigar) box when building this cake.

By Trina Tee

The box is made of vanilla cake with white chocolate berry swiss meringue buttercream. Mmmmm.... cigars.

There's a 2D category in the Threadcakes contest as well. This is where detail and painting really shine.

I love this original design:

"Bloombox"

So naturally, its cakey counterpart is just as fun!

By Melissa Schmalz of It Could Be Sweet

That takes a steady hand.


I wouldn't want to tackle this incredibly detailed design:

"Sounds of The Ocean"

But the baker really made it pop by adding the 3D elements.

By Leanne Massey of Victorious Sponge

It took Leanne five days to mold all those pieces! Outstanding work.

The designs that feature comics are always fun to see as cakes.

"Captain Obvious"

The paint is key in getting the look right.

By Sarah Woodward

Sarah just graduated HIGH SCHOOL! She's really got a talent for baking and art... obviously.

This next design has a lot of detail to begin with.

"My Life is a Game (a New Stage)"

But the baker really pulled it off:

By Henry Ma


And finally, this sweet design is a great choice for a Threadcake:

"If On A Winter's Night Young Lovers"

By Joy Ortiz

Absolutely beautiful.

Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com. And don't forget to check out Threadcakes for more amazing cakes!

Stack the Wreck

Helen Keller once said,

"The best way out is always through."


Which is fabulous advice pretty much any time you're not constructing a multi-tier wedding cake.

Cake Construction: You're Doing it Wrong.


Let's go in for a closer look, shall we?

Wow. You know, no matter how contrite the baker might have been, I have to say: those really are the tiers of a clown.

[Bah dum CHA]

Thank you. Thankyouverramuuuch.

Thanks also to Holly M. for putting the "holey" in "Holey wedding cake with big gaping holes in it, Batman!"

It's TOO DARN HOT

If you're not one of the people complaining about the heat right now, then you're one of the people complaining about the people complaining about the heat.

Either way, we all have the same problem:

Bad bikini cakes.


Yep, this record-breaking heat wave has clearly addled bakers' brains, my friends, and the results simply aren't pretty.

Unless maybe you're looking for two trees in a Seuss-ian landscape.

Er...

[head tilt]

Naaaah.

Whoah. It's like I can't even see the tomato soup skin!



[singing] The hills are ALIIIIVE...

With butterfly CENsor dots!


No, wait. I have a better song.

(Ahem hem hem.)

From the MOUNT-ains,

To the VAL-leys,

To the OH-shoot!

Is that a THOOOOONG?

GOOOOOD bless America!

My...

Oooohhh soooo wroooong!

Thanks to Heather R., Melissa D., Heather H., Ellen G., & Ginny, who will never look at a heart cookie the same way again.

Cake Wrecks: The People's Court Edition

Guys, I get a lot of wreck reactions via e-mail. I've seen multi-page rants IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS from bridezillas, blistering sarcasm from disappointed parents, and more "LOL"s than I can count. I've even known one or two brides who had to take their bakers to court to get a refund.

However.

I've never - ever - seen someone sue a baker for over $4,300 over a misspelled name on a $55 cake.

UNTIL NOW.



If you can't see the video because you're at work, count yourself lucky. Frankly, I was ready to bash my own head in after the first three minutes. That lady gives crazy a bad name.

Oh, and here's the wreck in question - or at least part of it:


The judge reads the baker the riot act over the cracks in the icing, but also points out to the mom that if you saddle your child with a ridiculously spelled name (it's pronounced "Kiesha" but spelled "Keshia") then you pretty much have to expect people to screw it up for her entire lifetime. And so stop sweating the small stuff already.

Good advice all 'round, wouldn't you say?

Oh, and if *I* were that baker, I think I'd have replaced the cake with something a little more appropriate:

:D

(Then I'd direct Ms. Crazy Pants to this blog for an eye-opening dose of perspective.)

Thanks to Kathy D. and David S., who are consulting their lawyers. So watch out, moms.

Homophoned In

Here's one way to tell if a cake order was made over the phone:

Followed by a three hour tour?

[For the record, that joke makes me feel reeeeally old.]


John and I just sat here saying the words "our" and "are" ad nauseam. We sounded a lot like the seagulls in Finding Nemo: "Our? Are? Hour? R? Arr?"


Still, I take comfort in knowing you're all doing the exact same thing.


Now this one made us sound like the Count from Sesame Street. Which is to say, AWESOME.
In fact, from now on, I'm always pronouncing "welcome" like "wheeel come."

Sometimes a cake makes you wonder about its back story...

...but the good news is Sam actually didn't give a flying crap.

And finally, here's a girl with a need for speed:

Yep. Rose really likes to put the petal to the medal.

Thanks to Rachel N., Sarah D., Scot N., Kelly R., F.F., & Jon A., who only caught that last line because they've had their coffee. Good work, guys.

Overselling It

"Good day, Madam! Please allow me to welcome you to the West Rutheford Winery, Gastropub and Patisserie. Might I offer you a moist towelette?"

"Um, no. I just need to order a cake for my son's birthday, please."

"But of course! We have many, many cakes to choose from. If I may point out on our Ménu dú Jöur, here you see we have our Incredibly Moist Chocolate Cake Uniquely Finished By Hand With Butter Cream Icing."

"As you can see, it is 'Great For Any Occasion.'"

"Finished by hand? Are you sure feet weren't involved?" [smirking]

[ahem] "Ah, yes, very amusing. Well, Madam, if that is not your particular cup of Earl Gray, might I suggest our Moist Gold Cake Uniquely Hand Finished Tastes Just Like A Real "WATERMELON"?

"Soooo, it tastes like a watermelon?"

"Not at all, Madam. It tastes like a 'WATERMELON.'"

"Ah."

"Ah, but I have saved the best for last! It is the pièce de résistance of our repertoire, the crème de la crème, the horloge de le stylo du la baguette fo di fa fa! Behold!

"A Rich Belgian Chocolate Cup filled with a layer of moist yellow Cake, Fudge, and sweet cream Ice Cream and topped with fluffy white Frosting...

...and a menstrual duo."

"Ew."

"As you might expect, this is available but once a month."

...

"Madam? Wait! Where are you going?!"

Thanks to eagle-eyed Wreckporters Dawn C. and Aimee W. who are just glad that last one isn't red velvet.

Oh, and since *I* couldn't figure it out, I thought you might want to know that last label should read minstrel - which is apparently a type of cake. Plus, when Aimee pointed it out to the manager she shrugged, said they were all probably like that, and put it back on the shelf. Yay, quality control!

Sunday Sweets: Harry's Sweet Send-Off

Though the movie premiered last weekend, Potter Mania is still going strong here at the Yates household. I finished up John's custom carved wand display a few days ago, and we've been having a blast searching and sorting through all the Sweets flooding our inbox.

So, without further ado, here are the rest of the best of the best Potter cakes! (Oh, and if you missed the first half, click here.)

First, a magically delicious monster book of monsters:

By Caketopia

Have I mentioned that I'd like one of those displayed in my office, too?


This one is like an edible still-life; I had to do a double take before I realized it was cake:

By Cake Central member Goonergirl

Even more I-can't-believe-it's-cake:

By Artisan Cake Company

The lightning bolt font is especially...striking.

[bah-dum-CHA!]

Artisan Cake Company also made the best edible golden snitches:

By Artisan Cake Company

They're chocolate truffles, and I totally want to make some. Hit the link above for instructions.

More adorable cupcakes:

By Cute Little Cupcakes

By Clares Cupcakes

For those of you who believe it's the inside that counts, Darla over at Bakingdom did a fantastic house colors cake:

By Bakingdom

Hit the link to see how she did it.

I featured an amazing replica of Hagrid's hut last week, but here's one more:

By Cake Central member PennieK

Ah - wait for it - MAZING.


And here's another jaw-dropping Sorting Hat, too:

Submitted by Jessica W. and made by Highland Bakery

Complete with a hand painted Hogwarts Express on the bottom tier. BRILLIANT!


From hand painted to hand sculpted:

Submitted by Ellen B. and made by The Sugarcraft Emporium

This Hogwarts Express cake includes the entire platform!

Simply adorable:

By Cake Hero

I like how the striped board looks like Harry's scarf. Clever!

Another cool design:

By Border City Cakes

Charm City Cakes (aka Ace of Cakes) again did a castle cake for the movie premier, but this time it was the battle-scarred Hogwarts:

Submitted by Emily J. and made by Charm City Cakes

Turn out the lights, and you'll see their creation really shine:

...and smoke. Wow.

Well, there you have it, fellow muggles! Hope you enjoyed this ridiculously long Potter Sweets feature. Now I'm off to collapse.

Happy Sunday!


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