My wife and I had her mother make our cake. It was terrifying. She waited until like 10 hours before the wedding, started a kitchen fire and botched the icing. But somehow she pulled it off and we had a totally delicious and beautiful cake. A wedding miracle!

Hmm, someone watching to many cooking shows and not enough time actually cooking.

I do this after watching the Rachel Ray show but burgers and casseroles are easier to make excuses for.

I actually think the second Cake Wrecks example (the plaid cake) is much worse/funnier than this one, just 'cause in addition to looking nothing like the desired cake it also looks like it's melting/collapsing inward on itself. It was my go-to LOL image for about a week.

@Princess Leela: The plaid cake is definitely worse

I'm not a baker.
[i324.photobucket.com]

I made that cake there.

I think it looks better than the "professional" cake

It's tacky as hell that it's supposed to look like a Tiffany box. Some poor dude just made a HUGE mistake.

While we're on the subject of weddings and cakes, do a Google picture search for "redneck wedding." It's hilarious.

Wow, not even close. Apparently I could be a professional cake decorator...

I'm sure that bag of marshmallows would have fixed er right up...

Simply awful. Lesson to be learned: go to a professional baker and get references!

I think the OP was too quick to judge. I would have liked to see what the cake looked like covered with the bag of marshmallows first.

I think it's real in the fact that according to my relatives, I'm a computer genuis, so someone being talked up by the family as the "cake maker" doesn't seem to bad. But the setting of the picture seems to be taken from inside a house kitchen, so unless the cake was delivered to the bride first, I don't see this as actually to have happened.

@Princess Leela:
That cake reminded me of the parade float that Delta (Animal House) entered in the parade, the one emblazoned "Eat Me".

I make cakes as well (www.thecakepage.com).

I guess I'd be considered a "semi" professional. I do it for fun and family, but have also been paid to do it.

There is no way that someone presented that cake to a bride and expected to be paid for it. Punched, yes. Paid, no.

You know what I don't get? Those gifts that are a bunch of diapers put together to look like a cake. If I want cake, I'll get cake. If I want diapers, I'll get diapers. Thanks.

This happened to my bride and I as well... the whole cake don't match the picture thing. Is there just this feeling out there that 'Well, shit, I can bake cupcakes... I'll make your wedding cake!'?

Our cake was a 100% match to the picture we ordered from -- and on the first try no less! Very impressive and a testament to what you can do in a regular kitchen. The baker was a stay-at-home mom whose only job aside from "mom" was to bake wedding cakes. She proves that it is possible, and at the same time puts this completely to shame.

I'm skeptical. If it is real. Goes to show that cheaper isn't better. No matter how good their ads look.

I hired a sweet very old lady (non professional) who had a flair for cakes for my wedding cake. I told her what I wanted and she made it. It was perfect. She charged VERY little but we made her take more for it.

On the other hand, I hired a professional green house/floral place for the bouquet. I picked a photo of what it was supposed to look like, paid plenty for it too. It was wrong. It was so wrong I wonder how they could have delivered it to the church. I just shrugged it off and used it anyway, it was a great day.

Sorry to DP, but this is just epic.

Word to the wise: properly assess your skill level before starting a business where people will not accept less than 100% as a result.

Baking wadding cakes is in the same category of difficult professions as something like hand-watchmaking -- a craft that requires a great deal of patience and skill where even a 98% result is really not acceptable. If I were doing a service for money like delivering mulch, and I delivered 98% of the amount needed, I could get it to look pretty close. However, a cake 98% done doesn't get this luxury of "stretching" to get the appearance the same. It will be immediately obvious to anyone if it's not 100% the same.

Mistake #1: "who really hired a member of the family"

Mistake #2: Never do business with family. I do not care how "close you are", it will quickly become how "close you were".

I'm a guy so, if it tasted good then.....

Life is easier if you have a simple mind like mine.

That plaid example was what got me hooked on Cakewrecks. I was in tears... the sexual harrassment cake + commentary is also priceless and can cheer you after reading the daily news.

Why no link directly to the blog?

Mmmmmm....cake.

I can bake a bit and I'm pretty sure I could crank out something a little better than the one on the left.

Ok. A lot better.

Our wedding cake was made by family and it turned out great. Nothing fancy either which is why it was good. We even kept the extra top part for our 1 yr anniversary. Each of us ate a very small bite and then tossed the cake into the bin. The marriage is still going good..better than the 1 yr old cake.

I don't think the cake on the right looks all that good either.

@DePaulBlueDemon: My wife's cousin got a professional bakery (with references) to make her cake for her quinceanera. They were paid upfront and all the arrangements were made well in advance. Day of the event, no cake. Several calls to the bakery later, it was determined that the bakery just plain forgot to make the cake. So, even the pros make mistakes.

My aunt in law did our cake and it turned out fine. Then again, I think she does cakes for a living or something. She's also addicted to painkillers and the right side of her face is paralyzed from some sort of nerve thing.

Anyway, the point is that if my train wreck inlaws can make a good cake, these people are incompetent.

When the wife and I got married, we had the venue produce a cake. We also had a local restaurant, whose forte is NOT making wedding cakes, also provide us a grooms cake. (They are a deli/bakery/diner deal, so they make good food, just not specifically for weddings)

It worked out perfectly.

The lesson:

Don't have family be involved with any aspect of the wedding outside of being emotional support and/or writing checks.

A friend of mine had her dad make her wedding cake, and I dare say... this cake looks more "professional" than the one she had for her wedding. Ziploc bag full of frosting indeed.

It seems to have a sort of avant-garde rusticness to it.

Maybe the cake was purchased at WalMart?...

It looks like the cake maker "tried" to replicate the aqua frosting from the inspiration cake and it ended up that green color on the top tier. Then they just said "to hell with it" and slapped the rest together at the last minute. My guess is they tried to bake and decorate the cake without a trial run too close to the wedding (if this is real).

Fondant is ALWAYS your enemy. In terms of a cake-eater, anyways.

The words 'Family Member' tell me yeah, it's probably a relative who made that disgrace. I've been best man 5 times in my life, and I've heard every means of skrimping on things, seriosly "Oh my cousin is a GREAT photographer". "My sister in law to be will make the invitation any way you want on her computer".

Who else would make a cake like that for FUN?

This is why my wife and I never made wedding cakes. My wife said it's just too important to take a chance on doing it wrong. We stuck to birthdays and special occasions.

It's real. The Bride responded in the comments of the website: [www.blogger.com]

Vicky (the bride) said...

This is Vicky (aka the bride). Yes this cake is real, the baker (who manages a catering company) told me I could melt marshmallows and....crisco to try to fill in some of the 'gaps'. My mother in law and a friend tried to salvage the cake before we decided it couldn't be done, which is why you see the bag of marshmallows and the tips, my mother in law tried to fix it before I saw it since she had picked it up. But yes it is real, I have witnesses and tears were shed over this.

September 9, 2008 12:38 PM

Given some of the cakes on "Cake Wrecks", this doesn't surprise me.

This is like one of those awesome comic-sans-and-blink-tag-heavy websites that comes out of the whole "why pay for a pro - my sister's friend is a graphic designer" thought process.

@moore850:

Same here. We hired a schoolteacher who made cakes on the side. She charged way too little, but it was clear she did just because she loved making cakes. She got a could tip on top of the modest fee she was charging.

For about 2 years, I worked for Mike McCary at Mike's Amazing Cakes (www.mikesamazingcakes.com) and yes they were (are). If you ever order one, try the poppy seed with lemon curd filling. YUM!

We'd see so many people coming in, trying at the last moment to get a wedding cake, because some "professional" blew it (thanks Mom!).

Yeah, someone probably tried to get a wedding cake on the cheap and paid a horrible price. Hell, I wouldn't make my own wedding cake as I'd be too be and stressed out about it otherwise.

Cake rules!

@msbask: I especially enjoyed your 'phpimage' and 'phpmyadmin' cakes, they look delicious!

The first rule of wedding planning is to never, never, never, never, EVER enlist family into business. Weddings are business, never mistake that. They're nice, they're sentimental, you're celebrating a happy occasion...but they're also about the planning, the result of exchanging money for a service (whether it's cake, dress or photography) and that makes it business.

People don't often understand that when you get pissed at someone for screwing up, you can demand your money back, take them to court or report them to the BBB. You can't do that with a family member, and chances are, you'll get someone calling on the screw-up's behalf, calling for sympathy and care because "we're family."

And people also don't understand that just because Aunt Susie makes a mean pumpkin pie doesn't mean she can shape buttercream, keep it cool in 85 degree summer heat, AND make it taste good. Wedding cakes are a serious deal, and no amount of recommendations would ever, ever, ever convince me that picking family over a professional is worth it. It's just too risky.

I had my cake done by a professional pastry chef who worked for a catering company. Beautiful cake, absolutely delicious. $500, which was right at my budget. I don't care if you don't even have to pay your family member, if something goes wrong, who is responsible?

@FightOnTrojans: And that's totally a case of businesses making mistakes and conducting business poorly. But at least they won't come over for Thanksgiving and cause awkward conversation at the dinner table.

@msbask: I just went to that site and got Reported Attack Site warning? WTF? I saw some image of Elmo cake, a football cake then BLAM! WARNING!!

Ahhahahahaha. I love it. Go through the archives. If only because it has this: [cakewrecks.blogspot.com]

... I love the premise behind it. If I'm ever in charge of getting a cake, it will probably be something like that.

when i got married i planned the entire wedding in 6 weeks. I took care of everything and still managed a full time job.

and yes, i have a penis...

anyway, my wedding had 7 cakes. i ordered one for $600.00 and on the wedding day my dad showed up with 6 cakes from Costco. i had around 100 guests and close to a ton of cake. suffice to say, i had leftovers. no one touched the wedding cake because it was too nice (buffet style table) that really pissed me off...

sometimes family just should NOT interfere with weddings at all.

@nrosetulip: that sexual harassment cake had me laughing to the point of tears.

And there's not even a question that the "plaid" cake that looks like jabba the hut trumps this one in terms of abject, hilarious failure.

When I was planning my wedding I spent a lot of time on wedding planning message boards. And this is something I'd put in the MUD category. Made Up Drama. Doesn't matter how outraged someone seems, it could still be made up. I've seen more "horrifying" made up stories than this.

i used to work at a bakery and helped make several wedding cakes back in high school. if any cake was decorated as such it would go in the trash. thats no where near professional its not even funny.

it looks like the professional cake was made with fondant and family member who is allegedly a "professional" just used either a sugar frosting (cheap and disgusting grocery store shit) or poorly made butter cream frosting. and you can even see the "professional" used a plastic bag instead of a pastry bag which any professional has plenty of.

@maztec: I will ad to that, never work for family either, they think they own you cause you happen to be related. Like I would have chosen to be related to your ignorant ass!

@m4ximusprim3: HAHAHA. I like your reasoning.