Cake Wrecks is an entertainment

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

featuring user-submitted photographs of professionally made

cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

s that are unintentionally humorous or strange in appearance. Founded in May 2008, inspiration for the confectionery-themed

photoblog A photoblog (or photolog) is a form of photo sharing and publishing in the format of a blog. It differs from a blog through the predominant use of and focus on photographs rather than text. Photoblogging (the action of posting photos to a photob ...

began when site-master Jen Yates received an e-mail that included a photo of a

sheet cake A sheet cake or slab cake is a cake baked in a large, flat, rectangular cake pan. Sheet cakes are usually 2 inches deep, although they are sometimes 3 inches deep. These single-layer cakes are frequently frosted, with decorations and ornamental f ...

, decorated with a customer's verbatim request: "".

History

Yates, a resident of

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, began searching for images of what she describes as "unintentionally silly, sad, creepy or inappropriate" cakes. She posted the images to her new blog, Cake Wrecks, but assumed a limited supply of strange cake photography would result in the blog running out of available material. An increasing amount of "Wrecker" photos submitted by site readers revealed "cake wrecks" are inevitable in the

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred " ...

industry. Blog entries have included photos of cakes decorated with sonogram images, an image depicting

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

, and a message reading "". Described as an

Internet phenomenon An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Cake Wrecks quickly gained in popularity. Mary Alice Yeskey, an employee at

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

's Charm City Cakes and co-star of the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show ''

Ace of Cakes ''Ace of Cakes'' is an American reality television show that aired on the Food Network. The show focused on the daily operations of Duff Goldman's custom cake shop, Charm City Cakes, in Baltimore, Maryland; including small-business ownership, wor ...

'', explained why fellow bakers visit Cake Wrecks: "Everyone in the baking business follows Cake Wrecks almost daily, if only to make sure our cakes aren't ending up on there." On Sundays, in a break from Cake Wrecks' typical format, exemplary

edible art Edible art refers to food created to be art. It is distinguished from Edible Arrangements (which predominantly consist of fruit) because it is usually more elaborate dessert food. A common form of edible art is wedding cakes, but options for art ...

creations are featured instead of "wrecks". By the end of 2008, approximately 100,000 users visited Cake Wrecks each day and the website had received two

blog award A blog award is an award for the best blog in a given category. Some blog awards are based on a public vote and others are based on a fixed set of criteria applied by a panel of judges. Blog awards are a descendant phenomenon from awards given by ...

s: the 2008 Blogger's Choice Award for Best Humor Blog and the 2008 Weblog Award for Best Food Blog. During the 2009 Weblog Awards ceremony, also known as " The Bloggies", Cake Wrecks was named Best Food Blog, Best New Weblog, and Best Writing of a Weblog.

Print

In 2009, Yates compiled user-submitted photos for her book, ''Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong'', which debuted at No. 9 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list for

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

advice. A second book, ''Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets "Festive"'', was published in October 2011.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.cakewrecks.com/
"Cakes Gone Wrong"
slideshow via ''

''
"12 worst cake mistakes"
slideshow via

msnbc.com MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

"Cake disasters"
video via '' Steven and Chris'' American entertainment websites Internet properties established in 2008 Media about cakes Photoblogs

History

Print

See also

References

Further reading

External links