I Met Two Very Nice People

If you think the above cake is bizarre, rest assured you are not alone. I'll explain it in a minute. If you are giggling at the above cake and nodding knowingly, you'll really appreciate this post. Either way, stay tuned to the end, I have a cake wreck of my own to share.

Last night I joined over 100 people in welcoming Jen Yates, creator of the blog CakeWrecks to the Skokie Barnes & Noble. Jen has now compiled never-before-seen wrecks into a book. And it's funny. CakeWrecks, When Professional Cakes go Hilariously Wrong is a page-turner of the side-splitting kind.

A week or so ago the Pioneer Woman introduced her readers to CakeWrecks. I popped on over and spent a long time laughing (and snorting) over the many wrecks - and Jen's witty banter. When I saw that she was going on tour signing books, I knew I wanted to stop by and join in the fun.



I'm so glad I went. Jen, and her husband John, are genuine, funny, nice, friendly, and fun.



They started off the book signing with a little narrated slideshow.



Jen and John play off each other really well. I could hear the humor I read on the blog.

Part of the book signing event was a Wrecklica contest. Participants were supposed to recreate a wreck featured on the blog on a cupcake. Here are some of the entries:



After I took these pictures a few more wrecklicas showed up. My personal favorite above is the Winter cake. I busted a gut when I read that post. I shared it with my hubby (making him read the dialog) and he laughed really hard too. And, though it pains me to tell you so, that football cake is my sad wreck of an entry. I just used a cake layer I had in the freezer (long story) because I have three kids and I did not have time to bake. But it was fun to participate. But it wasn't much fun being the biggest jahonkin cake on the table. I hate standing out. Anyway...



Here are the three finalists: the weeping eye dog, the baseball diamond, and the fireman cake. The fireman cake won by audience applause.

I guess right now would be a good time to let you know that every so often on Cake Wrecks there is an "adult theme". Jen is great about letting you know, right off the bat, and she uses nice black boxes on any nudity. It's never raunchy. In fact, half the point is that such things should never be on a cake. But, if you're like me, you'll appreciate being warned. Said fireman cake fits into the adult theme category.

Moving on.



After that it was time for the book signing and cake. The cake is the iconic Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockey. I heart Cakes made it. I love the reaction of little kids when they see it. They gasp and say, "a baby!" and see nothing strange about it being on a carrot.

Speaking of carrot jockeys, look what I won!



In a weird twist of fate I had just read the archives yesterday afternoon where Jen talks about her childhood goat. And I remembered the name when the trivia question was asked. And in another weird twist of fate I actually raised my hand to answer. My prize was this carrot jockey necklace - handmade by Jen and John. Woo-Hoo!



Jen and John like talking to their fans, and it shows. Jen and John, thanks for a fun time! It must be very tiring to travel so much in a short amount of time. But, you keep your warm spirits and great humor comin' and we all appreciate that.

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And now, my recent cake wreck.

I had this brilliant idea to make my daughter a doll cake for her third birthday. In talking with a friend, I gleaned the necessary steps to create the cake. I made the cake skirt, bought the brunnette doll topper, and found an outfit for it. I fiddled and fussed and managed to make a passable fondant skirt for the cake. I stuck the doll pick in and marvelled at my creation. I am a sad, sorry decorator (see football cake above) but it wasn't bad for a homemade cake.



At least I TRIED, ok?

I wish I had read Come on Barbie, Let's Go Party on Cake Wrecks before attempting this cake. I would not have had to have the following conversation with "Suzie" the doll cake.

Suzie: [smoothing down dress] Katrina, I was wondering...[looking up apologetically]...where you were going to put the candles?

Me: [deer in the headlights look] Umm... I...umm ...hadn't...um ...thought ...about...candles. Wow, that's a really good question. Where in the world am I going to put the candles?

[furiously thinking]

[desperately turning cake around - and around]

[aggravated sigh]

I don't have much choice, I'm just going to have to make you look reeeaally stupid by sticking them out of your skirt.

Suzie: Oh, that's ok. You do whatever you need to do, Sweetie. As long as the birthday girl is happy.

Me: Thanks for understanding, Suzie.



Oh, yeah, man. It was bad.

Thankfully the three-year-old was thrilled with her cake. That's all that matters, right?