According to The Empire Strikes Back, there’s no smell in the galaxy as bad as the inside of a dead Taun Taun. When Chris and Julia Trevas got married, they hired Food Network baker Courtney Clark to make the cakes. The groom’s cake was in the shape of a dead Taun Taun, complete with Luke Skywalker inside! I would guess the authentic smell was not included. Link -via Boing Boing

(image credit: mod4)

Photo: megpi

This cake inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night was created by flickr user megpi of Silver Lake, California.

Link via Make | Starry Night at the MoMA

UPDATE 10/14/09: In the comments, basketcasey points out that the bottom two layers are inspired by works of Monet.

This Tardis cake by Barbara-Jo of Do it myself! blog is so awesome that the Time Lord himself would probably go back in time to prevent it from being eaten.

The Tardis cake a quarter-scale (2 feet tall) and has LEDs and mirrors to  create the illusion that the inside is actually larger. Everything that you see, with exception of the lights are edible.

Link – via cakeheadlovesevil

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by cakehead loves evil.

Take cakes that are so bad they're good, mix in a great sense of humor and what do you get? A madly popular blog phenomenon, and now, a book as well! Jen Yates, the founder of Cake Wrecks, one of my all time favorite blogs, has graciously agreed to do an interview about cakes, the universe and everything.

But first: the book. As I'm sure you all probably already know or can guess, Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong is obviously about cake carnage. It chronicles some of the weirdest, silliest, creepiest and downright fugliest cakes ever made professionally (in order to be featured in the book and blog, each cake has to be made by a professional baker). There are over 150 cake wrecks included (3/4 of them never-before-seen material).

But there's something very subtle about the book that made me appreciate Jen and Cake Wrecks even more. This is something I came to realize only after I read the advance copy of the book (I know, I know, the perks of being a famous blogger). Cake Wrecks is actually the celebration of having a bad cake. It's an homage to Murphy's Law asserting itself over flour, sugar, egg and shortening mixed together
and popped in the oven.

Think about it: how many birthday parties have you gone to and not remember a whit of what happened? Now, if you had one where the cake was horribly wrong (but still very yummy) - wouldn't that stick in your memory forever? (I can imagine the conversation - Q: "Hey, remember that party with the foot cake?" A: "Yeah ... good times!")

'Nuff said. Let's get on with the interview:

Neatorama: Before we talk about cakes, I'm curious about what you wrote for the "About the Author" portion of Cake Wrecks, and I quote "Jen has been a clown, a cash office accountant, a Jungle Cruise skipper, a business owner, a children's book inventory expeditor, and a house painter."

Now, if you don't mind - a clown? Really? What's that like? Did you come up with your own Jungle Cruise skipper jokes? And just what the heck is a children's book inventory expeditor? Sounds like a smuggling ops.

Jen Yates: Hah! Yes, I do have some interesting "work" experience. Ok, let's see...being a clown? That can be surprisingly difficult, on account of your not being allowed to retaliate while being kicked in the shins by a horde of candy-seeking 9-year-olds. Heheh. Other than that it was a blast, though. I learned to juggle, make balloon animals, and perform funny skits. This was during my teens, so that's also where I first learned public speaking skills, believe it or not. We visited hospitals, shelters, expos, churches, you name it.

Jungle Cruise was also fabulous, and yes, we got to ad lib a bit. That's where my love of puns truly blossomed. There's this crashed plane on the ride, and I made a game of fitting as many plane puns as possible into the few seconds we had before it passed out of sight. (I think I got up to 8 or 9.) I wasn't happy until the whole boat was groaning in agony.

My other jobs were less glamorous. The expeditor gig? That was me in a cubicle calling various national warehouses to see if their shipment had arrived yet. Lots of spreadsheets. :)

Neatorama: What's the very first cake that got you thinking of creating Cake Wrecks - the cake that started it all?

The cake that started it all

Jen: Yes, that cake really and truly DID start it all. My friend Abby e-mailed it to me, and the idea for Cake Wrecks just hit me. I think I started the blog that very night, just for fun.

Neatorama: What's your favorite cake wrecks?

Jen: My favorites are usually the ones with the communication breakdowns. The literal stuff like the Under Neat that cake, and then the garbled phone order ones.

Cake submitted by Elizabeth R.

Remember the flash drive cake? That's the one where the customer wanted a photo cake, and so brought in the picture they wanted on a portable thumb drive for the bakery to print out. Instead, the bakery drew an exact replica of the flash drive on the cake! Heh, I LOVE stories like that.

Neatorama: Let's see some geek cred - what are the geekiest cake wrecks you've ever gotten?

Jen: Game console cakes are really popular, especially for grooms cakes, and I've seen some doosies:

Cake submitted by Monique B.

Cake submitted by Diane B.

Here are a few more geeky Wrecks:

Cake submitted by Maggie G.

Cake submitted by Kelly J.

Cake submitted by Gretchen W. (That's supposed to be Luigi, believe it or not)

And this one's not a Wreck, but I thought it was funny:

Cake submitted by Amy L.

I *think* that says happy birthday in binary. Am I right?

__________

Jen has kind enough to offer a free copy of the book for a giveaway - got any question for Jen? A lucky commenter with the most interesting question will win the book (I'll post Jen's reply as an update).

More wrecktastic blogger interviews with Jen Yates about her new book:

• Blogher with Julie Godar
• Serious Eats with Erin Zimmer
• The Pioneer Woman with Ree Drummond
• Geek Dad with Doug Cornelius

Links: Cake Wrecks | The Book at Amazon: Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong

Update 10/3/09 – Jen has picked the question to answer. Find out more here: Link

Previously at Neatorama: spaghetti ice cream.

Following up on our 8 Starship Enterprise Facts Every Trekker Should Know post, here are some of the neatest Star Trek cakes ever made. Enjoy (Resistance is futile!)

Star Trek Cake by Ace of Cakes - via TrekMovie (note the angry nerd comments)

CakeCentral user Spense uploaded these photos of the Captain Kirk Cake made for the 2009 Star Trek Cake Contest (many, many more cool Star Trek cakes there)

Another one for the CakeCentral Star Trek Cake contest, this one is simple yet very chic: the Star Trek Uniform groom cake by CakeCentral user tenmeows.

USS Reliant Birthday Cake complete with blue LED, by Victoria Sgro-Konopka of SunShine's Cake Creations

Star Trek Communicator Cake by Rick Reichart of Cakelava

This one is quite beautiful: Jonathan Lane's groom cake, over at USS Angeles.

The four sides of the cakes include messages from the Klingons ("Where do you keep the chocolate" - chocolate is an aphrodisiac for Klingons), Ferengis ("You humans still owe us for this cake"), Romulans ("The Praetor says hello"), Cardassian ("Hey, why weren't we invited to the wedding"), Bajoran ("May the Prophets guide you both in your lives together") and Vulcans ("Live long and prosper") - in their native languages.

The Star Trek Enterprise Cake by Edward and Antoni Frys of
European Cake Gallery (ironically, in Texas) - via Cake Wrecks

A Star Trek Birthday Cake by Alix Lewer of Alixs Cakes - a wonderful fondant work!

Star Trek Cupcakes by Clares Cupcakes

Borg Wedding Cake (look at the lil' Enterprise getting phasered!)

And last but not least, the Picard Cake to celebrate Captain Picard Day tomorrow (June 16):

Captain Picard Cake at POWET.TV

If you’re doing your own party, the matching dragon illustration for the Party Invitation is available free for download (CC licensed) here.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Dot.

We’ve seen a number of very cool Star Wars cakes, but this one definitely takes the cake. Behold the AT-AT Cake by Jennifer Luxmore of Sin Desserts. Great White Snark has more: Link

How cute are these? If you’re attending a graduation party (or throwing one), the lovely Bakerella shows you step-by-step how to make these mouthwatering mortarboards. Reese’s cups and Godiva squares? Yes, please! If you’re feeling particularly saucy, you can skip the peanut butter cups and make her cake bites instead. More work, definitely, but I can tell you from experience that the cake bites are delish. I don’t think you can really go wrong either way.

Link

We’ve featured many unusual and geeky wedding cakes on Neatorama, but (excuse the pun) this one takes the cake! Behold the Stargate Wedding Cake:

Absolutely everything on the top display is hand made, including the wormhole connection which is hand painted icing. And apparently the gate is symbol correct as well.

You can’t see them too well but the bottom tier has earth glyphs running all around the outside of the cake, and non gate related.. the roses on the bottom tier are also hand made and edible.

Link – via Super Punch

Ever had a craving for cake, but making an entire one is too time consuming and buying a whole one goes to waste? How about a single-sized chocolate cake in your coffee mug! Instructables has a great recipe for this quick, easy and very tasty treat.  It takes 2 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to cook. Top it off with icing sugar or whipped cream. Enjoy!

Link – via markycraig

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by claviclekiss.

We’ve featured a lot of cakes on Neatorama, but never ones so colorful and gorgeous. COLOURlovers has a round up of some of the most vibrantly colorful designer cakes.

Beware, reading it may just make you hungry Link

Jorge Garcia who plays the loveable Hurley on LOST posted pictures on his own blog. The show will air in May.

Link – via larryfire

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by larryfire.

Link via CakeWrecks

Aleta Meadowlark of the cleverly named Omnomicon blogged about her recipe on how to make this awesomely psychedelic rainbow cake: Link – via Unique Daily

What I want to know is this: will it make you poo rainbow?

Link, where you will find several other cool LOTR cakes

Some of you might remember the phone order cake mishap post here at Neatorama. Obviously, ordering your cake online won’t guarantee that things will be any better.

Link [Flickr] – via Digg

The Dragon Cake is made by Mike McCarey of Mike’s Amazing Cakes [warning: Flash and self-starting audio]

Link – via reddit

I love Cakewrecks. I’m totally addicted. This week, they’ve highlighted a totally hideous Kwanzaa cake by Sandra Lee made with pre-made angel food cake, store-bought icing, and, obviously, corn nuts. Well, Sandra calls them “acorns” but the recipe calls for corn nuts. It also calls for popcorn and pumpkin seeds. It would appear the hate mail about this cake was so numerous that Food Network pulled the recipe, but with a little digging you can still find it floating around. In case you have always dreamed of a corn nut-cake hybrid, the recipe is at the bottom of the post.

The hate sites are pretty numerous, too. Here are a couple:
The Kwanzaa Cake and Other Edible Hate Crimes
Nobody Does it Like Sandra Lee
Random Access Babble

And, the infamous recipe:

1 (10 to 12-ounce) purchased angel food cake
1 container (16 ounce) vanilla frosting
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (21-ounce) container apple filling or topping
1 (1.7-ounce) package corn nuts
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1/2 cup popped popcorn

Special Equipment:
Kwanzaa candles

Using a serrated knife, cut cake horizontally into 2 layers. Place bottom cake layer, cut side up, on a serving platter. Mix frosting, cocoa powder, vanilla, and cinnamon in large bowl until combined. Spread about 1/4 of the frosting over top of cake layer on platter. Top with second cake layer, cut side down. Spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake to coat completely. Spoon apple pie filling into hole in center of cake. Place candles atop cake. Sprinkle top of cake with some corn nuts, pumpkin seeds, and popcorn. Sprinkle remaining corn nuts and pumpkin seeds around base of cake.

Link

Yoda’s head was made from rice krispies treats, modelling chocolate and fondant. I made the head a few days in advance. Just doesn’t feel right if I don’t have a disemboweled head staring at me throughout the week, lol! The body was made up of Rich strawberry cake with a Bavarian custard filling. The body was then covered in fondant and airbrushed.

Link – via The Official Star Wars Blog

We have seen a lot of fun, cool, weird and beautiful cakes here at Neatorama throughout the years, but I think this is the first time we’ve covered a birthday cake in the shape of a camera. The neat creation belongs to Flickr member fsumaria.

It is from a bakery in emmaus, pennsylvania called granny schmidt’s. The outside was made of fondant and the inside is red velvet cake.

Link [Flickr] – Digitalkameror via Pusha

For his daughter’s fourth birthday, Will Turnbow decided that he’s going to make the bestest Super Mario cake EVAR! Behold the Super Mario Galaxy cake, complete with spinning Luigi, flying Mario, and a rockin’ Bowser! It. Is. Simply. Awesome. Link

Here’s a YouTube clip of the cake "in action"

[YouTube clip]

Lori of Clever Cake Studio made this fantastic Indiana Jones and the Raider of the Lost Ark Golden Idol birthday cake. The Golden Idol is made from marzipan, and Lori was thoughtful enough to make a marzipan bag, so you can perform the famous switch! Link – via Super Punch

Russian cake maker Zhanna makes amazingly real cakes. The cognac bottle looks cool, but I have to admit, I’m a little disturbed by this cake with beer, fish and newspapers in the decoration. The entire cake is edible, including the fish. But I have to wonder if a frosting fish still tastes a little fishy.

Link