Cake-Airbrush

Tour Roundup: San Diego

We arrived at the La Jolla Festival of the Arts not really knowing what to expect. Fortunately, people actually showed up - and some of them even knew who we were! (For the rest, the words "free cake" were more than enough incentive to cram into the tent. Heh.) Whatever the reasons, we had a hefty, happy crowd - so much so that our hosts ran out of books. (Oops. Sorry, guys.)

We neglected to get a shot of the crowd, but here's a cutie in a custom CW shirt:

John & I were touched by how many Wreckies chose to pay their own admission rather than allow us to pay for them. In the end, we only owed the Festival admission for 51 of the more than 150 people at the show. Several folks told me they paid their own way despite financial hardships and even unemployment. That's super humbling stuff, guys. Thank you.

And now...the cake!

Get a load of this jungle goodness! Lisa of Cake Dreams and Cookie Wishes pulled out all the stops in crafting this sweet treat - especially considering she only had a week's notice when our first baker had to cancel.

Lisa putting the final details in place.

A few close-ups:

And my favorite bits:

Awww. My name's on the Disney hat! Plus, the little book was perfect - and edible.

Oh, and Lisa's carrot cake? Phenomenal.

I was thrilled that there were any wreckplicas entered in the contest - and even more so when they turned out to be this amazing:

She even included the tiny penguin! Ha!

A photo of the WoW cake on a cupcake. Perfect.

Our "winners!"

I love that two of our three winners were wearing Disney shirts. :)

And their cakes:

This was our grand prize winner - because "Pink Cat Gives You Wings!"

And that's it for our third "world" tour! Thanks so much to all of you who came out, to our volunteer bakers, and to our host stores for making John and me feel like wrecky royalty. It's been a great week, thanks to all of you!

Note from john: Special thanks to Sean Boston for finding us a sushi knife/full on sword to cut the cake. You rock absolutely!

What's THAT Supposed to Mean?

Sometimes, when I'm really grumpy (wha-aat? Jen gets grumpy? Get OUT!) I like to amuse myself by taking every little thing John says exactly the wrong way.

John: "So, you want a sub for dinner?"

Me: "Why? 'Cuz I'm too FAT to have a burrito? Huh? Is *that* what you're saying?"

John: "No! I just thought you might be hungry!"

Me: "Oh, I see, because I'm ALWAYS hungry, right? RIGHT?!?"

John: [backing away slowly before sprinting from the room.]

It's loads of fun.

Anyway, I can only imagine how much fun this lady had:

"Start talking, mister, or you'll be looking for wife #2 real fast."

Buddy? Nope. Not anymore.

Here's one way to tackle a friend's hairy situation:

"Cynthia, sweetie, this is an intervention."
[starting electric razor] "Grab her, girls!!"

When your dad turns the big 4-0, you want a cake that shows not only just how much you love him, but also how much time, thought,and effort went into finding him juuust the right design:

"Hmm...this purse design is a little plain. Oh! I know! Do you have any of those plastic Cinderella slippers back there? Yes? PERFECT."

Or, if that doesn't do the trick:

"I had them add the arrow so you wouldn't miss the teeny tiny heart. See how small it is? How there's all that extra room it *could* have occupied? Yeah? Good. Just checking."

Hillary H., Kris, Cynthia P., Mark R., & Kjaere, I love you guys this much. Which is to say, enough to type your names here.

Tour Roundup: Pasadena, CA

On Saturday we did our 16th tour stop at Vroman's in Pasadena, CA. If you haven't been there you should go; it's awesome. And a big thanks to Connie, the book store rep, for being all around wonderful.

Some smiling faces in the crowd:

And hey, look! Our computer's working! Weird!

Our last-minute replacement baker was the phenomenal Linda Darck of Sweet Art Cupcakes. She made a meringue-based buttercream that was sooo good. The chocolate tasted like rich chocolate mousse, and John loved the strawberry so much that he stole a bunch of them to bring back to the hotel room for later. :D

Plus, look how pretty!

And a few of our fav wreckplicas:

A few fun Disney ones:

The photo on the table is of the Epcot attempt that went horribly, hilariously wrong. ;)

Seriously, you guys have mad wreckerating skilz.

(We'll put the rest of the entries on Facebook later this week, so watch for those.)

And our "winners!":

We didn't get a close-up of the stuffed bunny on the cupcake, but as you can see, it was a stuffed bunny. On a cupcake. John laughed so hard I think he teared up a bit. Then he stole the bunny. (Yes, we still have it.)

The suggestively hairy graduation cheese! Isn't it great?

And our grand prize "winner":

Complete with censor bars. Awesome.

Thanks to everyone who came out! Oh, and thanks also to wreckies Mike & Michelle for taking us to an amazing Afghan restaurant later, and not kidnapping us. That was swell.

Royal Wrecks

Princess-themed balloons, tiaras, and party favors: $54.00.

Special appearance by I Can't Believe It's Not Disney!^©'s Princess Bimberella: $134.99.

Misspelling your daughter's giant hot-pink birthday cake:

Priceness.

Eh, it could be worse... I guess...

Say it out loud. It's fun! "PRY-ness."

See?

(P.S. In the future, I'd like to be referred to as Priness Number 1. Spread the word.)

Because you're never too old for the "magic:"

I wonder if that's royal icing.

At least here they spelled "Princess" right...

...but you do have to wonder what happened to the first 10 Princesses.

We bow down to her royal highnesses, Rebecca B., Ciere O., Heather, and Priness Nicky. These cakes rule! (Say, is the plural for highness "highni?" 'Cuz if it's not, it should be.)

Operation Cake Evasion

Are you tired of always having to get the cake for friends' baby showers? Nooo problem. Just bring in one of these, and they'll never ask again. Guaranteed.

I call this the Bizarre "B" Special: that's Baby Bigfoot on a BBQ, surrounded by beer bottles and a bonsai tree. Feel free to personalize your own creation, though, and have fun with it! How about an Irish infant in an igloo, surrounded by indigo ibexes?

Forget safe, traditional pastels; you want to "go" for as many subtle bowel reminders as possible. Note the use of "chocolate kisses," yellow icing, the big crack, and even the word "bun" in the inscription. Now that's a true master at work.

If the shower is around Halloween, you'll also have this fun option:

Yep. A subtle insinuation that mom-to-be rides a broomstick (or has one shoved where the sun don't shine) oughtta do the trick.

Or, heck, while you're at it: why not take a stab at mom's drinking habits?

The two ingredients for successful parenting.

If at this point you're STILL getting stuck with cake duty, it's time for the gloves to come off. Yep. It's time for...[dramatic pause]...the Crap n' Snap:

Ohh snap!

Now sit back, relax, and revel in the knowledge that no one will ever trust you to order a cake, ever again.

Thanks to Crystal B., Stephanie S., Jenny C., JK, & Angie M., who haven't ordered a cake since 1999.

Sunday Sweets: Tour Edition

Today we're featuring the five bakers who provided the amazing cakey creations for our latest "world" tour, which wraps today. Though the cakes for the shows have been/will be featured in the tour posts for each city, we thought it'd be fun to show some more of their best work here today. So, with no further ado...

Breanna Kealey
Sugar Dreams Cakes & Things
Tempe, AZ

Breanna made this and the next cake for the new Cake Central magazine. (Yep, she's totally famous and stuff now! Of course, I take all the credit. :D)

Just look at her lace work: