Wacky Cakes

Cake decorating has gone so far beyond whipped-cream "roses" and chocolate-icing script.

http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2012/3/18/sunday-sweets-play-with-your-food.html

Some of these confections probably were more fun to make than they were to eat, but if you enjoy baking something that looks different, why not?

As some regular readers remember, my e-friend Freakmamma sells specially shaped baking pans (http://voices.yahoo.com/frustration-free-christmas-cookies-10493275.html?cat=24) and confectionery items (http://voices.yahoo.com/halloween-cupcake-decorating-made-easy-9797973.html?cat=22) designed to make goofy-looking baked goods easier to produce. (Go ahead and click on her name to see a publications list that includes reviews and pictures of lots of novelty baking supplies.)

As the Cakewrecks pictures document, however, those who really crave one-of-a-kind cakes of over-the-top, legendary ridiculosity won't be satisfied with prepackaged Wilton products. They'd really rather shape their own pans with foil, cut their own cakes and cookies around a cardboard outline, and take the time to bake, sculpt, and ice something that's never been made before and will never be made again.

And with digital flash cameras so easy to find these days, why not preserve your kitchen-geek creation on the Internet?

(Is it faaaair that gluten-intolerant people can't eat these cakes? Sure, why not? Dig up those old Julia Child cookbooks and check out the recipes for confections made with whipped egg whites, cornstarch, and/or almond meal. Gluten-free cakes that are sculptable take a little more time and effort to make, but isn't that part of the fun?)