Food with a sense of humour

Photo: Contributed

Imagin, Draem, Achive

'Becuz if U ken draem it, somune ells ken screw it up.'

I was musing on what to write about this week, and as I sometimes do I scanned the blogosphere to see what wacky topics are being discussed. My curiosity was definitely piqued when I saw a blog called "Cake Wrecks" by Jen Yates. I remember some of my efforts at fancier cakes and the first time I tried to write on a cake, and a wave of empathy poured over me. It seemed this was a great topic for the start of school, when we want to try and encourage youngsters to get past their mistakes. Even adults can make some doozies!

The cakes shown on the blog were made by professionals so I envisioned things like odd names being misconstrued. There was some of that, but I did not imagine anything quite so creatively wrong as the sample that started the collection.

Best Wishes Suzanne

Under Neat that

We will Miss you

I mean, really, you have to use your sense of humour when you see that amidst the icing roses and marzipan fruit, don’t you?

Of course there are all kinds of spelling mistakes recounted, and decorators who were perhaps not quite as good at replicating an object or creature as they thought. Colour is important too, it was mentioned, as in the example of the cake that used brown swirls of icing around a farm full of animals.

Even neglecting something as simple as punctuation can make a difference, and the author is keen to point out the humour and irony in her commentary. In an example sent in that had “1 Dad” written boldly on the cake, she comments, “Of all the Dads out there, you are one of them.” That might have been what Dad was thinking, if only for a moment, but I am sure that very quickly he smiled and thought of the love from the people who gave him the cake.

Once I got past the giggles from the article, I actually went to the blog that started it all. An interesting note is that the book and blog feature only professional errors, so all us amateurs are off the hook. It’s easier if you know that even a professional can really make a blunder. There are apparently 50 to 60 submissions a day sent in (and this has been going for years!), and I thought a few more giggles couldn’t hurt. Well, I have had to stop twice while typing tonight as I am still laughing…

I don’t mean to make light of someone else’s disaster. What I loved about the article, and the blog, was that the theme was more about reminding us all we are human and that laughter is really the best medicine. When I made my first attempt at something like a black forest cake and the cherry pie filling I put in the middle made the top layer slide halfway off, my friend laughed heartily and said that the cake had started the party without us. I was relieved; it really was the thought that counted. Once we finally got the mess onto plates, it was pretty darn tasty, after all.

It all goes back to the same old theme as always: food brings us together. Even if it’s bad food, or bad-looking food, we still come together and we still celebrate. To add a little laughter into the mix can’t possibly be bad. Just remember that the next time you pick up a cake you order over the phone. And, now you can tell your kids that learning to spell does have its uses.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.