Cake messes

And now for something completely different . . .

I have a new favorite time-suck Web site to along with icanhascheezburger. It's called Cake Wrecks, and it's a collection of professionally made cakes that are wrong for all sorts of reasons - from a cake that looks like a pregnant woman's belly to one in the shape of Tom Selleck, complete with chest hair, and everything in between.

Last year, for Campbell's first birthday, I splurged and ordered a cake from our fancy grocery store instead of our usual neighborhood one, which has always provided us with excellent cakes. We were having the birthday party at fancy store's playground, and they have this rule about only allowing food that's been purchased at the store on the playground, and I figured I should play by the rules.

When I ordered the cake by phone, I spelled Campbell's name for the guy three times before giving up and saying, "Just like Campbell's soup." The guy said, "Ah, got it." I figured I was safe at that point.

On the day of the party, I ran into the store and picked up the cake along with drinks and ice cream and a fruit tray. The store was a zoo, and I had to wait about 10 minutes at the bakery, so when the woman handed the cake to me, I gave it a quick look and headed for the check-out. During the 10 minutes I stood in line at the check out, I took a closer look at the cake and discovered a problem. Ten points to anyone who spots the error.

At that point I was already late to my own son's birthday party, so I decided to just let it go. I didn't have the energy to go back to the bakery. Plus, I figured there wasn't much they could do about it anyway. But even now, a year later, it still grates on me that I spent as much money as I did on a cake with Campbell's name spelled wrong. I've never ordered a cake from that store again.

This year I'm not taking any chances - I'm making cupcakes for the party. They won't be fancy, but they'll still taste good.