Baking Blunders That Prove Even The Best Bakers Have Bad Days
For as long as we can remember, cakes have always been a traditional part of celebrations. They are a constant during birthdays, weddings, graduations, and other significant milestones in people’s lives. There is just something about that sweet goodness you taste with every bite you take.
Cakes can be adorned with anything from straightforward icing and sprinkles to complex fondant creations. Some end up looking so beautiful that there’s no other way to describe them aside from works of art. However, no matter how much we may appreciate that, the truth is not all cakes deserve praise.
Many appear hardly edible, while others convey the incorrect message. The remainder is things you wouldn’t even feed your pet. Today, we have chosen 45 of the best (or worst) images from an amusing Facebook group called “Cake Shaming” for you to enjoy.
1. Worse Than Halloween
Halloween is a time to dress up in scary costumes in memory of departed souls. So, we get it when people make scary candies, cakes, and decorations. However, this cake went beyond scary and crossed over to the land of ugliness.
It doesn’t even look like a cake, and we are certain it’s inedible. It looks more like mashed dog food than anything. Additionally, we highly suspect that the eyes were made from boiled eggs. We would definitely pass on this one.
2. Definitely Not Star Wars
What in “Vader’s” name is going on here? This kid must have asked for a Star Wars-themed cake and instead got this disappointment. It must have felt even worse once they discovered that the person who baked the cake cut part of their favorite book to make this!
Are those two candles really shaped to depict two lightsabers colliding? Unfortunately, this is one of the worst cakes we have ever seen. Buying a cake from a bakery would have been better. We just hope it didn’t ruin Star Wars for this kid.
3. Duck Cake?
We are not even sure this is edible at all. Since we don’t even know what exactly it is, we’ll call it by what it resembles most; a duck cake. The frosting looks like raw batter, or perhaps it was made from cheese gotten from a box of Kraft Mac&cheese!
This cake reminds us of Bluey. It seems like the idea was to make the duck look like a sleep-paralysis demon more than anything else. There is no way anyone in their right mind would pay for this crap of a cake.
4. Pregnancy Cravings
How did anyone ever think this would be a good idea? We get that sometimes pregnant women get intense sour-taste cravings, but this is not the way to satisfy them. Although it looks well made, no one would even think of eating a combination of pickles, cheesecake, and pretzel crust.
The one concept that should never be taken away from any cake idea is its sweetness. If that is gone, it’s no longer a cake; it’s something else. If someone made a list of the top ten horror cake ideas in the world, this would have definitely been in the running.
5. Hard Life Of A Unicorn
We appreciate the level of creativity, but it wasn’t needed in this cake. Since the concept was a unicorn, a plain white cake would have been more suitable. Unicorns are meant to be adorable and enchanting creatures, and this doesn’t give off that vibe at all.
We also know that unicorns don’t go around hanging their tongues out of their mouths like that. Plus, this one looks sad and pitiful. If you are going to make a unicorn cake, at least make a happy looking one.
6. Immense Audacity
We laughed uncontrollably at this one because though it was an epic fail, this person still had the audacity to go online and post it. We would like to assume that since they’re that daring, they wouldn’t mind being told the truth about the disaster they created.
It’s common knowledge, even to non-bakers, that you are not supposed to leave the cardboard between the layers. If you do, you should at least conceal it in icing. This isn’t the plain white cake the newlyweds were hoping for. Rather it’s an ugly, horribly decorated cake that undoubtedly made the bride tear up!
7. Bologna Isn’t The Same As Bologna
We all know Bologna is a city in Italy, but that’s not the only thing associated with that name. It also refers to a pork beef sausage, the US version of luncheon meat. It tastes terrible unless it’s fried and put in a sandwich.
So, we wonder how this person put it in a cake. Even with ranch cream cheese icing, there’s no way the end result was sweet. What’s even weirder is that the owner of the cake still enjoyed it. Maybe cakes with a peculiar taste are the new trend.
8. They Could Have Done Better
Sometimes we feel that baking a cake yourself is better because when it comes out wrong, you will have no one else to blame but yourself. That said, these bakers actually suck at their job; we just hope they know it too.
Well, at least this was not a total fail because the person who ordered it wanted a cartoonish cake. However, we think they could have used black icing for the full effect. How do you feel about this end result?
9. A Sheet Cake Would Have Been Better
This cake looks like it has suffered through 30 years of marriage, even though this is the wedding day. This person should have simply ordered a sheet cake or made the cake themselves because this one was a total shame.
We hope she got a refund because even melted icing would look better. This looks like layers of rough candles that melted into each other. It must have ruined the wedding party for them. We hope that, at the very least, it still tasted great.
10. Davy Jones-Inspired Cake
This looks like a cow, and “Davy Jones” from Pirates of the Caribbean had a love child because we don’t even know what it was supposed to be. The flowers and spikes just made the cake look worse and more confusing.
Even if this person was trying to make a highland cow, it’s still not close. The cake looks like it’s been overtaken by worms, and frankly, that’s the most disgusting part about it. We hope it wasn’t ordered as a kid’s birthday cake because we’re sure it would put them off cows for life.
11. Too Expensive
We know that sometimes judging a book by its cover doesn’t do it justice, and everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt. But who would be willing to spend up to $200 for a substandard cake like this one?
Where do we even start? The eyes, teeth, and mane are undoubtedly the worst parts of this strange creation. For a second, we thought it was a weird Halloween bride in a ridiculous wedding veil, only to realize it was a horse that looked nothing like a horse!
12. You’re Loved
Somebody needs to work on their grammar and cake-decorating skills because you can’t call yourself a baker and design a cake like this. Even a child in 5th grade would write better than this. All that hard work was ruined in one go.
We can’t even tell whether it says “your laved” or “you’r laled.” It gives us headaches just trying to figure that out. The interesting part is that getting a frosting this smooth takes impressive skill, so we can’t help but wonder what went wrong with the writing. Innocent mistake?
13. Too Much Confusion
Everybody loves a good frog face, but what the heck is this? We’re sure the idea must have made sense in his head, but this was a terrible execution. The frosting was a complete failure, and the toppings looked like burnt cakes.
Is this not the caterpillar from Alice In Wonderland? Because it’s clearly not a frog. The saddest part is that it had so much potential to be beautiful and tasty based on the color and everything else. Sadly, it looks more like what “Bernie Lomax” ate before he died!
14. Eggs Are Ready For Hatching
Hold up! Do you pop the top like a blister, or do you just eat it like that? Honestly, this actually made us feel sick. These cupcakes are beyond saving. The only thing we can do is pity whoever they were meant for and hope their tummies didn’t explode!
That said, we still can help but wonder how exactly they were made. Also, why does the frosting look like poorly cooked pieces of ham and pepperoni? From another angle, they kinda look like eggs. We shudder to think what kind of offspring they could bring forth after hatching!
15. Battery Acid Cake
This reminds us more of algae than anything else. According to the person who posted this, he wanted a cake with gold frosting, but it came out looking like battery acid. We can’t even imagine putting this swamp-flavored cake in our mouths.
We bet it tastes just as horrible as it looks. Oh, what a shame! It must have been oxidized or something because it turned into a rather unfortunate color. A rare case of a baker mistaking gold for mold! He definitely deserves a refund.
16. Wrapped Up Caterpillar
The baby on this cake has the unfortunate experience of seeing too much too early. You can tell he/she will be traumatized for life! The ‘freshness guaranteed’ sticker made us laugh because we found it a bit ironic. There’s no way anyone would pay for this abomination, fresh or not.
After taking a second look, we thought the baby looked a bit like a caterpillar wrapped up and left on a bed of spikes because we’d hate to believe any baby looks this bad. If this was from a professional bakery, whoever bought it spent too much on a piece of shame.
17. Never Substitute Grapes With Olives
This person said they wanted a cake with green grapes and tiny “Yodas” surrounding the borders, but this was what they got instead. How do olives serve as a substitute for grapes? No matter how much we adore olives, they can’t be used as a substitute for grapes.
This went from a cake to a competition whose main goal was to throw everything that could pass up as decoration to see if it would make everything better. “Yoda” looks like he’s made of roast chicken! This was a terrible excuse for a cake.
18. Bloated Tiger
Tigers are meant to be fearsome, majestic creatures, but this is nowhere close. It looks like a bloated cat suffering from a bout of constipation. From another angle, it looks like the tiger is spitting gum out of its mouth!
We might be mistaken, though. It might be its teeth or a spider depositing egg sacs in its mouth. Whoever designed this cake needs to have their license retracted immediately because they do not deserve to call themselves a baker.
19. Strawberry Mandrakes
This looks like a bad strawberry spa day, if that was a thing. Everyone says chocolate is good for the skin, so maybe that’s why it was used to make these strawberry cakes. The lot of them look like screaming mandrakes, and we think we know where this person got the idea.
They were probably trying to create an awesome idea inspired by a scene from the successful fantasy series Harry Potter. Unfortunately, they ended up doing it wrong. They all look like they are being choked to death! Maybe the second batch will turn out better.
20. Pumpkin Cake Fail
Everybody loves a good pumpkin cake. Regardless of how something tastes, it is important to make flawless presentations when serving. Sadly, that wasn’t adhered to here. The frosting looks like it was rushed, and this person didn’t even pay attention to detail.
What bothers us most is the fact that there seems to be a tree trunk in the middle of the cake. Perhaps it was put there for aesthetic purposes, but it only made it worse. Additionally, the choice of color was simply terrible, and so was the design. Are those leaves edible?
21. This Remains A Mystery
Before you say we didn’t do anything for you this month, we are going to share a piece of unsolicited advice with you. Here it goes: whatever you do, do not get cookie cakes made at Ingles! That is if you care about your toppings and decorations.
This looks like something a child could write with their eyes closed. Autocorrect must be going crazy right now. Why write in cursive if it’s hard for you when you can easily write in block letters and be understood just fine?
22. Grapes On A Cake
This is the perfect description of minimalism because who puts grapes as the only decorations on a cake? This is why the saying ‘what is worth doing is worth doing well’ exists. You can’t claim to be a baker and make such unforgivable mistakes.
We don’t know what to call this. Is it a grape cake or just grapes on a cake? We pity whoever this cake was meant for because they must really be having a bad day. They probably had a vision of the kind of cake they would be getting, and we’re certain this wasn’t it.
23. Play Dough
One thing we have discovered from this list is that a bad look equals bad taste most times. To us, this looks more like play dough than a wedding cake. We can already picture the bride’s disappointed face after she saw this.
The fondant was a disaster, the color clashed with the flowers, and the end result was a shapeless structure. This must have been a case of trusting your friend to deliver a professional cake. It was a big lesson on never mixing business with pleasure.
24. Frozen Hell Horror
One thing we know about this cake is that it was a complete failure, and we are not even going to be considerate enough to say they tried. It looks like the apocalypse version of Frozen. A scene from a horror movie no one needed.
It really feels like hell did freeze over because there’s no way we can even pretend that these two are our beloved “Elsa” and “Anna.” Everyone on this cake looks pissed, and we can’t help but wonder why there’s blood on “Elsa’s” face. We really pity the birthday girl who had to eat this.
25. Bluey Cake
Someone indeed tried to make a Bluey-inspired cake. That said, is this a pie or a cake because it looks a bit too flat to be called a cake? We hope whoever got this got it for free because we can’t imagine someone paying any amount of money for this.
The frosting looks like it was spread on the cake by a novice, and “Bluey” looks like a fat duck with big thick eyes rather than the sweet and affectionate blue heeler dog we are used to seeing on our television screens.
26. Count Your Woes
We don’t know if this is a highland cow or just an army of earthworms and slugs in a stampede, but whatever it is, the baker should have just saved themselves the embarrassment of letting anyone else lay their eyes on it.
Even without the earthworms, the flower placement and other decorations still look appalling. There is just too much going on for this cake for it to be taken seriously. If there’s one lesson you should take from these fails, it’s that sometimes simple is best.
27. LEGO Cake
This lady wanted a LEGO cake, and a friend recommended a particular baker to her. Unfortunately, she got a sad-looking cake. It’s a little close, but not quite. A four-dot lego piece is a square, and a rectangular one has at least six dots.
So, when next you want to bake a cake, you should at least have an idea of how exactly the inspiration looks before you even try; looking at a sample wouldn’t hurt. The uneven surface also makes it look like work done by an amateur rather than a professional.
28. Indeed, A Cake Hack
This was posted in a cake hack group, and we have to admit that this is surely a next-level cake hack. On one side, it looks like a clown, but on the other side, it looks more like a snowman. We don’t even know what to make of it.
We just hope this cake wasn’t meant for a child because it is even frightening to an adult’s eyes. The face alone is enough to make children run away in fear! As much as making something for someone you love is seen as more meaningful, sometimes it’s better to just hire a professional.
29. Cheers To The Twilight Saga
The only exciting thing about this cake is the fact that it’s expected to be sweet. But then again, when a cake looks this bad, you never know what to expect. From the not-so-funny wording to the drawing, it’s all kinds of wrong.
Yes, we get that it’s a reference from Twilight in the scene where “Edward” confesses to “Bella” about being a vampire. Still, that is no excuse for making such a cringe-worthy cake. The illustration especially looks horrible. It’s nothing close to “Edward.”
30. Devoid Of Emotion
We have come to the conclusion that whoever made this cake has no feelings because how on earth can you ruin a child’s birthday cake like this? Even the 11-year-old this cake was meant for would have done a better job than this.
With that said, this isn’t the worst creation on our list because the Pokeball is still recognizable, and we can easily tell what it was supposed to be. A little more effort into making the icing neater would have done the trick.
31. Huge Monstrosity
We turned a blind eye to the easily noticeable spelling error and focused our attention on the huge monstrosity. The person who made this cake said it was a two-day project, and we’re quite surprised it came out looking like this.
How could someone spend 48 hours making a cake only for it to look like this? Kids are suffering out here! Why can’t people just order cakes made by professional bakers? That’s better than creating disasters like these and calling them birthday cakes.
32. Worst Cake Award
This has to be the worst cake on our list because we are not going to try and pretend we know what this person was trying to create. The icing is disgusting, and it vaguely reminds us of a particular emoji we’re not going to mention.
The cake looks horrible, and we don’t think we would be caught dead eating something like this. This person should have at least made an attempt to clean the cardboard because it’s all messy. Tough luck to whoever got it.
33. Highland Cows Are A Trend
Apparently, people have a thing for highland cows! Who knew? The worst part is they always seem to get it wrong. Even with all the bright colors on this cake, it still looks horrible. Why does the mane look like earthworms dripping all over the cow’s face?
Well, though we don’t understand it, it looks like highland cows on cakes are here to stay. However, we think there has to be a way to decorate the mane in a way that doesn’t make it look like worms. The color used here made it look even worse.
34. Could Have Been Better
Just because you have an oven doesn’t mean you should be baking cakes for sale; it’s just not for everybody. Some people were born for this and have the creativity for it, while others just try too hard and end up with disappointing results.
Although this looks like a record turntable, it still had to identify it as such at first glance. We can’t dispute the creativity behind this one, but a little adjustment here and there would have gone a long way in making it better.
35. Everything Happening All At Once
We know that sometimes executing an idea can go south, but you just have to salvage the situation ASAP. This is one such instance. The original design wasn’t selling, so they scraped it off and came up with something new.
It’s no surprise that this was the best they could do. Ewww! They must have run out of frosting because that green line at the back didn’t fit on this already bad cake. We just hope nobody wasted $19.96 on this.
36. Heart You To The Banana
As we said earlier, creativity is always an amazing thing, regardless of if you have the skills or not. Although this looks nice because of its simplicity, we can’t overlook the writing and decoration on this cake. It’s the worst part about it.
This reads more like “heart you to the banana and back” than anything else. Even the shape of the cake isn’t as good as we’d have liked. But because of the baker’s creativity and simplicity, we have to admit this is one of the least shameful cakes on this list.
37. Gryffindor
If you haven’t seen Harry Potter, we’re sorry because this might not make much sense to you. The franchise is one of the most famous ones out there, and we appreciate that this person was trying to create a cake based on Gryffindor House in Hogwarts.
That said, this didn’t turn out that well. We recognize the glasses are meant to signify “Harry” himself. The broom is all not so bad. The Snitch, however, is a whole other story. The love and admiration are apparent, but maybe it’s time this person accepted that baking is more complex than they thought.
38. Have A Sharkastic Day
At least we’re happy that even though this cake is based on an animal, it’s not a cow cake this time but a shark. The person who posted this said that he sometimes bakes as a side job, which made us seriously consider doing it, too, because we can certainly bake a bit better!
Agreed. You can’t be perfect in everything you do. But at least give it your best shot every time you can. The misplaced teeth and even the decorations make it look like the shark must be going through a lot. Well, as the poster said, we hope you have a sharkastic day, whatever that means!
39. Kiddie Writing On A Kiddie Cake
One thing we hate to see is a mix of capital letters and small letters done in a horrendous way. It’s somehow worse on a cake! Although this person attested to the fact that this cake tasted delicious, we couldn’t overlook the horrible writing.
We’re guessing the person who made the cake wasn’t the same person who did the writing because some poor soul was obviously forced into writing this. Even the color of the fondant doesn’t go well with the color of the cake.
40. Cute Concept, Poor Execution
We don’t even know what this was supposed to be. Was this person trying to make a purse filled with cupcakes or a potted plant of roses? When we looked at it closer, it started to seem like the cupcakes were supposed to look like yarns.
We can’t dispute the fact that it was a cute concept at the start, but the poor execution made the cake look terrible, regardless of the level of creativity. So, to whoever got this cake for their celebration, we are terribly sorry.
41. Turkey Cake
For this year’s Thanksgiving, you can buy these turkey cakes, although we don’t recommend them. Aside from the fact that this person must have put a lot of effort into creating an exact replica, it’s still not the best idea.
Everyone would prefer a real turkey over a cake that looks like one. So, it’s not exactly appealing to break this essential Thanksgiving tradition in the name of trying something different. Plus, who would want to have similar visuals for dinner and dessert?
42. Nothing Close
The first unicorn cake we saw in this article looked quite terrible but was still passable. However, this one is a complete no-no! Except for the singular horn on top of the cake, this cake is not even close to looking like a unicorn.
Are those real or fake lashes because from what we see, those things are clearly not edible. Additionally, the bottom layer of the cake needs more frosting. This was a total disaster, and as usual, we’re certain it was meant for an innocent kid who certainly didn’t get what they wished for.
43. Messy Background Equals Messy Cake
This looks like a basic homemade cake made with malice. Even the dirty background is shame-worthy. According to the person who posted this online, this woman’s daughter-in-law wanted a six-layer red velvet cake with cream cheese, mascarpone filling, and icing.
This is yet another disappointing case of what you envisioned vs. what you got. Definitely cringy. Even if it supposedly tasted good, we would never eat it because it looks bad, and we can’t get over the filthy background. No one deserves to get this for their birthday.
44. Not Worth The Price
The person who shared this said it was initially posted on a professional baking site and cost $75. We’ve seen and eaten a $75 cake, and this is nowhere close to that. Although it looks better than most of the ones we’ve featured, it’s still not that good.
It’s okay to make a DIY cake, but we wouldn’t accept this ridiculous price tag. We wonder if that cow was made out of icing or if it was just an inedible toy. All in all, we feel this person could have at least smoothed the icing better.
45. Happy Deer Day
Well, this might not be a perfect job, but the person who baked it still tried to make it realistic. We won’t be hard on her because it’s clearly not easy to decorate a cake. We will leave the decision in your hands.
Although it was not a complete failure, this baker still needs more practice in making their cakes look flawless and neat. With a bit of practice, we’re certain they will get better. So, even though we said we’d reserve judgment, we’d say it’s pretty decent. Better luck next time!
46. Tasty Feet
To be honest, we adore cakes. Over the years, we have concocted all sorts of reasons, well, more like excuses, to have cake even when we weren’t supposed to. So, as terrible as some of these creations may be, we would definitely eat most of them.
That includes this one. Having a baby on the way is something that should be celebrated, and no baby shower is complete without cake. However, we think the baker could have done something more tasteful for this mum-to-be, wouldn’t you agree?