Cakes are delicious, but they can also be pretty funny. Just ask blogger Jen Yates, whose blog, Cake Wrecks, catalogues the most hilarious — and horrific — cakes you’ve ever feasted your eyes on. A prime example of how a successful blog can transform someone from obscurity into a pop culture phenomenon, Yates is making her first-ever stop in Toronto to promote her newest book, Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets "Festive", at Indigo Yorkdale tomorrow.
We caught up with the blogger to discuss cake, and why it’s awesome.
So Cake Wrecks. How did that happen?
By accident, really. A friend e-mailed me the now famous "Best wishes Suzanne/Under Neat That/We Will Miss You" cake, and I thought it would be a funny subject matter for a blog. I started it that very night, just having fun and never expecting anyone to ever read it. I told maybe half a dozen friends. After a few weeks, though, people started finding the site and spreading the word. It snowballed quickly, and the rest is history.
Why do you think your blog has become so popular? Why do people love cake wrecks so much?
I think it's because Cake Wrecks is easy, relatable humor. You don't have to be a certain age or from a certain walk of life to "get" it; our readers range from four to 104, from nearly every country, from grade school kids to doctors and everything in between.
Plus it's cake — who doesn't love cake?
So before Cake Wrecks came into your life, what were you doing?
Well, John [Yates’ husband] and I were painters before Cake Wrecks. Actually we were faux finishers, which are just fancy kinds of house painters. We had our own little company for 10 years, just the two of us, but when the economy went downhill so did our business. We were very fortunate that that was when Cake Wrecks really started to take off, so we made a surprisingly smooth transition from painters to bloggers over the course of about a year.
What makes a good cake wreck?
That depends who you ask, because everyone has a different favorite category. Lots of people love the missed marks: the "what-they-ordered" versus "what-they-got" wrecks. Others love the literal mistakes: when a baker writes out the instructions, i.e. "Write happy birthday in all caps." Then there are the ridiculous misspellings, the gruesome baby shower body cakes, the mystery animals, etc. Personally I think they're ALL "good" wrecks!
Tell us about the new book.
Wreck the Halls is mostly holiday wrecks, which tend to be my favorites. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and plenty of extras are all thrown in. I had a lot of fun with it, and I think it shows.
Writing a book, while also writing and maintaining two blogs (I also have a geek girl site called Epbot) is tough, to say the least. Mostly I just never left the office. I'd wake up, log on, and be up 'til 4 a.m. each morning working. I really love what I do, though, so that definitely helps.
It's hard to pick a favorite section, but it's between the how-to-cook-your-turkey chapter and the Sci-Fi one. (Because, yes, I included a Star Wars/Star Trek chapter in a holiday book. Obviously.)
What's next for you? Do you see a life without cake wrecks?
I started Cake Wrecks because I like to write, and I thought pictures of funny cakes would be a fun excuse to do so. I love finding the funny — making up stories, creating ridiculous dialogue, playing with puns, etc. So, yes, I can envision a day without Cake Wrecks, but I can't imagine a day without writing — a day without making people laugh.
What's the weirdest thing that's happened to you since your blogging success?
I'd call the success the weirdest part, hands down. Go from barely knowing what blogging is to having 50,000 daily readers in the span of three months and you'll know what I mean. Totally surreal. Even after three years, I still find it all quite dizzying.
What do you think are the secret ingredients behind a successful blog?
A creative spark, originality, hard work, good manners, consistency and a healthy dash of luck.
Do you still like to eat cake?
HECK YEAH.
