Cake Wrecks the Book: Interview with Jen Yates

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Nearly every day, Jen Yates' blog Cake Wrecks makes me laugh really, really, really hard. Her parade of pastry preposterousness is spit-take entertaining -- but the frosting, if you will, is Jen's well-written, playful commentary.

Jen's new book comes with new wrecks, a book tour and a bio that touts her experience leading up to the Wreckerator-in-Chief job as including clown, cash office accountant, Jungle Cruise skipper, business owner, children's book inventory expeditor, and house painter. So impressed was I that I asked her for a BlogHer exclu -- below you'll find my questions and Jen's answers. Enjoy.

BlogHer: My favorite Cake Wrecks are always expertly executed but fall into the "beyond bizarre," category -- like Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockeys or Creepy Baby or Why Suzy Needs Therapy. What kind of approach to cake do you think leads to the most regularly Wrecktastic creations?

Yates: I think it's the desire to be unique that leads so many talented bakers down the path of Wreckage. Sometimes they get a little carried away with their creativity, and then we end up with wedding cakes that are life-sized sculptures of the bride, shower cakes with baby appendages sticking out of them, and groom's cakes that look like giant dead deer. These things might be artistic, but they're not very appetizing!

BlogHer: Has Tom Selleck ever told you how he feels about his chest hair (in frosting) being used to feed your family?

Yates: Hah! No.

BlogHer: Which celebrities are most frequently memorialized in cake? Besides Tom Selleck, which are the most interesting when encakeulated?

Yates: At the moment I mostly see the tween stars: Hannah Montana & the Jonas Brothers.

BlogHer: Is this your first book?

Yates: Not only is it my first book, Cake Wrecks is also the first time I've ever written professionally. Wait - am I allowed to call myself professional now? Heh, when John and I first started painting we used to joke that if you get paid for it, you're a professional. So if you go by that standard, then I guess now I'm a pro. ;)

BlogHer: What's your favorite new cake in the book?

Yates: I was particularly enamored with the resume cake, believe it or not. It was really hard to save that for the book, because I wanted to post it on the blog the second I saw it. It's just such a funny idea to put an edible resume on a cake, although you could argue it borders on genius; the guy *did* get the job! As far as ultimate Wreckage goes, though, you can't beat the new "dearly departed" baby cake and some of the new wedding horrors.

BlogHer: What was the most challenging cake to write about? How come?

Yates: Ooh, there are so many hard cakes to write for. So many times I'll look at a Wreck and say, "Sure, it's a Wreck no question, but it's not funny!" That's the key to Cake Wrecks: if it's not funny, and I can't make it funny, then I scrap it. I'm after laughs more than I'm after cringes. So all that to say: The biggest challenges were in the early days of the blog when I didn't have the option of picking and choosing like I do now. Sometimes that resulted in unexpected gems, though, like Drew's Birthday Wish. That cake isn't a Wreck at all, but John challenged me to write a post for it anyway, just to stretch my literary muscles. And you know what? Not only did the readers seem to like what I came up with, but it was probably one of the most fun writing experiences I've ever had.

BlogHer: What's your all-time favorite post (or posts)?

Yates: Gosh, I have so many favorites! Well, I still love the Cake Head Diet Aid -- even though it was kind of a flop when I posted it. (All anyone could talk about was that they thought the cake was PhotoShopped, which was a bit ego-bruising. Heh.) Other than that, I of course adore the Carrot Jockeys, runaway hit that they were, and Supermom VS the Diabolical Decorator of Doom. I love writing dialogue and little stories to go with the Wrecks; I imagine these little sketches in my head, and it's a blast brainstorming new ways to make them even more ridiculous.

BlogHer: What is more rife with danger: Wedding cakes or baby shower cakes?

Yates: