Just though some of you might find this story interesting like I did, I have read both sides and don't believe there was any malice intented by the decorator, but if what the Mother of the bride says is true the cake they received was far from what they ordered even if you overlook the "symbols".

This cake was featured on CakeWrecks the other day, but has since been removed because of the fallout, I guess there have been some very ugly things said about and sent to the bakery, which is just disgusting. C.W. Did not post the name of the bakery or intend any drama, but it is the internet so things got out of hand fast. I am attaching links the cake and both sides of the story so everyone can see for themselves. As a side note, this bakery has done some amazing work, so it's just too bad this is how their name gets out

The Cake as Delivered:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JiTt3CxMCx8/Ss-cB9PQe8I/AAAAAAAAAAc/IF1bve17Dtw/s400/Wedding+Cake+by+Sugar+Butter+Flour.jpg
***

The Cake after "symbols" removed":
http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/IAe3Z1Qq6kXYNPzGhvhi0A/l
***

The Client's Side:
http://bloggingsanjose.blogspot.com/2009/08/wedding-cake-swastika-disaster.html
***

The Bakery's Side:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sugar-butter-flour-sunnyvale#hrid:wkiwHJZ06y4PGOLswDOcYA

Oh my now that is some nasty he said she said.

Mike

Wow.

I mean there it is in the art she submitted.

But where's the lace and the stuff imbedded in the lace.

That's crazy.

i recognize some of the symbols as runes.
i studied runes and their meanings a number of years ago.
the swatstika was a symbol, in some of the alphabets of the sun.
hitler considered a number of symbols for his monstrous ideology and chose this one.
as the owners of the bakery said, it is a symbol with many meanings, the most renowned being heinous.
it sickens me to see it and imo it should have been omitted.

I'm surprised Jewish bakers would include the symbol on the cake, rune or not. I do think they did a good job of defending themselves. I hope this doesn't ruin their business.

I could not find the "original" that was sent as the sample they wanted - k8 - where did you find it?

Shew, that is some drama! Too much going on for me to decipher. Looks like a judge may have to.

I'm being pulled a little toward the customer's side on this one. Not so much the symbols, but that there wasn't any lacework.

yes, the symbols weren't subtley worked into lacework by anyone's standards.

Here's my question--why would the bakery put those on the cake since they are from Israel? The other question is, why did the client submit that symbol with the others?

So to me they are both technically right and equally wrong on that score.

And does anyone have a picture of the lace cake that has been referenced?

We need to see it so we can get some order in the court.
(I'm trading my Columbo jacket for a judge's robes )
Get some gavel action going here -- lol

I can see both sides. There is no lace work-unless the cutouts were supposed to form the lacework. Artistic interpretation? IDK. So I can see how the customer is unhappy. From the bakery side. They have a Jewish history and the use of that symbol was expressly requested and they did it. Perhaps the offensive nature of the symbol upset them to enough of a degree that they lost site of the order and didn't give the customer what they wanted. I see both sides as loosing do to poor communication. The whole thing with cake wrecks blew it out of proportion. People coming one sided and shouting at the other. It's an unfortunate loss on both sides. I don't think that the customer was due a complete refund but in light of all the publicity the bakery did the right thing trying to make amends. But as they say Hell hath no fury like a woman(MOB) scorned.

So to answer my own question:

Here's the two lace cakes from their website:

http://www.sugarbutterflour.com/products/enlargednew/wedding/WhiteLace.htm

http://www.sugarbutterflour.com/products/enlargednew/wedding/ThereeTiersWhiteLace.htm

So now what?

What about the apricots and stuff?

I mean what a stunning blow to have to deal with at your wedding--I mean they were dodo birds to submit that to the bakery though.

echk -- it's a ricocheting gut punch all the way around.

They made 'lace' out of the symbols--think like a caker for a minute -- the symbols are 2-d like a lace applique so it's like a lace cake in that way.

I do understand the family's reques thought for the symbols to be worked into those same lace appliques but that part got smudged a little.

Currently I'm leaning for the bakery & against the family.

But I mean there ain't no winners--everybody looses huh.

its apricot colored

This would be a lot better if there was a language barrier involved huh.
That what it seems like. Cluster eff much?

E

Exactly. Swastikas do not mean in all cultures what they mean to us. In HS I had a friend who was Indian and they axtually had them on artwork in their house-it was jarring for me, but normal for them.

But, in defense of the bride, the cake was nothing like requested. But the symbols are simply a matter of cultural difference, kind of like when McDonald's had a photo of someone eating a hamburger with their right hand in Islam, which was very offensive to them.

They should have noticed it in the art they submitted to the bakery. The bride should have specified, all ninja stars except that one that looks like a Swastika!

I agree these swastika symbols are found in all the ancient cultures. Study their art and you will find this symbol. It represented the revolving of the earth and the changing seasons. Lots of early neo-lithic pottery display these symbols and today they can be seen in Bhuddist culture, Hinduism and most recently the Fuling Gong (sp?) from China. What is amazing is that so many cultures over time and spread across vast geographic areas all used similar symbols in their art.

I agree. The client has no right to complain about the symbol being included in the artwork of the cake. The bride cannot accuse the baker of ruining her wedding day with horrible symbols that she submitted herself. (I mean, the MOB wrote that her daughter had planned this wedding for so long, could she not have noticed the swastika on her own paper and explained herself a little better?)
But yes, she could complain that the outcome was not as agreed. There are no apricots and no lace work. But disappointments with a client happens to many bakeries (im sure), this bakery is now risking its own future because of false accusations associated with nazism and racism.

But do you think the artwork is done as lace--cut out of fondant then applied? They don't look totally painted on is my point. The lace cakes I found on their site were done by applique. The artwork on the apricot cake are appliques.

Sounds like a freight rain type misunderstanding to me.

What a crazy mess, I agree with K8 here.

On the one hand I see the side of the bakery, the cake looks just like the picture of the symbols the bride gave them. But...where is the lace? As K8 said, are the symbols the makeup of the lace? If so there is the misunderstanding between bride and baker.

I think the bride needs to take a little more responsibility. When you give a baker/decorator a picture you say "I like XYZ about this, but not this" or "please leave the swastikas off but use everything else".

Cluster Eff indeed!!

Looking at a close up of the cake (on the mom's blog), there are tiny little ninjas standing on each tier. They are super cute, I am sure they would have been cuter hiding behind apricots.

Good call, Mim.

Here's what Mob wrote

Even after all her drama--she is offering the wrong word on this thing. 'Replace' obviously is not what she meant. But that's what she said.

Mob's careful to describe apricot fruit shaped fondant decorations
Read that both ways
1.) range"> apricot fruit shaped fondat decorations
and
2.) apricot fruit colored range"> shaped fondant decorations

Apricot is a fruit and a color unfortunately.
I agree she clearly din get what she wanted but she got what the baker thought she ordered.

Btw, the bad swastikas, my wise friend did some research, are tilted--it's not even a WWll swastika. How 'bout them apricots?

I think if they wanted to pursue it further, it would not hold up in court.

And Mob is careful to say how well the cakers understand English and I'm sure they do but that ambiguous color/fruit modifying that 'shaped fondant decorations' dealio --different languages say stuff weird like that kwim? All backwards of how English says it.

So I'd say we can at least toss in that Engish is not their native tongue so...

Wow.

I just don't know what to think.

The symbols do look like they were cut out and applied to the cake.

And we always "yell" at bakers who want to change their customers fugly cakes, so we can't really turn around and say that the bakery should have known not to put that symbol on the cake.

Personally, a ninja wedding cake is a dumb idea...do it as a groom's cake, and just have the pretty, elegant bride's cake as the centerpiece of the wedding. But I don't run a business, and if I did, I would probably not feel like I could tell the customer that, especially in our current economy.

if you made the symbols in various sizes and put symbols within symbols and laid them out as a horizontal border, it could look like a geometric lace.
i doubt that the bride wanted symbols applied to the cake randomly.
my question would be, why would anyone submit a swatstika to a jewish baker for decoration? i just can't imagine walking into their shop and handing it to them.

Personally, I think that there is fault on both sides because based on what the mob wrote, the lace cakes in the photos and picture that the bride included, I'm not sure I would have been able to figure out what they wanted. Maybe it's my own little quirk but especially since it's a wedding cake, I probably would have drawn something out to make sure it was perfectly clear. I feel bad for both the bride and the business. NO one wins with something like this.

If someone came to me with a picture of symbols they wanted included on their cake and one was a swatstika, I simply wouldn't do it.


I just don't understand why this bakery included that symbol ESPECIALLY considering they're Jewish.

Don't you wonder if the bakery supplying a simple sketch would have hekped alleviate any confusion?