The Joy of Ugly Cakes
August 19, 2025 | 1 min to read
Once considered gaudy, maximalist cakes have transformed into symbols of whimsy and nostalgia, sparking a small business revolution. An op-ed in The Cut critiqued the current trend of over-designed cakes, describing them as “vintage monstrosities” and bemoaning their excessive aesthetics and high prices. The author’s frustration highlights a growing backlash against a cake culture that prioritizes elaborate visual appeal over simplicity and taste, questioning the direction of modern baking.
Once dismissed as gaudy, maximalist cakes are now a marker of whimsy, nostalgia — and a small business revolution
Last week, I stumbled upon a headline that made me pause mid-scroll: “Enough With the Ugly Cakes.” The op-ed, published in The Cut on July 11, was paired with a collage of ornate confections — a baby-blue heart topped with glistening cherries, a towering pastel creation flecked with rock candy and flowers, and a pair of Victorian-style cakes done up in sugary shades of pink and yellow. I assumed it was satire. Or rage-bait. Or both.
But the piece was earnest in its frustration. The author lamented that modern cakes — particularly those deemed chic enough for social media or a well-dressed birthday party — had become overwrought and overdesigned. “The prices made my eyes water,” she wrote. “But after a while, so did the cakes themselves.” What followed was a full-throated takedown of maximalist baking, complete with aesthetic dismissals (“vintage monstrosities,” “floral slop”) and a laundry list of visual offenses: thick Lambeth piping, bows, glitter-dusted cherries, frosting in excess, and so-called “shapeless mounds…slathered with icing and rammed with bits of inedible flora.”
To read more, please visit Salon.