Confession Time: as much as I love all the Sweets I feature, it's the kids' cakes that thrill me the most.

From classic childhood characters:

(By Alana Lily Chocolates & Cakes)

 

...to more modern favorites:

(By Sugar Top Cakes)

 

...to squee-inducing cuteness I just want to snuggle:

(By Bake-A-Boo)

MUST. RESIST. SNUGGLE URGE!

 

Then there are colorful, guitar-rockin' monsters:

(By Phoenix Cake Company)

 

Dapper little owls:

(By Eunice Cake Designs)

 

...and the sweetest bees you ever did see:

(By Frosted Indulgence)

Just looking at this makes me happy. :)

 

When I was very young my parents let me buy a Little Twin Stars stationary set from Epcot, and even though I had no idea who they were, I've loved the pastel pair ever since.

And this is the best Little Twin Stars cake I've ever seen:

(By The Bunny Baker)

Kids' cakes, schmids' cakes. I'll take this one for my next birthday, thx.

 

Or how about this drop dead gorgeous Tangled tower?

(By Sabz Cakes)

 

Oooh! Or this little yellow submarine?

(By Über Angel Cakes)

Complete with a cutie-patootie pink seahorse!

 

And finally, since you all know I have a soft spot for adorable robots:

(By Isabella's Sweet Tooth)

D'awwww.

Yep, this grown-up just wants kids' cakes from now on, guys. And I bet I'm not the only one, right?

 

Happy Sunday!

*****

And now that I’ve got Gonzo on the brain, OH MY GOSH LOOK HOW COOL!!!

The Great Gonzo Christmas Ornament

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

And now, as a service to our readers' dieting endeavors:

7 MORE Things That Should Never Be On Cake

7. Anything that looks like a spleen

Also, why is the spleen the go-to organ for icky descriptions? You never hear someone say, "Hey, that organesque thing sure looks like a gallbladder!" Which begs the questions: is "organesque" a word? 'Cuz if not, it totally should be.

6. Shrimp

Because shrimp.

5. Nipples

Hey, don't get me wrong; nipples are great. Heck, I even have one myself. But cake should not have nipples. It just shouldn't. And the fact that I had to bring that sentence into the world makes me seriously question the direction this country is going.

4. Ants

Because anything I spend time and money trying to kill should not be something I have to pick off my cake.

3. Actual Feathers Plucked From Actual Birds

Let me get this straight: you jammed real feathers into the icing you expect me to eat?

So how about I fetch a beaver pelt and throw that sucker on there, too? Because if there's one thing we've learned about cake decorating, it's that animal outsides are both appetizing and completely sanitary!

2. Mold

BAKERS WHY DO I EVEN HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.

1. Back hair

Actually, this is kind of hilarious.

Assuming those are chocolate shavings, of course.

***

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THOSE ARE CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS.

Thanks to wreckporters Kathryn B., Kerrigan W., Ashlee, Kelly G., Rocky J., Tami F., & Anony M. for the inspiration to just have a salad today.

I know we've all been tempted sometimes, minions, but these people actually did it.

UP TOP!

ON THE TRAY!

IN THE FLAY!

Er, flag. She meant flag. But I guess this works.

And extra credit to the teacher who did NOT tell her baker where to stick it, but instead handed over a notepad with all her kids' names on it, so the baker could just copy them on to the cake.

Sadly, the baker stuck it anyway:

Right where the sun won't shine!

(You know, because they're inside.)

Thanks to Annie, Trinity L., Kaye P., & Molly H. for teaching us all a lesson on following directions.

Also teachers, if you're looking for a new notepad, I'm really liking these:

Everything Is Fine Notepads

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good freelance … Continue reading If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens →

Welcome, everyone! My partner and I are officially homeowners and we got to sign our paperwork in a haunted law office. Absolute perfection. We won’t move in for a bit because there’s painting to do and flooring to replace, but I’m feeling very emotional (in a good way) about the whole thing. The notion of not renting anymore and being able to customize whatever I want feels so freeing! The possibilities are endless! I’m also … Continue reading Links: Podcasts, Cheese, & More →

Welcome to Book Beat! Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.

OverDrive is the company that provides a lot of digital content to libraries. If you’ve borrowed an ebook or an audiobook in Libby,  or read a magazine in Kanopy, that’s OverDrive. It seems there is some AI weirdness with audiobook narration on OverDrive, and the narrator is only part of the story. On Monday, October 14, librarian Robin Bradford posted on Bluesky that she’d purchased an AI audiobook for her library system and she was … Continue reading AI Audiobook Narrators in OverDrive and the Issue of Library AI Circulation Policy →

Happy Tuesday! A bit of a bite-sized Hide Your Wallet this week, with one release leftover from late last week that I neglected to include. I can hardly believe October is nearly over! Time to consult my November TBR pile, so it doesn’t sneak up on me. Which releases are you excited about this week? Let us know in the comments!

It’s time! Smart Bitches After Dark is open to everyone for registration! You can register now! Come on in, the mayhem is delightful! You might have seen our first After Dark posts go up the past two Sundays, with a link to register, but this is the Official Announcement. Mostly because I used Capital Letters. We already have over 100 members of the community registered, and it’s going to be a LOT of fun. You can … Continue reading Smart Bitches After Dark is Open for Registration! →

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Here is a news report that absolutely dropped my jaw: the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF) has released a report that debut romance author Colby Wilkens, whose bio says she is of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, has no Native ancestry.  The TAAF “is an intertribal anti-fraud non-profit whistleblower organization comprised of allies and citizens of Tribes whose sovereignty has been formally acknowledged.” Wilkens is the author of If I Stopped Haunting You, which released last week … Continue reading Tribal Alliance Against Frauds Says Colby Wilkens is Not Indigenous →

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This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you! Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun! If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section … Continue reading Lady Whiskerdown’s Letters from the Cat Cafe →

Amazon has many pages of fantasy and sci-fi novels on sale today! Check out the full list here.

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This HaBO request is from Katharina, who is hoping to find this romance from 80s: Unfortunately I remember very little, but I’d love to find this book again. It was a slim Regency Romance (could have been Category) with a pastel colored cover (soft yellow/pink). The heroine is the ward of the hero, or he’s a family friend. She gets kissed against her will and flees to his house. They sit in his library and … Continue reading HaBO: They Have a Kissing Talk in the Library →

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There is a huge list of amazing Kindle Daily Deals, so I decided to just go overboard in listing some highlights. 

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This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you! Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun! If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section … Continue reading Sign Up for Quarterly Book Recommendations! →

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Could be!

I want spicy M&Ms!!!!

Claire knows Yay, but doesn't know there are multiple Yays

Hi Tai

turns out I don't have Pintsize's usual dialog font on my ipad so he gets to have the same voice as the human characters while I'm traveling

put those down, Moray

the neighbors are noisy though

Questions, questions

training for marten's future barista job

Hi Cosmo

It's good to know the floating black slab emitting a low hum is a regular customer

DARK EMMETT

and if she was a catgirl she'd be a necro-nepo-neko-baby

RICHARD