A cheeky picture of a newborn is deemed too pornographic for a birthday cake, a cake blooper and a cake that tells it like it is.

Putting together parties is stressful enough without having to worry that the cake looks right. But if you're relying on a superstore to make your cake, you might run into some snags. When Brit Gail Jordan asked her neighborhood Asda (comparable to Wal-Mart in the U.S.) to use a naked picture of her 5-month-old son for a 21st birthday joke, the store balked.

The photo, hardly of a pornographic nature, is your standard "baby with bum in the air" variety. A spokesman for Asda said: "It is policy across the board that we don't do nudity of any sort at any age. It is nothing new." A compromise was reached, and later that day Gail cut into a cake with a picture of her son with a star strategically placed over his bum. The world is once again safe.


Back in the States, a Wal-Mart employee took down every word of a customer's request for a personalized cake message. Every. Last. Word.

What does all of this prove? The cake is a powerful dessert--it can communicate so much. Like this cake below, obviously made by someone who had had just about enough. Should a dessert ever be used as a cry for help?