This Doll Cake Is Deliciously Cool

Some amazing things can be done with fondant and buttercream, but one drool-worthy creation from Freeport Bakery in Sacramento, Calif. has (ahem) taken the cake. A Ken doll in a dress cake, commissioned for one customer’s birthday, shows Barbie's companion like you’ve never seen him before. The confection features a blond Ken doll with his usual well-defined arms and chiseled jaw, wearing a beautiful pink dress with matching frosting jewelry and topped off with a tiara. Also, I know exactly what I want for my birthday now.

Freeport Bakery co-owner Marlene Goetzeler told Fox 40 News that she didn't find the request in the least bit odd: "It wasn't that unusual, we do doll cakes all the time," she said. In fact, Goetzeler was so proud of how the confection turned out that on Aug. 13, she posted a picture of the cake to the company's Facebook page with the caption, "Ken's looking good."

"I thought it was a really pretty cake, and that the buttercream was awesome," Goetzeler explained to the Huffington Post. "I wanted to put it on our page like I do with all of our cakes that are beautiful." She never anticipated that her snapshot would go viral.

The photo began generating some negative attention, because people are the worst. (This is why we can't have nice things.) After posting it, Goetzeler noticed that the bakery's Facebook page dropped by the dozens in number of likes; additionally, some hateful comments began appearing on the post. Some customers declared that they would never order a cake from them again, and one angry commenter left the transphobic remark, "A person’s DNA determines their sex." Goetzeler had not intended to start a conversation about gender politics with the pic, and was shocked and surprised by the outcry.

Is the cake transgender? As Natalia Lusinski noted at Hello Giggles, the only way we'd know is if Ken told us directly. But even so, it ultimately doesn't matter: Wrote Lusinski, "Ken can wear a dress, Ken can wear cargo pants, Ken can be straight, Ken can be transgender. Barbie, too, for that matter." Barbie and Ken can be whatever they want to be, and they're the only ones who get to make those kinds of determinations about themselves.

And instead of backing down in response to the trolls, the bakery doubled down. On Aug.19, Goetzeler reposted the Ken doll cake again with the caption, "Facebook Friends, after posting this we had a ton of people unliking our Facebook page. I deleted the rude remarks, thank goodness not too many. Our customer was thrilled. Share this for us!" The bakery received an outpouring of support from around the world. The original post now has nearly 700 positive comments, and thousands of likes and shares.

Freeport Bakery won't let a few negative comments affect their business model. "We make cakes that people love, and that’s what we’ll continue to do," Goetzeler told the Huffington Post — and that includes everything from cakes for same-sex weddings, to Ken doll cakes, and, yes, to the more traditional Barbie-shaped desserts as well:

Regardless of the internet hubbub, the customer loved the custom Ken doll creation. An attendee of the birthday party for which it was made told Fox 40 News that everyone thought the cake was "fantastic."

I wonder how much it would cost to ship one of these #flawless desserts to the east coast ...

Images: Mark Warburton / EyeEm/EyeEm/Getty Images; FreeportBakery/Facebook (2)