The author, interviewed by the New York Times said that English is frequently the problem:
”There are good excuses, I’m sure, for all these wrecks,” she said. ”The person who took the order didn’t speak English very well. Someone was at the end of a very long day. We all slip up. But when you do it in the bakery department, it just so happens it’s a little more obvious.”[When the Icing on the Cake Spells Disaster, By David Hochman, October 13, 2009]And it really isn't the order taker's/cake decorator's fault they can't speak English. It's the employer's fault for hiring someone who can't speak English. Of course, to a certain extent they're required by law not to discriminate against people who really can't speak English, so if your cake shows up looking like this, blame the Federal Government.