Egypt’s patisserie police crack down on depraved desserts

THE CELEBRATION seemed innocent enough. A group of old Egyptian women gathered at the posh Gezira Sporting Club in central Cairo to mark a birthday. For some reason, it seems, they wanted to shake things up. So for dessert they indulged in cupcakes topped with sweets shaped like genitalia (male and female). They also gobbled a cake that looked like a pair of buttocks. Pictures posted on social media show the women chuckling; one holds a pastry up to her mouth, its phallic confection menacingly close to her lips.When the photos went viral, things got sticky. Egypt’s government does not think sexy cupcakes are funny. The baker was quickly arrested. She reportedly admitted, through tears, to making the pastries. Her customers had allegedly provided her with photos for guidance. She could face a charge of insulting public decency, punishable by up to two years in prison. “This won’t be taken lightly,” said a spokesman for the ministry of sports, which oversees the Gezira club. “Everyone involved will be held accountable.”