Clever creations for baking, art, & animal fans

feline groovy · ‎07-29-2014

Amazing talent.

Cute enough to eat! Talented mother-of-two, 35, makes amazing cake replicas of domestic pets

Hannah Edwards, from London, makes incredibly lifelike cake replicas of her client's beloved pets
The 35-year-old runs her own business called The Cake Illusionist and travels the world teaching others
She uses techniques such as edible airbrush shading to make her amazing creations
Some of her regular clients keep the head of the cake in the freezer and only eat the rest

MailOnline

PUBLISHED: 07:38 EST, 19 January 2018 | UPDATED: 09:20 EST, 19 January 2018

These super cute animals are good enough to eat thanks to a talented mother-of-two who creates incredibly lifelike cake replicas of people's pets.

Hannah Edwards, from London, uses photographs of her clients beloved pets to make the remarkable sponge sculptures which are entirely edible.

The 35-year-old started baking as a way of making money after being made redundant while looking after her two young children and soon discovered her talent for realistic replicas.

Hannah, who runs her own business called The Cake Illusionist, now also travels the world teaching cake sculpting.

She said: 'I created a lion for my son's first birthday, I didn't think much of it yet when I showed it to friends and family they loved it.

'From then on people started to ask for their pets in cake and slowly over time I've worked to improve them, working towards more and more realistic detailing.'

Hannah Edwards, from London, started baking after being made redundant while looking after her two young children and soon discovered her talent

Ms Edwards said: 'My aim is to have them looking like they might blink or flick their tails at any moment, a real illusion'.

Hannah uses various techniques to create her hyper-real cakes including edible airbrush shading to make sure the noses are shiny and there are little glimmers of light in each eye.

Despite spending hours on each cake, being a perfectionist, Hannah admits she is never totally happy with the final result. She added: 'Working to the time scale is hard. I'd love to have each one for a month to keep improving on them, but then the cake would be inedible and defeat the point'

Her clients, on the other hand, are incredibly happy - with many regulars keeping the heads from the cakes in the freezer then eating the rest.

Before discovering her baking talents, Ms Edwards spent 15 years as a professional photographer. She now travels the world teaching cake sculpting to others. Ms Edwards runs her own business called The Cake Illusionist in Hemel Hampstead and sells her cakes across the area.

She currently spends three days on each of her cake creations. Ms Edwards said she's seen a whole range of emotions from people, from stunned silence to floods of tears.

Ms Edwards added: 'I don't mind them being cut up at all. it is what they are designed for and if they don't get eaten after a few weeks they have to go in the bin and that seems more of a waste, so I do encourage people to eat them'.

The cakes can be made for a number of occasions including birthdays and prices start from £200 but depend on the number of servings needed and the complexity of the cake.

Ms Edwards added: 'I do prefer they get enjoyed though, take them to the party, enjoy the response from friends and family, take lots of photos, then serve it to everyone'.

She has previously brought her cakes to the Cake International competition in London where she won gold. But she noted 'it's cake and it's yummy. It needs to be eaten - that's what it's there for in the end'.

The 35-year-old said: 'I created a lion for my son's first birthday, I didn't think much of it yet when I showed it to friends and family they loved it.' Now she makes a whole host of animals for her clients, including this badger and fox duo

Ms Edwards said: 'My aim is to have them looking like they might blink or flick their tails at any moment, a real illusion'

Hannah uses various techniques to create her hyper-real cakes including edible airbrush shading to make sure the noses are shiny and there are little glimmers of light in each eye

Despite spending hours on each cake, being a perfectionist, Hannah admits she is never totally happy with the final result

Her clients, on the other hand, are incredibly happy - with many regulars keeping the heads from the cakes in the freezer then eating the rest

Here, Ms Edwards has created an incredibly realistic Springer Spaniel. Before discovering her baking talents, Ms Edwards spent 15 years as a professional photographer

She currently spends three days on each of her cake creations. Ms Edwards said she's seen a whole range of emotions from people, from stunned silence to floods of tears

Ms Edwards added: 'I don't mind them being cut up at all. it is what they are designed for and if they don't get eaten after a few weeks they have to go in the bin and that seems more of a waste, so I do encourage people to eat them'

In this creation, Ms Edwards has sculpted a pug in a bag cake. She now also travels the world teaching cake sculpting to others

Ms Edwards runs her own business called The Cake Illusionist in Hemel Hampstead and sells her cakes across the area

The cakes can be made for a number of occasions including birthdays and prices start from £200 but depend on the number of servings needed and the complexity of the cake

Ms Edwards added: 'I do prefer they get enjoyed though, take them to the party, enjoy the response from friends and family, take lots of photos, then serve it to everyone'

She has previously brought her cakes to the Cake International competition in London where she won gold

Here Ms Edwards has created an incredibly realistic Shar Pei dog. She added: 'Working to the time scale is hard. I'd love to have each one for a month to keep improving on them, but then the cake would be inedible and defeat the point'

She added: 'It's cake and it's yummy. It needs to be eaten - that's what it's there for in the end'

OKPrincess · ‎03-10-2013

Too pretty to eat. What talent!!

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

Amazing but who could eat their pet? She needs to use a more permanent medium.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

butterfly123 · ‎06-27-2013

@feline groovy

Wow! Very gifted artistry.

Thank you

feline groovy · ‎07-29-2014

@butterfly123:

OKPrincess · ‎03-10-2013

How about stone/ceramic replicas of our pets? Does anyone know the price of the cakes? Still awesome talent.

Tigriss · ‎03-12-2010

WOW! I agree about cutting into your favorite pet, but an amazing gift to someone.

feline groovy · ‎07-29-2014

@OKPrincess wrote:
How about stone/ceramic replicas of our pets? Does anyone know the price of the cakes? Still awesome talent.

@OKPrincess:

Here's her website with UK pricing info, etc.: http://www.thecakeillusionist.co.uk/

feline groovy · ‎07-29-2014

Wow!! from her blog...

Life size Iguana Cake

November 27, 2017

The Cake Illusionist

An awesome commission for Charlie's 7th birthday who loves lizards and snakes! He was having a critters party with all sorts of creatures great and small being brought in for all of his friends to learn about. What a cool party theme!

Charlie named his Iguana cake Max.

I have the best clients. What more can i say...... <3