This Takes The Cake!

Baking is an art – especially among these talented bakers, whose creations are incredible tricks of the eye

- Kim Snyders

A raw onion, a rubbery shoe, a piece of firewood and an uncooked turkey might not usually look good enough to eat – but in this case, tucking into one should literally be a piece of cake.

Hyper-realistic cakes are the latest foodie craze and are a feast for the eyes.

Videos and photographs of these cake sculptures are going viral on social media – and there’s nothing vanilla about them.

Crafty confectioners the world over are using their artistry not only to make unique cakes but to push the envelope when it comes to what they can recreate. And often the slicing of the cake is almost as exciting as its unveiling.

Natalie Sideserf (34), from Ohio in the USA, is one of the top bakers specialising in hyper-realistic cake sculpting.

She’s been decorated almost as much as one of her cakes. She’s won several awards for her baking skills and has a degree in fine arts, specialising in painting.

She got her big break in 2013 when a cake bust of country singer Willie Nelson not only won a baking competition but became an internet sensation.

Since then she’s perfected her kitchen creations and a trawl through her social media accounts will leave you open-mouthed in wonder. A lettuce with crisp-looking leaves, a bunch of bananas and a prancing flamingo – all have been crafted by her fabulous fingers.

She recently unveiled a cake replica of the adorable “baby Yoda” from the new TV series Star Wars: The Mandalorian.

“I don’t want to cut this one,” Natalie said in a video she posted on her YouTube channel.

“Usually my favourite part is cutting the cake. But this one’s so adorable I’m having a really hard time.