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Cake Trends: Food Illusion Cakes

Wednesday 1st April 2020

Here at Renshaw, we like to keep our fingers on the pulse of the baking world. Naturally, this means we see a LOT of amazing cakes, and we’re constantly amazed by what we find. Every time we think we’ve seen the pinnacle of cake decoration, something else tops it.

Lately, we’ve been particularly obsessed with illusion cakes that closely resemble other foods (this viral video may have had something to do with it…). It’s amazing how these cake artists achieve such photorealistic accuracy in their work; the textural detail, the authentic colouring, the subtleties in the modelling – truly incredible stuff.

Ready to be amazed? Read on…

T-Bone Steak

Kicking things off strong is this mind-blowingly detailed T-bone steak cake from Rikki Schleider (@cakesbyrikki). This one’s sure to make the mouth of any carnivore water.

It’s a masterclass in modelling, with intricate texturing that makes this look nothing like a cake. And that fantastic, authentic-looking colourization? Thank our various colours of Ready to Roll Icing for that. It’s the realistic glaze and the subtle texture on the bone that REALLY make this a winner for us though. No detail has been skipped over here and it’s paid off!

A real rare talent here! Very well done! We’ll stop now.

Pizza

We often like to treat ourselves to a slice of pizza or a slice of cake on cheat day (read: any day), but thanks to @inspiredcakesbyamy, we don’t have to choose!

We’d have settled for a margherita, but the meticulously modelled toppings have gone above and beyond. Notice how the slices of ‘meat’ look burnt towards their edges, and how the crust looks unevenly cooked and has a really satisfying ‘puffy’ appearance. This one really nails what it’s going for, and uses a heaping helping of Renshaw Extra to do so.

Slice-ly done!

Crumpet

Crumpets are quintessentially British food – a warm, fluffy, buttery breakfast treat. Naturally, this is the complete opposite of that.

@lauraloukaides has created a brilliant rendering of a crumpet, complete with a slightly burnt and porous surface and a convincingly melt-y blob of butter. Best of all, it’s made from Renshaw Extra Marshmallow. We don’t recommend having this one for breakfast – but if you do, we’re not going to judge. You do you.

KFC Bucket

Ever wanted the intense satisfaction of a KFC family bucket without any of the pesky bones? We’ve got just the thing for you! Disclaimer: this is not actually chicken, it’s cake.

Yes, believe it or not, @cupcakesbyaiylassweetness has managed to capture the aesthetic and texture of KFC in cake form, with convincingly flaky breaded skin, complete with patches where you can see the chicken (icing) beneath. She’s even modelled the sides, with appropriately chunky chips and popcorn chicken rounding out the meal.

Aiyla has used Black, Ruby Red, White, Yellow, and Peach Blush Ready to Roll Icing across this bake, with the chicken being topped with broken up cornflakes to create the realistic breaded effect on the legs. We’re sure the Colonel would approve.

Pancakes

We’re finishing off with a dessert, as should always be the case. We’ve had a lot of savoury-looking treats that have ended up sweet in this blog, so you’ll be glad to know that @melleblush has created a cake that will taste at least somewhat vaguely how it looks.

These still aren’t pancakes though – though you’d be forgiven for thinking that, given the fluffy looking texture, the delightful ombre on the surfaces, and the gloriously appetising toppings, including that sticky-looking syrup pouring down the edge. This appetising ‘stack’ is actually composed of (warning: there’s a lot) Extra White Chocolate, Ready to Roll Latte and Autumn Gold airbrushed with some Rainbow Dust Liquid Colour for the pancakes themselves, some healthy scoops of Vanilla and Chocolate Frosting for the ice cream on top, White and Carnation Red Modelling Paste for the strawberries, Extra Deep Purple and Liquid Colour Purple for the blueberries, AND Powder Colour Claret and ProGel Chestnut (with glucose) for the maple syrup.

Phew. Honestly, it would have just been easier to make real pancakes.

We hope your mind is equally blown by all this cake-based deception. If you’ve seen one we’ve missed, or made a great illusion cake yourself – or even if you’ve done neither – make sure you share with us on social, at @renshawbaking.