Do you like your cakes to look like other things? Who doesn’t?
Ben Cullen – also known as The Bakeking – is the master of this particular culinary skill. He creates cakes that trick people into thinking they’re something else.
And he promises that they taste good as well.
Ben has always been artistic, but he turned his hand to the world of cake art – and his designs have proved to be wildly popular. His most famous creations include cakes that look like beans on toast, a jacket potato with beans, even a Greek salad.
‘I tried every different type of art to try and find which medium would suit me best,’ Ben tells Metro.co.uk. ‘I drew, sold paintings, graffitied, studied and worked as a graphic designer, illustrated, tattooed and when I finally found out about the (not so) hidden world of cake art I had to get involved.
‘I became obsessed and after a lot of practice, and many failures, I knew that to be the best I had to dedicate all of my time and efforts to it. To me, that meant taking the leap/risk and becoming a full-time cake artist.’
To hone his skills, Ben knows he has to push the boundaries – that’s the only way to create memorable edible art.
‘A lot of the time that meant failure,’ says Ben, ‘but then I would learn from those mistakes and try again and again until I got it right.
‘I want to be the very best I can in this craft and so I obsess over improving and breaking boundaries where possible – I would (and still do) make things for no purpose other than to push myself and test out designs that I want to make.
‘I spend every minute of every day working on the craft in some way or another, whether I’m planning, editing videos, creating cakes I want to challenge myself with or making client cakes. Practice makes (almost) perfect.’
When it comes to taste, Ben confesses that he likes to keep it simple.
‘I don’t claim to do endless amounts of flavours or dabble with different unique flavours,’ says Ben, ‘but I pride myself in the fact that the flavours and fillings I do use always taste amazing and get a fantastic response from my clients.’
Ben has created cakes for a whole host of celebs including Rita Ora, Liverpool football club, Juergen Klopp, FoodGod Jonathon Cheban, Leigh Anne Pinnock, Charlotte Crosby and Megan McKenna.
‘It’s always amazing when people are surprised by what can be made in cake but especially from people who you imagine have seen it all before and the functions they attend,’ adds Ben.
‘The reactions to my cakes is often one of the best moments of my job – a lot of the time I don’t get to be there for the reaction if the cake requires me setting up earlier in the day, but when I have been there or when clients collect them the reactions can be amazing.
I have seen every type of reaction to my cakes, from hysterical laughter to genuine tears.
‘My favourite reaction, however, is the illusion cakes – I love when (even for a second) I have tricked the viewer into believing one thing to then find out it’s a cake. Their shock and awe at that is my favourite thing about making them.’
Ben has a long ‘bucket list’ of designs that he would like to try, but he’s not willing to spoil his next big reveal.
‘I just plan to get better, more detailed, more shocking, bigger, and ultimately to make cake making be seen as exciting and fun,’ he says. ‘I want to break the mould of what can be done with cake and the cake baking world.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/02/baker-creates-unbelievably-realistic-illusions-cakes-2-12333249/?ITO=squid
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