SCRUMPTIOUS BARBIECORE REAL LIFE
Ashley Calder, 38, from Edinburgh, asks her customers one thing – are her designs cake or fake?
Laying lettuce on a plate and adding juicy pink prawns, the only thing left to do was the sauce.
Mixing until Ihad the right shade, my prawn cocktail was then complete.
Only when taking abite, it seemed I’d made ablunder in the recipe…
As instead of the favoured savoury starter, I’d made a sweet treat instead!
You see, even though my prawn cocktail may have looked like the real deal, it was in fact aminiature cake version plonked on top of acupcake. The prawns made from fondant icing brushed with edible paint to give them that realistic fishy look.
And that wasn’t the only meal Ihad recreated out of cake.
From aGreggs steak bake with oozing gravy, the creamiest plate of macaroni cheese, asaucy Domino’s pizza and even apack of Tesco Finest back bacon.
Something that all started in lockdown.
After working for a catering company during high school, I’d help to prepare food for the races and weddings.
I’d often be left in charge of all of the canapes and appetizers.
After that, I worked as a sous chef in a restaurant for seven years.
It seemed that I’d made a blunder in the recipe
Only with all of that coming to an end as Covid started, it was the boot up the bum I needed to start using my baking skills to my advantage.
I’d made afew cakes here and there over the years, especially for family and friends.
My first ever one was a pink candy land tiered number for a hen do.
Yet, knowing that potential customers would be unable to pick up their cakes due to restrictions, I resorted to bakes I could send through the post instead.
Wanting something that would keep me occupied, as well as making a profit, too, I turned to chocolate slabs.
Decorating with plenty of choccy, biscuits and even personalised lettering, everything just spiralled from there.
Getting plenty of orders on social media, as time went on, I started hand crafting small fondant toppers.
Then, when restrictions were lifted, cupcakes and occasion cakes were my focus.
Ieven bought aprinter with edible ink so that Icould put designs on icing sheets to really make my cupcake toppers look that bit more realistic.
Making labels the right size for the fake food, I’d have McDonald’s wrappers and boxes housing my miniscule fries and ajuicy Big Mac, too.
And having experience in the kitchen really helped me to figure out what Ineeded to make my food pop.
Even if it was atrial and error process most of the time.
Then, when it came to occasion cakes, I’d try anything and everything.
From Highland
