How long does it take to make a 6ft tall BFG Cake?

On 10th November, CommunityAd attended the fantastic UNCON 4.0 Tabletop Gaming Convention, experiencing a day full of fun interactive games for people of all ages.

 

From the many stalls in attendance, there was one in particular that attracted many bystanders with ‘Little Brown Fairy Cake’ displaying their phenomenal ‘Bob’ cake depicting the image of “when a drag queen can’t be bothered to put makeup on”. This incredible hand sculpted, entirely edible cake was created by Westgate-on-Sea’s own Nicola Bradshaw and was recently awarded silver at the Cake International Awards in Birmingham.

 

Cake lovers were not only treated to ‘Bob’ at UNCON but also on show was the intricately detailed BFG headpiece which was “chopped off” from its giant 6ft frame.

CommunityAd caught up with Nicola to discuss her daringly extravagant cakes…..

 

It all started when Nicky was approached via Facebook early Spring this year by Stephanie Would. Stephanie was putting together a ‘Peach Life’ feature and was provided a small table top display area to exhibit at Cake International (The Sugarcraft, Cake Decorating and Baking Show) that was on in Birmingham this November. This small table top display quickly developed into a full feature space because Cake International loved the idea of a feature inspired by Roald Dahl stories. Nicky quickly became involved in this collaboration for Cake International, in the form of an extremely large 6ft tall BFG cake, alongside the likes of Molly Robbins and Ben Cullen from ‘Extreme Cake Makers’ who both had their own features at the show. It is worth mentioning all decorators contributing to the feature received no payment and the mammoth task was all carried out purely as a labour of love.  However, the recognition and company sponsors received were immense:  Renshaw Baking, Rainbow Dust Colours, Magic Colours,  Rococo Chocolates, Callebaut, Sweet Stamp – Amy Cakes, Baking Time Club, The SundayGirl Company

The BFG cake was the biggest piece of the Roald Dahl feature and the size of the cake definitely did a giant justice!

Building the cake in the conservatory because of the larger space needed for the construction of such a creation, the cake took 6 months from start to finish. A lot of time was spent planning the cake, ensuring the cake was strong enough to transport it and a lot of gradual construction.

As we all know, it gets really hot in a conservatory so the timing for the cake erection and decorating was paramount. As we can’t taste the cake, we will tell you, it was vanilla flavoured. Did you know, there was also no frosting on the cake as this would have leaked and the cake had to last from Summer to November. The BFG was definitely a battle against the elements- as well as the melting heat of the conservatory, transporting the extremely heavy cake proved a feat as it took 4 muscular men to load the cake onto a van, through the rain!

All the skin was made out of modelling chocolate as opposed to fondant. The BFG’s feet are actually modelled from Nicky’s husband’s feet! A whole lot of research went into the ginormous cake.

The massive BFG cake was covered by ITV news as well as Extreme Cake Makers who also filmed the cake and will be featured in an upcoming episode.

 

“The whole cake and decorating was edible but BFG’s head did have tinfoil in the middle which is quite normal when you build a big structure, and plenty of metal rods running all the way through all 6ft of the cake.”

Going on to talk about Nicky’s award she tells us “It’s really cool to get a silver award out of 2000 entries, every year judging gets tougher and tougher. Rules were changed this year, for example spaghetti could no longer be used which people usually use as hair.” There were lots of categories- Bob (pictured) was a large decorative exhibit. Everyone is marked on if the creation looks real, if you’ve used enough skill, and if there are any finger marks or lines on the exterior- all flaws get marked down. Everybody starts with a gold and each mark down reduces that award with no guarantee of an award at the end of the day. The rules are very, very strict and everything needs to be deemed edible.

“Bob is all cake, all edible. The very convincing eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair, is actually corn silk! The hairy bit on the top of a corn-on-the-cob which is deemed as edible as it’s a food product.”

CommunityAd asked what Nicky was well-known for in the industry and she tells us it’s because “I’m weird and loud, I’m not easily forgotten” but we think it’s definitely down to her mass of talent in making and designing cakes and we certainly think Nicky deserves to go on TV!

With that being said, Nicky has told us she won’t be considering The Great British Bake Off as bread isn’t her speciality, she makes an odd biscuit now and then, but her forte and core focus is all in cakes.

Coverage on ITV news, Extreme Cake Makers, as well as being a sought after woman in the local press hasn’t gone to Nicky’s head. The master baker of decorative ‘heads’ still takes requests from the paying public. Asking her about some of the strangest requests, she laughs and says “I get a lot of head requests, I recently had an 80th birthday cake to do- which I don’t usually like doing as it’s usually a simple ‘happy birthday grandma’ vanilla sponge cake, but this one was brilliant as it was her head! She was fun to do, a real funky grandma with pink hair and she loved it. I  have also recently just finished a Sweeney Todd one as well”.

 

Nicky’s mantra on baking seems to be her mantra on life ‘It’s got to be fun and it’s nice to be different, I always want to challenge myself and want to be different”. Her sense of fun and sweet skills in the kitchen (well in the BFG’s case the conservatory), she owes to her mother, who taught her how to bake and decorate her creations like the artist she is. Her mother sadly passed away last year but Nicky thinks of her every time she’s putting the finishing touches to one of her masterpieces. Nicky describes herself as “weird, loud and not easily forgotten” her cakes appear to mirror that, and CommunityAd would like to add ‘extremely talented and absolutely lovely’ to the description of Westgate’s wonderful baker.

If you’d like to request an edible head or see some of Nicky’s creation please visit: http://www.littlebrownfairycake.co.uk or check her out on Facebook and give her a call!

 

 

 

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