Now THAT is the icing on the cake! The stunning sponges that look too good to eat

By ANNA EDWARDS


Slice of the action: This cake needed copper tubing to support the intricate tentacles


They whisk up jaw-dropping creations including life-like cakes shaped like animals, people and handbags for her guests - although they all come at a considerable price-tag.

But when your clients include Sir Elton John, Demi Moore and rapper L'il Wayne, they can afford to have their cake and eat it.



Sweet stuff: This dog cake had to be carefully shaded by Karen and her team of decorators. The designer says pet cakes are always popular


Karen has been asked to create many intricate designs; from octopuses, complete with their eight tentacles twisting around its body, to a poodle with 'fluffy hair' icing, to under the sea themed gingerbread houses, to a sumo wrestler.

But the proof is in the pudding, and talented Karen's team prides themselves on making sure the tasty treats are not only a feast for the eyes, but one for the lips.



Piece of cake: Karen and her team's designs wow their celebrity guests, including Sir Elton John



How does she do it? The designer reveals how she creates such elaborate designs on her blog



Labour of love: The team spend hours coming up with a concept of the cake, baking the sponges, designing and carving the designs



Truly talented: Karen has carved out a career in stunning sponges


The former sculptor carved out her baking career when she offered to help out her friend Stacey Eames, who opened the Highland Bakery in Atlanta in 2005.

'Upon my first visit I noticed she had no decorative items in her bakery cases, so I asked if maybe I could make a few cookies. That's how my career in cake decorating began,' Karen says on her website.



Sugar-spun delight: The designer used a cotton candy machine to get the 'fluffy' appearance of this perfectly-designed poodle


On one poodle cake she wrote that she had to resort to a special technique for the design: 'Fluffy fur is not easy to recreate in sugar. That is unless you use a cotton candy machine like I did.'

For her intricate octopus cake, she used copper tubing to support tentacles, piled on cakes and then carved out of the cake layers the shape, before using fondant to cover any seams.

But the designer's career path initially focused no art, before she wanted a slice of the action from the cake business.



Hundreds of thousands of portions here: This huge sumo wrestlers needed layers of sponge to carve its impressive form


She initially studying art at Ringling School of Art, Design and Jewellery in Georgia State University.

Then she studied jewellery, coppersmithing, enameling glass and porcelain at Penland School and received a BA in Fine Art from the Atlanta College of Art.

In 1995 she started own business as a prop and set designer for the advertising industry, working for companies including Maybelline.



Not your average wedding gift: This cake was made for a groom who loved charcuterie



Attention to detail: Karen used a meringue to create the mushroom effect here


source: dailymail