Emma Jayne puts the finishing touches to her show-stopping cake(Image: PA)

Welsh woman bakes life-sized Queen Elizabeth I sculpture made out of cake

by · Wales Online

Your eyes are not deceiving you - this life-size replica of Queen Elizabeth I is actually a giant cake. Emma Jayne Morris, from Aberdare, created the royal treat to mark the 30th anniversary of Cake International.

The owner of Emma Jayne Cake Design was inspired by the The Rainbow Portrait of the extravagant Queen and is her most intricate piece to date.

In the past, she has wowed with a life-sized sculpture of a horse from War Horse, as well as designs inspired by the Avatar and Maleficent films. Cake International attracted bakers from across the world at Birmingham's NEC, and mother-of-three Emma's design was a definite showstopper.

Showcasing her design on This Morning on Monday, Emma explained that it had taken four weeks to create, with the head taking one week and the body taking three weeks.

The full replica of the Queen(Image: PA)

"She is hand-painted and glazed with confectioner's glaze," Emma told Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley. "Every minute detail from the portrait, of which there are many details, have been put into this cake. I had to do a lot of research and find out all I could about this fascinating lady, so everything on the dress has got meaning. There are eyes and ears on on the dress that represent how she was all seeing, and all hearing."

Emma also explained how she "stumbled" into making cakes for the show 10 years ago, and her first one was Avatar. "They kept asking me to come back after that," she said. "And each year the features have just got bigger and bigger."

But it has not always gone to plan. When she did the life-size creation of Maleficent, which was about 6ft 4ins tall, they had to take the head off so they could get the cake into the van to get to the show.

Pictured is Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty by Emma Jayne Cake Design
The horse sculpture(Image: South Wales Echo)

Emma also received a bad injury during the making of the Queen's cake. During the carving stage, the knife slipped and cut a tendon on her left hand.

"I have got no feeling in one of my fingers now so I need hand therapy," she told the shocked presenters. The cake is now going to Hatfield House where the portrait that provided the inspiration hangs and then it will be auctioned for charity.