Cake maker 'works her magic' to inspire other bakers

A Cornish cake designer who specialises in illusion cakes used magic as her inspiration to create a masterclass for amateur bakers.

Niki Lowe's latest creation, an "oldie worldly Victorian" shop on a cobbled street, was created from sponge cake and buttercream.

Lowe, from Liskeard in Cornwall, had been contacted by the editor of D'licious Magazine to ask if she could create a cake tutorial, something she had never done before.

Her creation, which took five days to complete, featured on the front cover of the magazine.

Last year Lowe created a cake which looked like a Christmas dinner for a BBC television show.

She crafted a platter which included a turkey cake, along with roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, peas and carrots, which was used to prank the presenters of Gone Fishing.

The self-taught baker said it was a privilege to be asked to do a masterclass on the art of creating illusion cakes.

"I never thought it was something I would be capable of doing," she said.

Lowe said the creative process included thinking about what materials to use and how to achieve the realism, whether it was the glass on the windows or the sheen on the bricks to mimic the look of rain.

She said she used "tiny, tiny" bits of crumbled cake to look like moss to show an "ageing affect around the building". She also used ganache, an ice mould and fondant to achieve different features.

"It's kind of the oldie worldly Victorian cobbled street kind of shop feel to it with the small window panes and the cobbled streets.

"[It has] little nods to Harry Potter with the owl on the roof and I created a broom store around the side of the building."

She said she enjoyed the detail that goes into the cakes and the challenge of making them look "realistic" to make people do a "double take".

"I want people to look at my cakes and see everything to begin with but then realise that there's so much more depth to it which is achieved through detail."

It took her five days to complete the cake, including documenting the process and taking pictures, and she completed it on 22 December 2025. The cake was eaten over the festive period by friends and family.

Lowe said it had taken her a long time to reach her current level of cake designs.

She said everyone had to start somewhere, and encouraged beginners to watch tutorials, find something they want to make to make the experience more fun and to just "have a go".

"Everyone starts somewhere and you have to practice these things," she added.

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