A Nottingham cafe, which hasn't been open a year, has been awarded a prestigious accolade in the cake decorating version of the Great British Bake Off.
Tasked with creating a centrepiece that defined London, the team from Koselig Cafe came up with a cake that looks like a pop-up book featuring their favourite parts of the capital.
A Grenadier Guard, the London Eye, a double decker bus, a red telephone box, and iconic buildings such as the Shard and Gherkin, were crafted out of sponge cake, sugar paste, ganache and buttercream.
The masterpiece scooped a silver medal at Cake International in London - billed as 'The World's Greatest Cake Show.’
Cafe owner Emma Hall competed over two days in the live competition with her second-in-command Amy Lawson.
Emma said: "I'm absolutely thrilled. It was our first competition and we weren't expecting anything."
They were a woman down after the third member of the team had to drop out at the last minute but an extra hour was added on to the time limit to compensate.
"It was like a live decorating version of the Great British Bake Off with the judges hovering around and asking questions.
"It was an intense whirlwind. I had no idea that we could achieve so much in such a short time. I am so proud of myself and Amy – especially as we were short a team member," added Emma.
The pop-up book idea was inspired by Amy's six-year-old daughter Coral, while Emma's father Craig used to be a Grenadier Guard.
"The trickiest part was assembling the 65cm guard and moving him into place - because he was made of cake, he was so heavy. It was like that moment on GBBO - nobody breathe when you let go."
The size and weight of the cake meant it was impossible to transport home to Nottingham. But the silver medal will be framed and displayed the Norwegian-inspired Koselig Cafe, which is tucked away inside gift shop and art gallery A Room Full of Butterflies, in Mansfield Road, Sherwood.
The cafe will celebrate its first anniversary in May.
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