A mother who spent 200 hours baking an incredible recreation of Marie Antoinette has been rewarded for her efforts after being handed the top prize at the UK's largest baking contest.
The towering four-foot creation took six months to make and earned its creator, Amanda MacLeod, critical acclaim from judges at the sugarcraft and cake decorating show.
Mother-of-one Amanda spent around two hundred hours completing the complex masterpiece in the likeness of the French Queen, who is widely credited with the immortal line, 'Let them eat cake'.
The former student nurse has been making cakes for friends and family for years.
In 2008 she transformed her love for baking and cake design into a full time job after starting up her own company in a bid to spend more time with her young son.
She said: 'I have always baked cakes for friends and family.
'A couple of years ago I was a student nurse but the shift work was not working with having a young child.
'I just decided to take the plunge and open my own business - it has all grown from there.'
Amanda now runs her own business supplying intricate wedding and celebration cakes to clients across the country.
The former graphic designer lives with her husband Graham Harrison, 44, an operations manager, and nine-year-old son Dexter at their family home in Chelmsford, Essex.
Her incredible cake creation - which is decorated in edible sugar paste and Royal icing - will now go on display in a local cake shop in Maldon, Essex, as part of a competition to raise funds for Farleigh Hospice.
The towering four-foot creation took six months to make and earned its creator, Amanda MacLeod, critical acclaim from judges at the sugarcraft and cake decorating show.
Mother-of-one Amanda spent around two hundred hours completing the complex masterpiece in the likeness of the French Queen, who is widely credited with the immortal line, 'Let them eat cake'.
Actually, historians broadly agree that it was not Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France between 1774 and 1792, who uttered the insensitive words (which actually translate as 'let them eat brioche') when told French peasants were starving and had no bread to eat.
Rather, they believe it was the wife of Louis XIV who said the words some 100 years earlier.
Still, the popularist version triumphed on the day as the 44-year-old won best in class in the Decorative Exhibit category at Cake International in London's ExCeL exhibition centre.
She said: 'I came up with the Marie Antoinette design years ago as an idea for a wedding cake but it never got made.
'When it came to the competition I thought it was just perfect as it gave me the chance to go all out due to her elaborate head gear.
'I estimate it took around 200 hour man hours to complete and was a real labour of love.
'I'm just delighted the judges loved it too.'
Rather, they believe it was the wife of Louis XIV who said the words some 100 years earlier.
Still, the popularist version triumphed on the day as the 44-year-old won best in class in the Decorative Exhibit category at Cake International in London's ExCeL exhibition centre.
She said: 'I came up with the Marie Antoinette design years ago as an idea for a wedding cake but it never got made.
'When it came to the competition I thought it was just perfect as it gave me the chance to go all out due to her elaborate head gear.
'I estimate it took around 200 hour man hours to complete and was a real labour of love.
'I'm just delighted the judges loved it too.'
The former student nurse has been making cakes for friends and family for years.
In 2008 she transformed her love for baking and cake design into a full time job after starting up her own company in a bid to spend more time with her young son.
She said: 'I have always baked cakes for friends and family.
'A couple of years ago I was a student nurse but the shift work was not working with having a young child.
'I just decided to take the plunge and open my own business - it has all grown from there.'
Amanda now runs her own business supplying intricate wedding and celebration cakes to clients across the country.
The former graphic designer lives with her husband Graham Harrison, 44, an operations manager, and nine-year-old son Dexter at their family home in Chelmsford, Essex.
Her incredible cake creation - which is decorated in edible sugar paste and Royal icing - will now go on display in a local cake shop in Maldon, Essex, as part of a competition to raise funds for Farleigh Hospice.
Source : DailyMail
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