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Saturday 30 November 2013

These boots are made for eating: Baker turns cakes into designer shoes (if only they were made of choux pastry)

Delicious: A baby Tod's shoe, made entirely of cake, made by cake maker Debbie Goard
Delicious: A baby Tod's shoe, made entirely of cake, made by cake maker Debbie Goard

In any cake making contest, baker Debbie Goard is bound to be a shoo in... or maybe that should be a shoe in.
Ms Goard has been turning dough and icing into the most exquisite replicas of footwear for more than a decade.
Her stunning cakes sell for upwards of $350 each and take hours of painstaking preparation to get as accurate as possible.

The 45-year-old, from Oakland, California, said: 'The idea that someone would want to eat their shoe has always seemed a bit odd to me'.


'Shoes are really like every day sculptures, and some people truly revere their shoe collections.
'These cakes tend to be amongst the most technical designs, not at all unlike the car cakes I make.
'I try to work from templates or blueprints to get them as accurate as possible, and I fully research each design. By the end of some projects I have become an erstwhile expert on the subject.
'Most of my shoe cakes start around $350 and go up based on the complexity of the shoe and the servings required.'
Exquisite: The Californian cake designer created this replica of a pair of Miu Miu wedge shoes from dough and icing
Exquisite: The Californian cake designer created this replica of a pair of Miu Miu wedge shoes from dough and icing
Mouthwatering: Ms Goard has been baking for more than 25 years and goes to great lengths to ensure he cakes are as detailed as possible
Mouthwatering: Ms Goard has been baking for more than 25 years and goes to great lengths to ensure he cakes are as detailed as possible

From trainers to elegant designer labels, these shoes have hopped from pavement to plate.
Californian cake artisan Debbie has fashioned a series of edible life size designs, ranging from the sleek Louboutin Bibi Pump to the chunky Jordan Retro.
The Louboutin Bibi Pump, made entirely of fondant, took Debbie a week to work out and set up and was designed as part of a birthday cake presentation.
The Jordan Retro, also made for a birthday celebration, was created with cake, buttercream and fondant.
Good enough to eat: Debbie Goard has produced an array of footwear-inspired cakes including this Jordan Retro which is entirely edible
Good enough to eat: Debbie Goard has produced an array of footwear-inspired cakes including this Jordan Retro which is entirely edible

The details on the shoes are made from fondant, using sculpting tools to imprint texture and detail.
She added: 'The first Louboutin Bibi Pump I made was quite a learning experience.
'Closed shoes create unique challenges because, as convincing as the final product hopefully is, it's still an edible product and sugar does not behave at all like leather.'
Skilled: The 45-year-old cake designer from Oakland, California, sells her creation for upwards of $350 each
Skilled: The 45-year-old cake designer from Oakland, California, sells her creation for upwards of $350 each
Inspired: Debbie Goard, pictured, does not just bake cakes that look like shoes and has turned her talents to a host of other subjects, including these pigs
Inspired: Debbie Goard, pictured, does not just bake cakes that look like shoes and has turned her talents to a host of other subjects, including these pigs
'Personally, I'm not able to have a closet full of designer shoes, but I can make a nice sugar facsimile.'
Making over 2000 cakes, Ms Goard has been in the cake industry for 25 years and has made cakes based on everything from road kill to a Big Mac.
'People can't believe my work is a cake when they first see it,' says Debbie. 'And the reaction is universally "that's a cake?!"'

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