Cake Pops Like You've Never Seen Before. Kiss and Bake Up Puts Pop Culture On A Stick.

above: Zombie cake pops

You may have heard about the latest baking trend called "cake pops". Following closely on the heels of the cupcake craze, cake pops are a mouthful of cake coated in fondant or hard frosting and placed on a stick. Recipes for them are all over Facebook, Pinterest and food blogs and many bakeries and individuals now sell them. But no one makes cake pops like Sarah Downham of Kiss And Bake Up.



above: Mermaid, cherry blossom and Star Wars Bantha Raider cake pops

Prepare to be blown away. Sarah Downham doesn't just make Cake Pops, she makes sculptural desserts on a stick that are nothing short of art. The 'rock chic' baker of equally beautiful cupcakes and whoopie pies lovingly hand crafts each cake pop by herself with a process of hand modelling, carving, coating, hand painting and painstakingly adding texture.



above: Dragon and Antique Clock cake pops

Most cake pops are spheres of cake, coated in colors and rolled in sprinkles, with the occasional 3D flourish. These are way beyond that. Sarah sculpts cake pops in the form of Pop Culture characters and trends. Star Wars, Tattoo-Inspired, Pin Up Girls, Zombies, Day of The Dead, Animals, Birds and yes, traditionally romantic hearts and flowers, too.





above: Day of The Dead, Star Wars and Wizard of Oz and Alien Face Hugger cake pops

The results are so beautiful, it would be hard to eat them.

Sarah is impressively prolific and has so many great cake pops (not to mention, her stunning cupcakes) to choose from that these are only a small example of her tasteful talent.

Star Wars Cake Pops:






Pin Up Girls Cake Pops:


Tattoo-Inspired Heart Cake Pops:



Octopus, Fish, Birds, Frogs and Wildlife Cake Pops:










Tiki Torch Cake Pops:

Lucky Cat Cake Pop:

Floral Cake Pops:





She also makes custom cake pops from photographs, pets, kids, flowers and the like. Her impressive desserts have been used for movie premieres, special parties and other red carpet occasions.

Custom Pet Cake Pops:



I can't think of a better dessert to serve at parties, weddings, business functions or any celebration. They keep well, they are not messy, they are not too much food and they can be taken home to show them off.



Kiss & Bake Up is run by Sarah and assisted by her partner Darren in Exeter, Devon. It was launched early 2010 and has since grown into the bakery it is known for today. Full of original ideas and concepts, top notch decorating and baking with flair, and a firm grasp on today's tastes in culture and style.


above: some of Kiss And Bake Up's amazing cupcakes.

Sarah works full time in the bakery, and has modified her house to support the ever growing and evolving demand of KABU.

Kiss And Bake Up supports a local produce and trade, and bakes with Exeter based farms delicious free range eggs from Lucy at Devon Eggs and butter from Topshams own Country Cheeses, and is proud to be among the foundations of local businesses of Devon supporting one another.


above: they sell this great t-shirt, too!

Kiss And Bake Up

Cakes That Look Good Enough to Wear: The Threadcakes Contest Winners

above: Grand prize winning cakes based on the t-shirt designs shown below them

About six weeks ago, I wrote about the amazing Threadcakes contest in which people designed 3D and 2D actual baked cakes based upon some of Threadless T-shirt designs and shared some of the impressive entries with you.

The contest has now ended and the winners have been announced! Below are the winners from both the 3D and 2D categories. Images of the winning cakes are followed by the t-shirts on which they are based. The Grand prize winners are shown first followed by second, third, fourth and fifth place winners.

The 3D category winners:

Grand Prize: Noah Express cake by Jennifer Flynn:

Noah Express t-shirt by Matheus Lopes & Michael Bisparulz aka mathiolesparulz:

Second Place: Bird Migration cake by Angel Adkins:

Bird Migration T-shirt by Alex Solis:

Third Place: The Red cake by Lauren Babis:

The Red T-shirt by Dina Prasetyawan:

Fourth Place: You Are The Best cake by Leslie Evans:

You Are The Best T-shirt by Emily Glaubinger:

Fifth Place: Flowing Inspiration cake by Erin Okuno:

Flowing Inspiration T-shirt by Enkel Dika:



The 2D Category winners:

Grand Prize: Imposter in the Bird Hotel by Alex Waite

Imposter In the Bird Hotel T-shirt by Michelle Li:

First place: Byebi cake by Lien Sanchez:

Byebi cake T-shirt by Tan Wei Hau:

Third Place: Bird Migration cake by Chelsea Mason:

Bird Migration T-shirt by Alex Solis:

Honorable Mention for Most Accurate Reproduction: Baron VonFunburger's Haunted Castle Cavalcade cake by Theresa Rountree:

Baron VonFunburger's Haunted Castle Cavalcade T-shirt by Mitch Ansara:


See all of the impressive mouth-watering 3D and 2D entries here.
And you can purchase any of the above shown T-shirts, plus hundreds more here at Threadless.