A baker who has created a lifesize Taylor Swift cake for Sunday’s Super Bowl said it was the “perfect opportunity” to finally get around to making it.
The cake sculpture by Lara Mason, from Walsall in the West Midlands, has racked up more than 3m views on TikTok.
Her cake creation depicts Swift wearing a sweatshirt of the Kansas City Chiefs – the team her footballer boyfriend Travis Kelce plays for – and holding the NFL Super Bowl trophy above her head.
Mason, 37, who runs her own business, Lara Cakes, told the Guardian she had wanted to turn the US singer into a cake for a while but it was her and her husband’s love of American football that made it “even more special”.
“I’ve always wanted to make a Taylor Swift cake because for the last maybe five years, she has been top of everyone’s list,” she said. “I really like her, I’m not a diehard Swiftie but I do really appreciate her music and the fact she is a role model for women.
“I never got round to making a cake but obviously the Super Bowl is coming up and me and my husband really enjoy the NFL so to put the two things together, it was the perfect opportunity to go ahead with it. She’s amazing, but having the NFL connection made it even more special.”
The red velvet vanilla-flavoured cake took 38 hours to make, spread over a week, using 130kg of ingredients.
Mason said her six-year-old twin daughters had enjoyed watching her creative process, adding: “The girls love it because every day they come home from school, I’ve done a little bit more on the cake. They love telling all their schoolmates that their mummy is the lady that made the Taylor Swift cake.”
Mason said she started baking 13 years ago and found herself watching US TV shows where people made “big, extravagant cakes”. She said: “I was thinking, how hard can it actually be? Then I tried it and realised yeah, actually it’s really hard. It was just all about the challenge at first.”
Her business has since taken off and her designs have been seen around the world. A lifelike depiction of the Grinch proved a particular success online. “Whenever something has sort of ugly features, like the Grinch is green and has all the creases in the face, that’s a little bit easier because even if you get something slightly wrong, you still know it’s the Grinch,” she said.
“But when it comes to making Taylor Swift, obviously she is so beautiful and her features are so perfect, it’s so hard to do. People will pick apart tiny little details because everyone knows exactly what she looks like.”
Mason has not ruled out carving her creation up as a half-time treat. “It’s still standing at the moment. In a way, it’s good that the UK is so cold at the minute because it will stay preserved for a good three or four weeks. She could be our half-time snack during the Super Bowl.”
