Bakers’ incredible see-through jelly cakes are taking over the internet

Even if you don’t particularly enjoy eating it, no one can deny that jelly is an excellent building material. If you find yourself at a loose end this afternoon, I highly recommend Googling some of the 70’s most elaborate aspic creations. It will really put your own artistic plating attempts into perspective. 

Unfortunately for those who prefer their food to look amazing and taste dubious, the days of epic gelatin sculptures seemed to have faded into the background. Pre-lockdown, if you had presented a dinner guest with a shuddering phosphorescent dome dotted with floating fruit they would probably have left the party. However, as we’ve all found ourselves with more time to get creative in the kitchen, so has the subtle science of jelly art made a comeback. The results are spectacular. 

Throughout the pandemic, many cooped up cooks have been using social media to share their creations, to the delight of thousands around the world. The bakes, which are almost exclusively crafted from jelly, feature everything from floating swans to fish suspended in a blue lagoon, proving that edible art doesn’t have to be kitsch. 

Why not try our delicious Capri-Sun Sunrise Jelly Cake:

One of the most popular practitioners has been Instagrammer @petrichoro, whose koi carp pond design posted on the 22nd of June has received almost 20,000 likes. In a caption accompanying her cake, she explained:

“i love making small and intricate things, and i had so so much fun working on the lilies and koi ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎

“everything on the cake is edible! (the cattail stems are little pieces of dry bamboo, and bamboo is *technically* edible, right? ?) it was my first time working with bean paste and agar based jello so there was a lot of trial and error,, i was up til 5am but id say it was worth it”

It might be a time consuming way to enjoy what should be a speedy dessert, but when the results look this spectacular, who cares!