Baker takes the fake out of cake with her veggie artworks

In a world where cakes are often ordinary and predictable, there’s a baker who exceeds expectations with her veggie-inspired creations. No really, her 3-D cakes are so realistic you’ll think it’s your favourite vegetables.

Achieving the extraordinary by turning everyday objects and vegetables into edible masterpieces, is Kurhula Makhuvele from Kaalfontein in Midrand, Central Gauteng. Her business, Fine Bakes is redefining what is possible with sugar and flour.

After losing her job, Makhuvele sold pap and mogodu but ventured into the baking business after her fast-food business failed. She had no idea she’d be a baker one day, but when she started, she envisioned herself baking extraordinary cakes.

From a frog that’s deceptively deliciously edible to potatoes that look like they were dug from the ground, she can turn anything into cake. She says this inspiration mostly comes from the everyday food we consume as South Africans, and she loves a challenge with flour.

“I have been baking since I was young, baking biscuits and scones for eating at home. In 2018, I decided to bake cakes and wanted to do something unique because I was not working then.

“I had a business where I was selling pap and mogodu, but when the business failed, I decided to start a baking business at home and taught myself how to bake. I did not just want to make simple round cakes, but something that told a different story,” she says.

Cabbage takes the prize

According to Makhuvele, the cabbage cake is one of her most inspiring and memorable works. “It came out more beautifully than expected,” she admits, and people couldn’t believe it was a cake.

“The cabbage cake is the one that made me known in South Africa. I started trending after baking that cake. I also made a video cutting the cake, and people were shocked that it also sounded like cabbage.”

Not only did the cabbage cake make Fine Bakes famous, but it also made her win the Sasko Top Baker competition in 2020, and the prize money she won went towards buying a new stove.

The start of something sweet

After baking her first birthday cake with a small oven on a two-plate stove and succeeding, she says she decided to challenge herself to bake realistic cakes, relying on what she could learn from YouTube and Google.

“I watched YouTube channels on baking and a lot of baking TV shows, and I realised that this is doable and can be tried. My first unique cake was a candle-like cake for my pastor’s birthday. After nailing that, many other cakes in different shapes and forms came along.

“I get ideas mostly from things I see in the house and wonder if they are cake-able. In most cases, I challenge myself to try it out to see if I can make it as real as possible. Some cakes take a very long time, and some do not. It all depends on the details of what I’m trying to replicate,” she explains.

She has even made cakes with the faces of prominent figures, including those of President Cyril Ramaphosa, Cassper Nyovest, and Steve Harvey.

‘Sometimes I’m fooled too’

Makhuvele highlights that every cake has its own unique challenges, but she loves all the cakes created, and that they are so realistic that they confuse her at times.

“I don’t have a personal favourite bake because I’m proud of all of them. They are so real, and they fool me sometimes too. The potatoes were, however, the easiest and most enjoyable to make. I never want to cut any of them, but they are cakes, and they must be eaten at the end of the day.”

Overall, Makhuvele mentions that she is proud of where she is and will be doing the Guinness World Record for the longest baking marathon with an aimed record of 100 hours.

“This record is a personal goal. I want to challenge myself to do something beyond my limit and show the world that Africans are able and that great bakers also exist on this side.”