Southbourne baker creating spectacular ‘Is It Cake?’ illusions

Aisha Tucker, owner of Sobo Sweet Stuff Cakes, is becoming known for her extravagant creations similar to the Netflix show, Is it Cake?, which showcases bakes replicating everyday items.

The mother-of-two began building her culinary skills more than seven years ago after her daughter was born with a milk allergy.

“It all started when I couldn’t find a baker for my daughter’s first birthday cake and my mum encouraged me to make my own,” said Aisha.

“Then after that, every time we went to a birthday party she was always a bit sad that she shouldn’t have the cake so I started to offer to make the cake for the party.”

Aisha’s hobby grew after having her son who has a severe milk and egg allergy that requires him to carry an EpiPen.

she said: “I made a dog cake for my son’s preschool to thank them at the end of the year and then the church next door asked if I would make a cake for a retirement.”

Aisha had previously turned down baking requests but decided to finally “give the business a go” in September 2022.

“It became a hobby and then ended up turning into a business.”

She added she has always been “fascinated” by illusion and animal sculpture cakes so decided to learn new techniques through YouTube and online training.

“I’ve noticed that it has gotten really busy with the illusion cakes,” said Aisha.

“I did a bag of Doritos and beans on toast just last week.

“People go nuts for it every time a new season comes out.”

Aisha also appears to create the impossible through her wine barrel cake that poured real wine and an “anti-gravity owl”.

she said: “What changed it for me was the giraffe cake I made for my nephew, which was my first animal cake.

“When I achieved that, that’s when I thought, I need to start thinking about this as a job.”

However, Aisha’s children are keen to test her skills with her son requesting a walking tarantula cake for his sixth birthday.

She also intends to work more with movement including a drill cake with a real moving drill part and she is experimenting with levitation cakes.

After growing her skills, Aisha hopes to enter competitions in the future, like Is It Cake?