By Kirsty Topping
The skin cake is inspired by the Buffalo Bill character in Silence of the Lambs
THEY are cakes best washed down with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
A Scots graduate with a love of all things gruesome has turned her hand to making Silence of the Lambs-inspired cakes, including a three-tier wedding cake that appears to be made of human skin.
Gillian Bell, From Glenrothes, Fife, began her grisly business as part of her degree in Visual Communication.
As a final project students were required to come up with a company and all the associated branding – and so her her company, Deadbright, was born.
Gillian used skills acquired while running a cake-making business in Edinburgh and mixed it with her own love of the horror genre to produce a product that’s proved quite a talking point.
She said:
“The wedding cake was inspired by Buffalo Bill, the killer in Silence of the Lambs, who kills women and used their skin to make a suit. “
Despite the revolting look of her creations, Gillian says she is already receiving orders from people wanting a dessert with a difference.
“There’s been quite a lot of interest in them and I’ve got a few commissions on the go just now.
“One friend has asked for a bucket of severed body parts.
“I like the fact that people don’t like it but seem to be fascinated by them.
Gillian, who took her degree at Abertay University, charges up to 350 for a cake.
“Horror cakes are something that the Americans do quite well, but haven’t really caught on here yet. I don’t think people realise you can get this type of thing. “
Gillian with her creepy culinary creations
Despite their horrific appearance Gillian says the cakes are made in the same way as more conventional confections.
“They are made the same way as other cakes and are sculpted out of marzipan and icing. It’s just that instead of rose petals and things like that it’s bits of skin. “
She added:
“It’s something I wanted to have a go at doing because I know I could do it and I like horror stuff,’ said Gillian.
“I like to dress up at Halloween.
Gillian’s cakes will be on display at the Rothes Halls in Glenrothes for the next few weeks as part of an exhibition called New Perspective.
