The self-taught Northumberland baker creating mesmerising cakes loved by Newcastle United and Beach Boys stars

He's a Northumberland baker creating incredibly realistic cakes that have won him celebrity fans and major competitions.

Graeme Venus is the owner of Sticky Sponge based in Stocksfield and has made everything from life-sized cake of Stranger Things villain Vecna to a replica of Newcastle Castle.

His creations have been praised by Newcastle United players including Dan Burn, who he impressed with a Yellow-stone inspired birthday cake last year. He's even created a surfboard cake for Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys.

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Looking at the incredible level of detail in his creations, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the 50-year-old has spent a lifetime honing his art. But Graeme - who was named DMA edible sculptor of the year 2022 - is entirely self-taught and only launched his business during the pandemic after being made redundant.

"I originally trained in animation but when I qualified there weren't many jobs in it so I ended up working for a stencil company where I used to design stencils," he said. "My wife used to make cakes for friends and family so I ended up doing a bit of decorating to help her and it snowballed from there."

Graeme prides himself on his attention to detail and captures photos of subjects from every angle to ensure his cakes are as lifelike as possible. His novelty cakes cost between £100 to £150 and the most popular requests are cars and architectural models.

To make his cakes as fresh as possible, Graeme often finds himself working through the night and starting early in the morning, with creations taking around three days to make. Recent orders include an incredible St James' Park cake for a Newcastle United fan's birthday and a stunning Newcastle Castle wedding cake for a couple he believed got engaged near the historic attraction.

Inside was made up of sponge cake with three different flavours: chocolate, lemon, and vanilla. "They were absolutely thrilled with it," Graeme said.

"I shape the cake and then cover it with chocolate ganache which seals the cake in and then I use fondant and sugar that sets as well. Everyone always says they don't want to cut into it! So we do a little clay model of the cakes so they have it to keep."

He continued: "We have done three of Langley Castle because we are one of the suppliers for the castle. Then we have done Queen's Hall in Hexham and a few pubs as well.

"We often get things like buildings and then things like cars and vans and trucks. People think you are just sticking a cake together but you have to work out structures for the more complicated ones.

"[Customers] are having something that has taken three days to sculpt from edible material." Another standout cake was a life-sized Vecna cake for the 'Sugar Screams does Stranger Things' exhibition at the Cake International event last year which featured cakes from artists from all over the world

"It was made out of polystyrene underneath and then sugar, fondant, and chocolate on the outside," Graeme said. "That was done in a week-and-a-half in between orders!"