Bobby Baker sculpture

A kitchen in a semi-derelict butcher’s shop in Anerley, London

Constructed from a shop-bought Madeira cake, Baseball Boot Cake marked the first of a series of sculptural cakes made by Bobby Baker shortly after leaving St Martin’s School of Art. It was the result of an experimental phase of cake baking, which had previously included attempts to model her father’s ashtray and a miniature armchair. It was also a reaction against the boredom of a brief yet successful enterprise selling home-dyed baseball boots.  

Reflecting on Baseball Boot Cake years later, Baker noted that ‘Suddenly it was like the heavens opened and a new thought shone into my brain – I’d made a Work of Art, a sculpture of equal status to Anthony Caro’s epic and huge sculptures. For a long time I just laughed with delight at the sheer irreverence of this decision to name such a pathetic, poorly crafted object ‘A Work of Art of Great Significance’. But I knew at the same moment that it was a pivotal turning point for me as an artist – I had discovered my own language, material, form – something that began to echo my fleeting thinking.’

Other cakes and edible artworks followed.