Couture Cakes

Kelly Gray’s wedding cakes are a feast for the eyes, too

Words by ANUSH J. BENLIYAN

If the fanciful, flora-clad cakes by Kelly Gray look more like hyperrealist works of art than dessert, that’s because they are. The master sugar artist — who recently dreamed up the woodland-inspired cake for Lily Collins’ wedding and has an upcoming collaboration with couture bridal designer Claire Pettibone — spends anywhere from 40 to 70 hours on each commission, meticulously crafting natural-looking edible elements like fruits, butterflies, and freshly bloomed flowers such as garden roses, cosmos, ranunculus, and thistle. “Each petal of every flower and even the tiny segments of each blackberry are handmade from sugar,” says Gray, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Telluride, Colorado. The cakes may look too beautiful to eat, but Gray is just as diligent when it comes to the custom-tailored flavors and textures of her confections. “The interior of the cake is just as important as the exterior,” she says, “if not more.” kellygraycakes.com.