Turkish baker goes viral with hyper realistic cakes

A talented Turkish chef is making the best use of her time during coronavirus lockdowns to focus on her hyper-realistic cakes of just about anything you can think of, and along the way becoming a viral sensation.

Tuba Geckil, a self-described “cake & sugar artist,” said that staying indoors allowed her to do what she always really wanted to do but was unable to before due to intense work.

Geckil, 44, shares her hyper-realistic cakes of everything under the sun with the hashtag #everythingisacake with her over 273,000 devoted followers on Instagram plus thousands of others on YouTube.

Her realistic faux fruits, foods, and everyday objects made of cake have set the web on fire, going viral worldwide. For Geckil, anything can be turned into a cake that people will greet with amazement and delight.

Although Geckil stresses that she is not a trained painter or sculptor, even her YouTube profile picture shows her carrying paintbrushes, hinting at her amazing feats.

Geckil, originally from Turkey’s central Anatolian province of Eskisehir, grew up in a family filled with art, with both of her parents being amateur painters.

Her marriage meant a move to Istanbul, where she now lives and works.

From painting to baking

The award-winning chef is now the proud owner of Red Rose Cake, boasting two locations in Turkey’s largest city.

Geckil received no formal art training, but sees her talent as “normal,” something anyone can do.

When she first moved to Istanbul she opened an art studio where she did large-scale paintings.

After holding her first painting exhibition, Geckil believed she had satisfied herself and needed a new outlet.

Looking for a new passion, she dove into the art of moldable sugar paste – the raw material for her amazing cakes – for the occasion of her son's first birthday.

After transforming one of her son’s favorite cars into a lifelike cake, she was delighted to see that he thought it was real and even wanted to play with it.

When she first took fondant into her hands, she said: “I liked it so much that it stays the way I shape it.”

This was Geckil’s first stab at making a 3D cake. Later her friends and family began to ask for similar cakes, which led her to do a workshop.

“With that car cake, I realized that I could turn anything I saw into a cake,” she said proudly. Bubbling with excitement, Geckil said that there was no limit for her.

She added that she worked with great passion and enthusiasm every day until the morning light either to fill orders or to make the cakes that she dreamed of.

Later, Geckil began working on human modeling. The feat was a difficult one, and the whole industry was having difficulty conquering the human form.

When she began working on realistic cakes, Geckil began researching human anatomy to get it just right.

As she shared her work, she also began getting training requests. At first, she declined them, saying that she needed to deepen her research.

Geckil began offering coursework after laying the foundation of imparting her cake baking and decorating skills with others. This all happened about 15 years ago, she said, and since then, she has shared her techniques with people in places as scattered around the map as the US, Nigeria, and India.

For years, she said she also was invited to give courses at baking schools and universities abroad.

Because of the pandemic they had to take a break, but plans for the future continue, she said, adding that there are projects in various countries.

What Geckil loves most about making a cake, she said, is creating those that are life-sized.

“I love them,” she enthused, as she likes surprising people when they look at them.

She fondly remembered festivals and cake shows she attended across the world where she was awarded for her work on celebrated figures such as a life-sized Harry Potter and Lady Diana.

But the world of realistic cakes is not all acclaim and awards.

Life-size Hansel and Gretel house

Baking a realistic cake for Geckil takes around a couple of hours, but human modeling takes longer, at least three days.

For example, a cake depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel took around a week, she recalled, explaining that her hair has very fine details.

The cakes at Geckil’s workshop have prices ranging from 250 to 10,000 Turkish liras (around $33-$1,350).

Geckil is assertive about the taste of her realistic cakes, designing cakes like a completely personal haute couture dress design, and customising them with everything from A to Z, according to taste.

For the future, Geckil has two projects she wants to tackle if the coronavirus pandemic allows.

The first is to hold an international exhibition on Turkish culture where she will fashion cakes showing traditional Turkish food as well as cultural sites such as Pamukkale, the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Denizli known for its mineral-rich thermal waters and white travertine terraces.

Her second project is to bake a life-size house from the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel where children can actually stroll inside and see the inside.

Like the rest of the world, Geckil is eagerly awaiting the end of Covid-19 so she can realize her ambitious new projects.