Amazingly lifelike spider is actually a cake

ANYONE with arachnophobia should look away now. This cake decoration of a tarantula is so realistic it even scared the artist who made it.

The 7ins wide edible arachnid looks incredibly life-like but is actually made from sugar paste.

Cake-maker Cecilia Chalmers was commissioned to make the scary decoration by Tyrone and Claire Jacques for the centre piece for a horror-themed party this weekend.

After shaping the sugar paste into a thick body, Cecilia moulded it into eight long strips for the legs and inserted wire throughout each one.

She used a special glue to attach the pieces together and food colouring and an airbrush to tint the spider and give the illusion of hundreds of miniscule hairs. It took her a month to complete due to the intricate design and cost the customer £60.

Bizarrely, Tyrone, from Poole, Dorset, has a phobia to spiders and hopes the fake version will help him conquer it.

When he received it he pretended he had just found it in the garage and showed his two sons who promptly ran away.

Tyrone, a 41-year-old sales representative, said: ‘I went on Cecilia’s website and was fascinated with the spiders she had created for cake decorations.

‘Being a person that has a phobia of spiders I thought getting one of hers could help me get over it and could be a bit of fun too.

‘It has been a real hit. When I first received it I pretended I had found it in the garage to scare my two sons who ran out of the room when I showed them.

‘It’s so lifelike it’s unbelievable that it’s made out of sugar and everyone I have shown it to says how amazing it is.

‘I wanted to keep it out on display but there’s a risk the colour could fade so I keep it in a box and then get it out when I want to scare people.’