I've recently been doing some photo and video work for Laura Dodimead, also known as @life_in_sugar for her competition piece at Cake International this weekend. For the category "pushing the boundaries" she made an extraordinary representation of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip playing on George and Charlotte's christmas presents. She won a gold medal and came second overall! She has also won three other gold awards in the last year and won Kirstie Allsop's Christmas Cake Competition in 2015.

She is entirely self taught, which I believe allows her creativity to express itself fantastically, as it has never been formed in the mould of formal education. Laura started making cakes ten years ago, following the birth of her eldest daughter. She is teaching a course this year on christmas cakes and toppers, in her amazing studio near Farnham, Surrey and has many more courses planned. The level of detail and the quality of work in her creations is truly exceptional, and something I worked hard to capture in the photos and video presented here.

For more information, please email her at l.rana@hotmail.co.uk, or check out her Facebook site. A few of the photos and videos can now be found in my Food Gallery. Thanks for reading and remember to subscribe to keep up to date with the latest news.

I've updated the Travel section of Takes with photos from my most recent trip to Cornwall and a trip last year. We were in and around the Rock/Padstow area and got a chance to explore the amazing beaches! i also learnt (if you can call it that) to surf... The whole area is astonishingly beautiful, and it makes me wonder why it took me so long to explore the area!

To see more, just head over to the Travel gallery, and have a look!