Just to prove that the gore cake phenomenon is not a "London thing", Gillian Bell of Fife, Scotland, is the latest cake designer to test the limits of taste, with a human skin cake (above left) inspired by the film Silence of the Lambs if you recall, the hunted serial killer Buffalo Bill skinned his victims to wear them as a suit. The 31-year-old has launched her own firm, Deadbright, on the back of the attention.

Meanwhile, chief cake mischief-maker Miss Cakehead, aka Emma Thomas, has been up to no good again. She was asked to produce a "disturbing" edible experience at a recent Alice Cooper event. The centrepiece Silent Hill Nurse cake (above right), made by Laura Edwards of Mamma Jamma Cakes, based on the film and video game, comprises six stacked chocolate cakes. "The head was wrapped in individually rolled and textured bandages, which were then pressed and moulded into it to give an appearance of decaying, rotting bandages and flesh," says Thomas.