Tassie mum Sarah Collins shares epic edible toolbox cake that took 36 hours to make

At first glance, it looks just like something you’d find in the back shed. But this red toolbox — complete with tools, nuts and bolts — is 100% edible, and created by a talented Tassie mum vying for the title of Best Cake Maker. SEE HER EPIC CREATIONS >>

A TASSIE mum has shared her unbelievable creation of an edible toolbox cake that took 36 painstaking hours to decorate.

Sarah Collins began the Tasmanian-wide cake makers Facebook group called ‘HELP! I Need a Cake!’ five years ago, with more than 10,600 members sharing their creations every day.

She’s one of 60 talented cake makers vying for the title of Tassie’s Best Cake Maker, determined by a poll of Mercury subscribers.

>> CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SHORTLIST + VOTE

“This cake was made just for the sake of making it,” Mrs Collins said.

“I wanted to make a ‘wow’ cake. And I think it meets that.”

Sarah’s toolbox cake took 36 hours to decorate.

Launceston cake maker Sarah Collins.

“All tools are hand made by me and completely edible,” she explained.

“If you zoom in on the photo you will see even the tiny screws and bolts are all made from fondant and painted with edible silver.”

Mrs Collins said she began making cakes after her husband had heart failure and a stroke four days apart — saying the hobby took her mind off things and it “was the only thing that gave me purpose”.

“Making kids and others happy (with my cakes) was the thing that keeps me going,” she said.

Anyone can join the Tassie-wide ‘HELP! I Need a Cake!’ page to share their baking desires with local cake makers around the state, with available bakers being able to contact the customer to organise a sale.

Mrs Collins said she started the page “to give every cake maker in Tassie a chance to show off their skills, be it the house wife, nannas and kids”.

Some of Sarah’s creations.

Some of Sarah’s creations.

Five years after beginning, she still has the same passion as she did when she made her first icing-laden creation.

“I want people to always remember how they felt the moment they saw their cake,” Mrs Collins said.

“How they felt, what they saw and that very moment they were surrounded by friends and family and they knew this is all just for me.

“As corny as it is to say, they won’t remember me the maker of the cake, but that feeling is what lasts a lifetime.”

Woolies mud cake hack goes viral

Meanwhile, another talented Tassie mum in the running to be named Tassie’s Best Baker is Nellie McGann, who runs ‘Get Baked Cakes’.

Nellie’s incredible cakes went viral a few years ago after she turned the humble Woolworths’ chocolate mud cake into adorable creatures for her children’s birthdays.

Woolies mud cake hack: BEFORE

Woolies mud cake hack: DURING

The finished product.

“A few years back my son requested a baby dragon money cake for his birthday,” Nellie said. “At the time I was snowed under and didn’t have time to bake the cake.

“So I brought some Woolies mud cakes and got my decorating on.

It was a success and he loved his cake.”

Nellie said she then came across a page on Facebook called ‘Coles and Woolies Mud cake Hacks’ and decided to upload photos of the cake she’d made her son.

“Next minute my phone went crazy — my cake went viral. In the end it had 10,000 likes.”

This, too, began as a few Woolies mud cakes.

Nellie said she was then inundated with messages from food magazines and blogs about her creations.

“Since then I have continued to make lots of cakes and they are always a big hit on social media and of course at parties,” she said.

To vote for Sarah, Nellie or one of the other talented Tassie cake makers, check out the poll here.