Real Life: Piece of cake? Not exactly...

The cutting of the cake is a symbolic moment that makes for a perfect photo opportunity, and the act of slicing into a pure white tier as a married couple is a moment of celebration.

But one bride-to-be is more likely to be slicing into a size 10 chocolate boot with her new husband than tinkering with a classic creation.

Lara Clarke is an award-winning amateur baker. By day, she works as a chat room moderator for online bingo site Tombola.

But by night she's the creator of some of the most spectacular cakes Britain has ever seen.

The 28-year-old bakes huge edible sculptures from her home in Brownhills, earning her a reputation as the cream of the baking crop.

Her most recent builds of two popular literary characters earned her both gold and silver placing at Cake International, a leading show at Birmingham NEC.

She says: "I had quite a bit of success last year when I made an almost life-sized Jack Sparrow cake. I wanted to challenge myself again this year so chose to create two cakes."

Lara looked to two of her favourite franchises for inspiration for this year's show.

"I knew that unless I created something off the wall then my cakes wouldn't be noticed. No one had done a full human sculpture before so I chose to do it last year.

"I was on the phone to a friend at the time and she asked what I was going to do. I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean at the time so just made the decision to recreate Johnny Depp."

Whether the Jack Sparrow actor saw his confectionery counterpart is unknown, but the sculpture made a real impact in the cake world and beyond, something that Lara knew she'd need to top this year.

The first character she chose to recreate was Katniss Everdeen, the heroine from The Hunger Games, brought to life on screen by Jennifer Lawrence.

The second character she chose to construct was Game of Thrones fan favourite Tyrion Lannister, played by award-winning actor Peter Dinklage in the fantasy drama.

She says: "I love both of the franchises so I decided to make those this year. Katniss alone took around 120 hours. Tyrion took up another 80 or so." Jennifer Lawrence stands at almost six feet tall, so to ensure the structure could stand alone, it needed a complex skeleton of metal, wood and PVC to support the cake.

Lara says: "I think in the end it turned out to be 24 kilograms of cake. It might have even been a bit more. Then, I think it was eight kilograms of buttercream and four kilograms of ganache. I think I'm up to about 25 kilograms of icing; it's pretty heavy."

The materials for the supporting construction were bought at her local DIY shop, but all other aspects of the figure she tells us, are edible.

Carefully the layers of cake were wrapped around the frame, layered with buttercream to give stability and then Lara went to work on carving it into shape.

Just one slip of the knife would put the whole cake at risk, so Lara meticulously carved to the exact measurements of her subjects – referring to large photographs of them to ensure as close a match as possible.

For Cake International, Lara had to work entirely alone, from the mixing bowl to the final lick of edible paint.

But Lara is no master sculptor. In fact, she has only been baking for three years.

"I did art at school but I did more messing about than concentrating really. I didn't start baking until I moved to Brownhills three years ago."

She lives with her fiancée Nikki Mason, 26, and hopes to make her own wedding cake.

"People have been asking and I think I will make my own but I've no idea what I'll make. People have suggested I make life-size cakes of me and Nikki but I'm not sure yet. I'm busy getting my house into some semblance and order in time for Christmas."

The Belfast-born baker is always looking for her next challenge, and though she still only bakes for pleasure outside of work, will happily take commissions.

"People can get in contact with me on Facebook and I'll try my best to help them; the crazier the idea, the better."

To make her Katniss and Tyrion cakes, Lara was getting up at 5am to going to bed at 2am to get everything done, juggling her baking with her job. But it was all worth it when she took home the awards and the Hunger Games actress herself saw her cake.

She said: "For the competition, there are strict rules that say you have to make everything yourself with no help.

"Because of that, it took me three months to make these two cakes and by the time I displayed them, the cake itself had gone stale."

And it's no surprise. "For the Katniss cake I used 120 eggs, seven kilos of flour, seven kilos of sugar, seven kilos of butter, and then a whole tub of vanilla extract.

"In an interview recently for the new Hunger Games film, my cake was mentioned to Jennifer and she said she thought it was great."

So what happened to all of that cake once the show was over?

"I had to throw it away. I put a big chunk out for the birds but I couldn't keep them. If I kept every cake I made, my house would be overrun."

We asked whether that was weird for her, to throw away the cakes after putting so much into making them?

"I think it must have been weirder for the binmen to be honest. Imagine opening the bin to see two big chocolate heads staring up at you!"