Requested by a friend for her son who swims in the local swimming club. It was very personalised for Danny – his best stroke is backstroke; when you swim backstroke you count your strokes from the flags until the end of the pool, hence the flags; there are tumble turn tiles in the bottom of the pool; The swimmer representing Danny has the club logo on the hat (see close-ups of detail). Danny is a lifeguard at the pool, too, hence the references to this.

I have never done a carved cake before, nor have I ever used piping gel for the water effect. This was only the second time I have ever made people, too. The whole cake is 100% edible.

I have decided it is now my most favourite of my cake creations to date – I wonder if you agree? It certainly has been my most time consuming and most challenging, but very good fun, too!