Unlocking Level 18: Crawford's gaming cake

Eighteen is a milestone birthday, and Crawford's family knew exactly how they wanted to mark it. Controller, phone, and a cake big enough for everyone who turned up.

The two pieces people pick up

The controller is sculpted by hand out of fondant — the grips, the thumbsticks, the D-pad, the little colored buttons across the top. It's the part everyone reaches for first, and it's meant to be.

The phone is the one that gets people though. It's not a real phone sitting on the cake. It's fondant too, with the screen printed on an edible sheet. More than one person tried to pick it up.

The rest of it

Deep blue buttercream across the whole square, with the four button shapes scattered over the top and down the sides in green, red, yellow and blue — the ones any gamer recognizes without being told. A GAME ON comic-book flash sits in the middle.

Black shell border around the base, and his name piped in script on the board.

What's inside

Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.

A square like this feeds a proper crowd, which is what you want for an 18th.

Happy birthday, Crawford

Controller? ✔️ Phone? ✔️ Officially Level 18.