A CLACKMANNAN cake decorator teamed up with a friend to produce a massive sweet creation that took 174 eggs to make.

Wee County woman Jenni Bone, along with Karen Oudnie, was chosen by the charity Scotland's Superstars to make a cake for Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity's first birthday at the new premises.

When complete, it measured in at 48 inches long, 12 wide and eight in height; the bottom layer was made up of chocolate cake and the top vanilla, raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream.

The bakers spent hours pouring over photos of the hospital building in order to create an edible version of the facility, designed to feed 1000 people.

Everything apart from the supports for the letters and balloons could be devoured and there was enough for each youngster in the children's hospital, along with adult and maternity patients.

Due to the sheer size of the treat, the pair – who donated their time and expertise – even had to hire a van to get it to the celebration safely last week.

They worked non-stop in the lead up to the event and Jenni was kept motivated by the desire to push herself, the people relying on her – and a bottle of prosecco waiting patiently in the fridge.

She said: "I'd sum up the entire experience as exhausting but amazing and we both loved the challenge. It was fantastic to see the cake turn out better than we imagined. 

"It was important for me to be involved as I have an eight-year-old son and realise how lucky we are that he has no health issues. 

"Through Scotland's Superstars I've realised the challenges facing some children and their families and wanted to do what I could to help."

For Jenni, the project was exhausting but worthwhile and even the 110 hours of work that went into it, between her and Karen of Karen's Crafted Cakes, hasn't put her off a similar feat.

She said: "I would actually really enjoy doing something like that again. It was completely different from the normal birthday cakes and wedding cakes."

The 42-year-old set up her own cake business Thistle Do Icely around three years ago and, due to its popularity, gave up her civilian job with Police Scotland earlier this year to concentrate on it full time.

Having baked cakes since she was a young girl, it is a long-time love of hers and she puts hours into creating her intricate designs.

She said: "I just absolutely love making cakes and I get so much pleasure out of seeing my customer's faces when they collect them as well."

Scotland's Superstars is a charity that helps to supply free celebration cakes to children fighting life-limiting and threatening medical conditions.

It was set up by Annemarie McKay who had spotted similar organisations across in America.

Having seen what youngsters go through first hand, her daughter had open heart surgery at only four months old, she was motivated to help.

She has supported the Glasgow children's charity for a number of years and regularly helps to provide treats for occasions there.

She has a trusty band of more than 100 bakers registered to donate, with more coming forward all the time, and couldn't do it without them.

She said: "To date I have arranged around 80 individual celebration cakes for children, along with over 2000 cupcakes in total for the children's charity and the phenomenal first birthday cake done by Jenni and Karen. 

"I run this myself in my spare time and I absolutely love to see the smile on the kids' faces.

"It can be hard work and stressful at times trying to arrange the cakes, but it is absolutely worth it."