This Roman gladiator-themed birthday cake was one of the most challenging creations I’ve ever taken on. The brief was wonderfully specific: a Colosseum cake for a history-mad husband’s 40th, complete with a gloriously chunky gladiator topper in our signature style.

I wanted the entire cake to *be* the Colosseum. That meant baking a curved cookie façade to wrap around a 6-inch cake — a deceptively fiddly task. As it turns out, coaxing gingerbread into architectural obedience is not exactly cookie-cutter stuff.

First up, I measured and sketched a cookie template before cutting it from classic gingerbread dough — two full pieces to form the arena walls.

To get the perfect curve, I baked the main structure on the *outside* of a 6” tin and the doorway sections on the *inside*, hoping the extra give would help everything slot neatly together.

After multiple trials, many muttered words, and a fair bit of re-rolling and re-cutting, I finally had my gingerbread Colosseum walls.

With the structure sorted, I spent two days decorating the pieces with royal icing — flooding, piping, adding balconies and arches, then brushing over gold lustre for that beautifully weathered, ancient-Rome look. All the while, the looming fear remained: what if it didn’t even fit the freshly baked cake?

I sculpted the plump gladiator from fondant and modelling paste and left him to dry. His tiny fringed skirt and sandals still make me smile.

D-day arrived. I baked fresh chocolate sponge for the birthday boy and filled it with vanilla and chocolate buttercream to echo the tones of the Colosseum shell. A touch of real gold leaf added some celebratory drama. Holding my breath, I wrapped the cookie structure around the cake…

And it FIT LIKE A GLOVE. I wanted to dance around the kitchen, but given how fragile everything was, I settled for a silent internal victory lap. Gladiator on top, birthday message on his cape, and we were good to go.

The cake made its journey to Clapham safely — packed like the precious artefact it deserved to be. I shared the whole saga on Instagram Stories, and the lovely feedback made all the stress feel worth it.

If you have a bespoke cake in mind for a special event in London, email us at hello@angesdesucre.com. We ask for at least two weeks’ notice (the earlier the better — we book up fast!) and a clear budget, as bespoke designs take considerably more time and can cost more than cakes in our birthday cake collection.

Love, Reshmi xoxo

If you’re dreaming up your own show-stopping centrepiece, have a peek at our indulgent chocolate cakes for inspiration.