Yulia Kedyarova is a Russian cake artist known for two signature looks: cakes painted like deep space, complete with planets made of glossy spheres, and "secret garden" cakes that look plain from one side but open to reveal a dense bed of piped buttercream flowers and butterflies. She also makes cakes with sugar geodes that seem to split open like rocks full of crystals.
Her work reached a wide audience in late 2018, when design sites shared her Instagram portfolio, and it still shows up whenever people search for galaxy cakes or hidden-flower cakes. What makes her cakes stand out is not one trick but a mix of painterly colour blending, careful piping and a sense of composition borrowed from flower arranging.
Below, each cake from that portfolio is described in turn, grouped by theme, followed by a short look at how these techniques work and what to keep in mind if you want to try a simple version at home. You can follow her newer work on Instagram and on her website.
Secret garden cakes: flowers hidden inside
The idea behind these cakes is theatrical. A section of the cake is cut away or built as an open niche, and the cavity is filled with tightly packed piped roses, leaves and paper-thin butterflies, so the garden only appears when the cake is turned.
A single-tier cake with a smoky violet and blue marbled coat opens to a wall of piped roses in cream, peach and coral, framed by dark green leaves. The butterflies at the edges, probably made from printed wafer paper, break the straight line of the cut and make the garden look like it is spilling out.
Here the same idea runs down two white tiers with a faint blush of pink. The garden niche climbs the full height of the cake in soft pastel roses, so the plain sides make the colourful seam look even richer by contrast.
A two-tier version in streaky blue marbling, closer in spirit to the galaxy cakes, hides warm peach and yellow roses inside. The cool exterior and warm interior sit on opposite sides of the colour wheel, which is why the reveal feels so vivid.
The simplest garden cake in the set uses just two colours: deep red roses packed into a white cake and edged with pale green leaves. It reads almost like a classic Valentine's arrangement set into icing.
Galaxy cakes with planets
The galaxy cakes rely on blending several shades of buttercream or ganache on the side of the cake, then flicking fine white specks across it for stars. Spheres in bright colours stand in for planets.
Two tiers swirl with navy, violet and turquoise, crowned with red currants, raspberries and halved physalis. Marbled spheres in blue and white suggest planets, and a small handwritten note tucked against the lower tier turns the cake into a personal message.
A tall cake in teal and blue is orbited by planets in orange, ruby and deep blue, some with a metallic sheen. The planets are most likely made from chocolate or sugar shells, which keeps them light enough to stick to the sides.
Pink alstroemeria, purple blooms and glossy leaves soften this two-tier galaxy design. Pairing fresh flowers with a cosmic pattern is a recurring move in her work, mixing the night sky with the garden. If you copy the idea, use only flowers sold as safe for food decoration.
A lighter take: a grey and white marbled surface that looks almost like stone, topped and ringed with spheres in pink, sky blue, yellow and slate grey. Small butterflies keep it playful, and the result reads more like a toy solar system than deep space.
This close-up shows how the starry effect is built. Layers of indigo, purple and blue are smoothed together, a few pink streaks suggest glowing nebulae, and tiny white flecks of paint scatter across the surface as stars.
Galaxy tops framed by flowers and fruit
Seen from above, several cakes turn the top into a small round galaxy, surrounded by a wreath of flowers and fruit like a painting in a frame.
A spiral galaxy glows in blue at the centre of the cake, ringed by yellow alstroemeria, orange physalis, blackberries and blue butterflies. The warm yellow ring makes the cool centre look deeper.
Another wreath design uses magenta and yellow lilies, halved figs and blue butterflies around a pale, misty galaxy. Figs show their red interiors, adding a third strong colour to the circle.
Here the entire top is the sky: swirls of violet, blue and white with a few iridescent purple butterflies resting on it. With no fruit or flowers, the piece relies entirely on the blending.
Butterflies and lighter designs
A white cake brushed with lavender swirls carries a stream of teal butterflies that appear to take off from the side and fly over the top. The diagonal line of wings gives a still object a sense of movement.
This blue cake is textured like wood grain and tied with a pale pink ribbon, with small green leaves around the base. It shows that her style is not only about space: the pattern and ribbon make it look like a wrapped gift box.
Geode cakes with sugar crystals
Geode cakes imitate rocks that have been cracked open to show crystal-lined cavities. Bakers usually create the crystals from rock candy or poured isomalt, set into a carved channel and painted at the edges.
A black cake splits open to reveal a geode in white, turquoise and navy crystals, with blue butterflies on either side. The dark coat makes the crystals glitter much as a real geode does in a stone.
A white cake with soft purple brushstrokes holds a small amethyst-style geode on one side. It is a gentler, more minimal treatment of the same idea, suited to a wedding or a quieter celebration.
How these effects are made, and trying them at home
Most of these looks build on a few skills any home baker can practise:
- Colour blending: dabs of tinted buttercream are applied to the side of a chilled cake, then smoothed with a bench scraper so the colours blur into each other. Darker shades go on first for galaxy cakes.
- Stars: a stiff brush dipped in white edible paint or food colouring mixed with a little alcohol-based flavouring, flicked lightly over the surface.
- Piped flowers: roses are piped with a petal tip onto a flower nail, chilled, then placed. Leaves come from a leaf tip.
- Butterflies: often cut from printed wafer paper or made from tempered chocolate set over a folded card so the wings stand up.
- Crystals: rock candy or isomalt, with the edges brushed in edible lustre.
Keep in mind that some decorations look edible but are not meant to be eaten in quantity. Not all fresh flowers are food-safe, wired decorations must come out before serving, and metallic lustre dusts vary in whether they are labelled as food-grade. If in doubt, ask the baker or check the label.
What makes Kedyarova's cakes memorable is restraint as much as skill: a clear theme, a limited palette and one moment of surprise, whether that is a planet, a garden or a crystal.
Sources: Cakes and photographs by Yulia Kedyarova, Instagram and website; My Modern Met, 27 November 2018: Yulia Kedyarova's cake art.
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