Photos by Brian Addison.

Arriving by truck yesterday and lifted by a forklift onto the ship, the Queen Mary got the cake she deserves for celebrating her 80th: the world’s largest ship replica cake.

The celebratory dessert favorite was created by food reality TV star Jose Barajas of Next Great Baker fame. Barajas has never (outside of his competitive outing on TV) made something quite this large—and we mean large: over 15 feet in length and some 600lbs in weight, it is made of 30 sheet cakes that were initially baked and then cut to form. That means 100lbs of flour, 100lbs of sugar, 80lbs of butter, 200lbs of modeling chocolate, 200lbs of fondant, and for the decorative frosting, 25lbs of powdered sugar.

How many people does a cake like this serve? 1,200.

Barajas wasn’t even initially intended to do the cake but he happily accepted the challenge.

“The Queen Mary had initially asked Bobbie Lloyd [Magnolia Bakery’s Chief Baking Officer in New York] to take the cake on,” Barajas [pictured right] said. “Since she was unable to do so, they asked her if she knew of anyone and given she was a judge on the show, she recommended me.”

Without a brick-and-mortar, Barajas had to use a friend’s bakery in La Mesa, just east of San Diego. Over the course of what would amount to 10 back-to-back days, Barajas completed the majority of his masterpiece and placed it in a U-Haul for travel Thursday afternoon.

Arriving in two massive pieces, the final touches had yet to be made until last night, when Barajas worked until the wee hours of the morning perfecting his edible version of the Long Beach icon. He posted a pic of the completed product on his Facebook page.

The cake will be formally on view (and served) to the public today at 4PM in honor of the Queen Mary’s 80th birthday. Entrance to the ship is free for the entire day today and parking will be reduced to $5.

The Queen Mary is located at 1126 Queens Hwy.

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