You Can Eat The Little Mermaid at This Saudi Bakery

There is a store in Jeddah where your most beloved childhood icons live. The Little Mermaid once roosted here, Harry Potter crashed his car into a tree here, and Gumball and Darwin were once seen passing through. At this store, these characters come alive: you can touch them and feel them. You can even eat them.

This is Zeina’s Cakery, where Saudi-based Lebanese baker Zeina Itani sculpts anything and everything into a cake. Equal parts artist, baker, engineer, and craftswoman, Itani’s cakes often take days to complete. Her work ranges from intricate architectural replicas - entire hotels and winter chalets framed by pastry and solidified by sugar - to massive surreal centrepieces: a croissant the size of a person, a teacup you can nearly sit in, and even a camel so lifelike it feels as though it may snarl at you.

One of her most recent creations is a life-sized rendition of Ariel from 'The Little Mermaid'. In a video showing the process, what starts as a chocolate fudge outline culminates in a hyper-realistic sculpture with flowing hair and a shimmering tail. Each time you think the work is finished, Itani continues to build until a true masterpiece emerges -  complete with a foreground, background, props, and side characters. This happens first when Ariel herself is perfected - each fondant scale on her tail added individually, makeup and hair done by Itani herself - then again as she is then perched upon a giant pink shell against a backdrop of spray-painted cake rocks. Then again and again, as Flounder the fish appears with Sebastian the lobster, as coral reefs grow from the rocks with algae and bubbles pop. Finally, the artistic vision is realised with the addition of backlights illuminating the scene and water flowing beneath it.

In her videos, one can see each stage of life her cakes go through; from their early days in the oven, to their transport - sometimes on a plane - to their final destination. In one, Itani crafts a three-tier cake inspired by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, while in another, she creates a dramatic gothic structure that brings to life the eerie architecture and characters of Beetlejuice. She has also done not one, but two life-sized horse cakes in recent weeks: one featuring a Saudi knight on horseback and the other commissioned for the Saudi Cup 2026. Recently, Itani has collaborated with Warner Bros MENA and Cartoon Network to bring a whole new world of beloved characters to life.

In her videos, Itani can be seen stretching her arms wide as she shows her audience her creations, smiling as she pours liquid Belgian chocolate over her bases, and occasionally sneaking bites of cake discarded during the sculpting process. This quiet sense of play Itani exudes as she constructs is materialised in the whimsical, childish and vibrant cakes she lovingly builds.