Sarah Hardy, a food artist from Essex, was excited to craft giant strawberries for Margot Robbie to eat in the new adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Known for her unusual edible works, Hardy spent an entire weekend producing 20 sugar-based strawberries for the film, fulfilling a unique creative challenge.
The Creative Process Behind the Giant Strawberries
With 15 years of experience, Hardy was selected for her skill in crafting unusual food art. Living in Colchester, she explained her enthusiasm for problem-solving during creation:
“I get a real thrill when I have to solve the problem of how I’m going make it.”
The assignment required strawberries larger than normal but sized to fit into the actress’s hand.
Scaling the strawberries to about six inches revealed a technical obstacle; their weight caused them to risk collapsing. Hardy carefully combined sugar paste and modelling chocolate to achieve both structural integrity and an appealing look. She meticulously shaped dimples and painstakingly attached dyed sesame seeds to replicate strawberry seeds with exactness.
“I realised sesame seeds were the right scale so they were dyed green and yellow – they looked just perfect,”
Hardy noted. Each seed was placed individually using a delicate paintbrush, ensuring the authentic appearance needed for close-up shots.
If you do it too quickly, the shape will slump – and if it’s done too slowly, the skin would crack.
– Sarah Hardy, Food Artist
From Preparation to On-Screen Appearance
During production, Margot Robbie, portraying Catherine Earnshaw, was filmed biting into these artisan strawberries, allowing for realistic interaction with the props. Hardy produced 20 of these oversized berries to accommodate possible breakages and multiple takes. Notably, she created the strawberries while watching three seasons of Stranger Things, working under tight deadlines.
Hardy has yet to see the film but looks forward to viewing it, hopeful her meticulous work appears on screen.
“There is always a chance they cut them out when editing, so to know they have some screen time is really nice,”
she said.
I love the magic of making something you don’t quite understand.
– Sarah Hardy, Food Artist
The Edible Museum: A Space for Unusual Culinary Art
Sarah Hardy now runs The Edible Museum based in Sible Hedingham, Essex, where she continues to produce imaginative edible items such as realistic hearts, skulls, and animals. Her expertise in creating visually arresting, edible art has made her a sought-after artist for various projects, including a chocolate beetle for Netflix’s Frankenstein and a cake for Mick Jagger’s daughter.
The inclusion of her giant strawberries alongside Margot Robbie and the other actors marks a notable highlight in Hardy’s career, blending culinary creativity with cinematic artistry.
