Zou Minglei displays artifact-inspired dessert "Emperor Qin Shi Huang's imperial seal." Photos: Courtesy of Zou Minglei

A cake concealed within the intricate, antique-green shell of a "Fu Hao owl-shaped vessel," a fragrant sweetness hidden under the soft pink gloss of a "rose quartz covered incense burner," a mysterious glint of chocolate disguised as the cold, silvery blade of the "sword of King Goujian": When Zou Minglei appears in short videos showing one national treasure after another, your eyes may be deceived. These are not genuine relics, but "artifact-inspired desserts" meticulously recreated by Zou who took inspiration from the most iconic treasures of Chinese civilization. 

With deft cuts, the camera reveals the true nature of these uncanny imitations: Inside each is a delicate dessert, crafted with stunning precision.

From the "Rectangular Wine Vessel with Lotus and Crane" of the Henan Museum to the Sanxingdui bronze head wearing a gold foil mask, Zou's goal is simple: to pair food with heritage, bringing to life the stories behind ancient artifacts and helping more people discover the depth and beauty of traditional Chinese culture, Zou told the Global Times. Judging by the flood of messages and requests for new content from her followers, you can see her efforts are clearly resonating.

Artifact-inspired dessert "Rectangular Wine Vessel with Lotus and Crane"

Inspired by relics

When these lifelike "artifact desserts" appear on screen, high-definition cameras capture every detail: patterns and textures so vivid that viewers are left wondering, "Is this really a cake?" In the next moment, Zou's knife slices through the "artifact," revealing the unmistakable crumb of cake inside. 

With her superb craftsmanship and high-quality creations, Zou's videos - posted under the account "Xiao Zou Zou" - have gone viral, regularly earning millions of views and sparking lively discussions online.

The idea of using desserts to interpret cultural relics first occurred to Zou in 2018, when she decided to attend an international cake competition in the UK. Unsure about what to create, Zou, who had always been drawn to traditional culture, visited museums in search of inspiration. Amid a world of historical treasures, she encountered the "Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng" at the Hubei Museum. Months later, she brought a cake version of these bells - 100 times smaller than the original but faithfully rendered in sugar - to the competition, where it won a silver medal and showcased the splendor of Chinese artifacts on a global stage.

"I always say our ancestors' sense of beauty is truly the pinnacle. All we need to do is learn from them," Zou reflected. "When I was an art student and lacked inspiration, I'd also visit museums." 

Her award-winning cake was a painstaking recreation in sugar of the ancient chime bells, capturing not only their shape but their spirit.

At the 2018 competition, the astonished "Amazing!" from international visitors left a deep impression on Zou. During that trip, she also visited the British Museum and saw many Chinese treasures that had been taken overseas. It was then that the idea of "telling artifact stories through desserts" truly took root in her mind.

To date, Zou has created over a dozen desserts modeled after various cultural relics, spanning different eras, materials, and forms. Each work requires hundreds of hours: from selecting the artifact, gathering research, to crafting the tiniest details.

Take the "Fu Hao owl-shaped vessel" cake. It took over ten days to complete. The original artifact is adorned with numerous motifs - coiled serpents, taotie (a demoniac beast in Chinese mythology) masks, animal faces - each with its own prominence and meaning. Zou had to carefully separate and imprint each motif, then reproduce them in fondant and assemble them onto the cake. When recreating the sword of King Goujian from the Hubei Museum, she chose chocolate as her medium to mimic the weapon's sharpness and strength.

For Zou, every project - choosing materials, mixing colors, assembling pieces - is a formidable challenge. Yet she has set herself a bold goal: to craft one hundred artifact desserts.

Artifact-inspired dessert "Fu Hao owl-shaped vessel"

Sweetness of culture

Today, many museums are in contact with Zou, hoping to use dessert replicas to bring their collections to a wider audience. Zou said she always begins a new project by visiting the museum itself and listening closely to the stories behind the artifacts. For her, the history and culture behind each piece is even more alluring than the sweetness of the dessert itself.

Beyond the delicious cakes and the mesmerizing process shots, Zou's videos focus on the stories of the artifacts: their origins, the weight of their history, and the tumultuous journeys they have survived through the ages. 

Zou's ambition is clear - to use desserts as a medium to tell the tales of Chinese civilization, to showcase the exquisite craftsmanship, the glorious history, and the limitless creativity of Chinese ancestors.

The outpouring of comments and encouragement from viewers, especially young parents whose children have developed an interest in cultural relics because of her desserts, inspire Zou to persist. She is especially delighted when parents tell her that their children became curious about a particular artifact after watching her videos.

The idea of "artifact-inspired desserts" has gained widespread popularity. Major cultural institutions, including the National Museum of China, have begun offering cakes inspired by precious porcelain and other relics, using food to carry forward the charm of cultural heritage. 

"When I recreate these national treasures using common ingredients, they are no longer distant or unattainable," Zou said.

Through her remarkable blend of culinary art and cultural storytelling, Zou is showing a new generation that the relics of the past can be savored, both with the palate and with the heart.