Instagram might have made it famous, but the fine art of crafting a delicious pie so intricate you’re almost loathe to cut into its crust is much older than the modern ‘food art’ trend. Centuries ago, the richest and most flamboyant members of high society sought out talented head cooks who could present a sufficiently impressive dining experience filled not just with the finest ingredients, but also edible sculptural wonders.

Conrad Hagger, who worked for the Archbishop of Vienna in the 18th century, wrote a book called ’Neues Saltzburgisches Kochbuch 1719’(The Salzburg Cookbook) that included drawings of pies with elaborate shapes like towering reindeer, sea monsters and swans. And if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you may recall the infamous Pigeon Pie at the fateful Purple Wedding – the monstrous one Joffrey cut into with a sword, releasing live pigeons into the air (psst… here’s a recipe for a replica, minus the live birds.)

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A post shared by Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin (@thepieous)

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A post shared by Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin (@thepieous)

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A post shared by Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin (@thepieous)

It may be rare to see creations of quite that intricacy on the average dinner table today, but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost the art altogether. Pie making has always been among the quiet domestic arts practiced primarily by women, with decorative touches ranging from simple flowers to crusts woven like tapestries. Modern bakers are keeping the tradition alive with more contemporary designs, like those found on the blog and Instagram account Pies are Awesome, who’ve created pies inspired by pop culture phenomena like Stranger Things and Star Wars.

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A post shared by Lauren Ko (@lokokitchen)

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Some of the coolest modern pies come from bakers Lauren Ko and Karen Pfeiff Boschek, whose work is almost mathematical in its precision. While some of the designs fare better than others post-baking (in one of her Instagram posts, Ko admits that Boschek is better practiced at this, calling her a “butter sorceress”), all of the designs are sure to drop jaws at the table.

Ukrainian pastry chef Dnara Kasko is at it again, this time with an algorithmically-modeled desert made up of 81 distinctly shaped pieces.

Kakso drew inspiration from artists and engineers and used Grasshopper, a digital program, to create a fresh take on a traditional pyramid cake.

Inside: each slice features mousse, ganache, and meringue of chocolate ruby. The berry confit at the center is complimented by a biscuit below.

But this is far from the chef’s first creation. Kasko is known for artistic collaborations and the use of modeling programs to play with materials, shapes and gravity.

Above: The Streusel — an almond sponge cake, confit blackberry-blueberry, mousse with blackberry and mascarpone tart .

In many cases, the results are starkly architectural, looking like Postmodern or Deconstructivist structures designed by the likes of Venturi, Gehry or Libiskind. Reportedly, they taste quite amazing as well.

Laser engraving wraps all the way around these clever and customizable pins, creating anything from robots and dinosaurs to mazes and words to liven up your edible creations.

In addition to animal, geometric and typographical themes, Valek Rolling Pins offers fully-custom options as well as designs sorted by holiday and season, including Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

The pins are placed on a rotating spindle and then laser-engraved with a choice of patterns, the process leaving the wood char-darkened in the resulting voids against the lighter starting surface.

Aside from the appealing marks they make on dough for cookies, pies and otherwise, the patterns also add a display dimension for those who keep their rolling pins visible when not in use. In addition to the cute effects in this case, this array of options is also a good reminder of the non-standard creative possibilities for laser-etching technologies.

Why settle for a round cookie when you could have one shaped like the Eiffel Tower? Italian designer Italo Ottinetti enables us to snack on all of Europe’s most iconic architecture with ‘City Cookies‘, a cookie cutter set in a wooden ‘landscape’.

Each of the six stainless steel cookie presses represents a European nation’s most recognizable monument – can you name them all?

The set is available for purchase at Apparecchiare La Citta, which also offers a meat mallet in the shape of an Ionic-style column and a miniature landscape that’s actually a functioning cheese board, with cheese knives hidden within a mountain.

Wedding cakes are the ultimate showpiece for any skilled baker. No matter how amazing one’s cakes are when making the typical elegant creation that most brides and grooms want, the real test is how one handles a more creative request.

(Images via the-weddingdresses, weirdomatic, wedding-cake, gearfuse, stressawaybridal, graphicshunt)

The easiest way to make a cake out of the ordinary is to top it with a creative bride and groom. Everyone is familiar with the standard couple standing stately at the top of an elegant cake, but how about the bride carrying the groom? Or the two fighting off a wave of cake zombies?

(Images via theukweddingshows, squirrelsviews)

Videogame nerds often marry videogame nerds. The result? Videogame wedding cakes that blow the lid of wedding cake conventions.

(Images via sudhiart, sudhiart, weddingandcakes, tie-the-knot-blog)

Giving a baker some creative license can yield the most interesting cakes of all. Giant war ships on the open sea, luggage to showcase the couple’s mutual love of travel, or entire scenes from their lives can be sculpted and eaten by an excited wedding party.

(Images via sclick, greatwhitesnark, getinmahbelly, sclick)

A Star Wars wedding cake is arguably the best idea anyone has ever had. Clearly several people have decided to go this route, as the variety of cakes is broad and the quality, fantastic.

(Images via askginka, fandomania, thebrideguides, prepare-to-wed)

Some creative wedding cakes are quite a bit on the quirky side. One assumes that some of these creations are groom’s cakes, which tend to have more flexibility for fun versus elegance.

(Images via zitamok, steampunkcostume)

Here are two cakes that will cause a stir. An intricate leaning tower of Pisa and a steampunk-styled creation are both eye-catching conversation starters. The only difficulty is how to cut them!

(Images via wiccanmakesometoo, weddinggo, weddingwire, brideorama)

Yes, Goths do get married, and yes, they do have gothic-themed wedding cakes. Some are able to capture an elegant balance between dark and light, while some go even more macabre with icing that looks a lot like blood…

(Images via yowazzup, knotforlife, wedding-cakes-for-you)

So many girls have dreams of their perfect wedding, and they also have dreams of marrying their own prince charming in the process. Why not combine the two and display the fulfillment of these goals with a giant castle cake? These towering creations are eye-catching and look like a lot of fun to eat.

(Images via funzu, newsfeed, wedding-gallery)

Some wedding couples either have a great sense of humor, or a lot of latent aggression. These cakes are a bit hostile, to say the least, but they succeed in their aim: to grab everyone’s attention!