An Auckland-based foodie has taken her passion for delicious creations to a whole new level.
Hazel Zakariya recently discovered she has a hidden talent for turning simple smoothie ingredients into beautiful works of art.
"I use lots of fruits and vegetables and super food powders like spirulina, activated coconut charcoal," says Ms Zakariya.
After blending a smoothie base, she uses a knife and wooden skewers to paint incredible life-like images.
"It started as an accident really, because I was initially trying to get some coconut cream swirls on a pumpkin soup, and it didn't work out as planned, but I basically saw it as an opportunity to turn it into something else."
Ms Zakariya used coconut cream and pesto to create a tree on top of the pumpkin soup, and that was how she discovered her knack for food art.
Now her Instagram page is filled with dozens of creations, with animals being her specialty. Her cat, Sparta, has made several appearances.
But Ms Zakariya loves to challenge herself with human figures, which she says are much more complicated.
"It can take anywhere from one to six hours," she says.
But it's time well spent - she now has more than 22,000 Instagram followers and was recently featured on Vogue's website and Martha Stewart.
"I feel really happy to share all the love and joy that I put into these and to share that with everyone."
And while most people might think Ms Zakariya's creations are too pretty to eat, she doesn't have any trouble digging in to her hard work at the end.
Newshub.
