Art Attack: Incredible Cake Painting To Inspire You

If you want to create a cake that is beautiful and truly unique then you have to try cake painting. Think of each cake as a blank canvas, just waiting for you to create wonderful images on it. Of course like painting on a canvas there are different tools and techniques you’ll need to master if you want to achieve certain effects. And don’t think of cake painting as only something for the already artistic. With just a few pots of colour paste, some brushes and a little bit of care anyone can make a painted cake to be proud of.

To give you some inspiration we’ve collected together ten incredible painted cakes from around the internet. We’ve also offered some hints and tips throughout the article to help you on your cake painting journey.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your brush and get painting!

Geometric Valentine’s Cake

When you’re getting started with cake painting it’s always a good idea to start with something fairly basic. The large shapes and bold colours of this Valentine’s cake from 100 Layer Cake make it the ideal starter project. You’ll be able to get used to the basic techniques and get a feel for how colour paste can be applied to Ready To Roll Icing. Remember to make sure that your icing is fully hardened before beginning to paint.

Orchid Cake

This wedding cake from the incredible Sen Cakes is a true work of art. To achieve the detail here you’ll need to use brushes of various gauges. You can use standard commercial artist’s brushes for this. Use heavier brushes to block out the darker areas and finer points to get those wonderful petal lines. You can use brown colour paste to get this finish, or try your hand at cocoa painting, where you mix cocoa powder and cocoa butter to make a brown liquid that you can then use as paint.

Hand Painted Valentine’s Cupcakes

What could be cuter on Valentine’s Day than a selection of exquisitely painted cupcakes to share with your loved one? These beautiful little cupcakes by Three Little Blackbirds Cakes are wonderfully intricate. While some may be able to achieve this kind of look freehand, we’d recommend outlining the basic shapes first with a scriber. Because you’re painting in a very tight space you’ll definitely need to use a very fine brush too.

Parisienne Cake

There’s quite a lot of detail on this French-themed cake that comes courtesy of Nevie-Pie Cakes. If you’re not a natural artist then some of images may be difficult to achieve, such as the well-proportioned figures. Remember to keep it simple, if you overreach you may end up ruining your cake. For the Eiffel Tower you’ll need to first paint the icing with a pink wash and allow it to dry before layering the black colouring on top to give that famous outline.

Happy Couple Cake

We just love the simplicity of this painted cake from Marie’s Bakehouse. The brilliant white icing, the bold red of the hearts and the delightfully cute and happy couple all add up to make a really striking cake. This kind of stylised painting is great for first timers because it’s using easy, familiar forms that almost anyone can execute.

Rose Cupcake

When painting very small detailed work like this exquisite rose cupcake top from Murray Me you’ll definitely need a fine brush with a very small point. It’s vital that the plaque is totally dry before you commence, otherwise the colours will leach into the icing and spread around ruining the fine lines that make this rose so beautiful.

Paisley Cake

Talk about intricate and detailed! This paisley wedding cake from Highland Bakery takes it to a new level. If you want to replicate this kind of design we’d definitely recommend sketching it out on paper first and then outlining on the cake. Notice how some of the colours are very bold and opaque, while others are lighter with a translucent look to them? To achieve the pastel tones you can add super white powder to your colours, and you can use water or clear alcohol to thin out the colours.

Black Lace Wedding Cake

The Caketress created this sumptuous wedding cake based on a client’s request. The intricacies of the lace pattern are absolutely incredible (you can see detail shots on The Caketress’ blog). When you get to this level of detail you need some real artistic flair, as well as incredible patience. This is definitely the kind of design where you’ll need to work in layers, building up the design’s complexity as you go from the bold, black outlines to the fine gossamer-like translucent sections.

Secret Garden

The flowers on this cake by Nadia & Co. are so realistically rendered you almost feel like you could reach out and pluck them. This life like quality is enhanced by the careful use of real flowers. There’s no easy tip to help you achieve this kind of quality, just a lot of hard work. Remember to always practise any effects you want to achieve on some spare Ready To Roll Icing to get an idea for how your colour paste is going to behave. It’ll save you a lot of tears (and wasted icing).

Butterfly and Flower Cake

Wow! There’s so much going on with this creation from J’Adore Cakes: beautiful sugar crafted flowers, butterfly toppers and delicate hand painted decoration. It’s a cake fancier’s dream. Again, if you want to try this kind of flowing, organic look it will help to sketch out your design on paper first and then transfer it to the cake using a scriber.

We hope these stunning works of cake painting have inspired you to try your hand at painting a cake. Be sure to share your creations with us via Twitter and Facebook, we would love to see them.