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How To Paint A Watercolor Cake

June 20, 2013 by Allison Kelleher

How to Paint a Watercolor Cake! A peek into the creative process using edible paints and lemon extract with our contributor, Allison Kelleher.

How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com
How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com

How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com

Lately, I’ve been playing around with ‘watercolor’ painting – the traditional technique – very much like you would do on paper – but without paper or water!  When I came across this lovely Rex Ray painting, I knew it would be the perfect inspiration.  The colors are so fresh and pretty, and they blend together beautifully.

Rex Ray Painting | Watercolor Cake Inspiration | TheCakeBlog.com

It took a little trial and error to figure out how to create a ‘watercolor painting’ on fondant – in the end, I realized that the key to the process is drying time – and lots of it!

How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com

To start off, I rolled out a pretty thin piece of fondant and let it sit out a bit.  I mixed lemon extract with edible petal dust in shades of fuchsia, two tones of yellow, bright green and a subdued lavender; then I painted.  When you use a lot of lemon extract, you get all sorts of interesting shapes and colors.  But it can take several hours to dry. While I chose to use lemon extract, any clear extract or clear alcohol like vodka will work as well.

How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com

When the fondant is easy enough to handle, cut into shapes and apply to your cake.  Design-wise, I used a free-form, organic aesthetic but then contained it within the stripes.

How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com

How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com

I really enjoyed the process of painting – it was fun (and different) for me. It was a nice change from my more structured Modern Mosaic Cakes. With no rules, no right or wrong way to do it, there’s no need to be precise! I hope you give this watercolor technique a try.

How to paint a Watercolor Cake | by Allison Kelleher for TheCakeBlog.com

 


 

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Buttercream Watercolor Painted Cake
10 Watercolor Cakes
Metallic Watercolor Cake
Pink Grapefruit Cake with Watercolor Buttercream
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Cake with Watercolor Buttercream

June 20, 2013 by Allison Kelleher

Allison Kelleher , CONTRIBUTOR

Allison Kelleher is the owner + baker at AK Cake Design in Portland, OR. She loves color, pattern, texture, and all things sweet. Read more about Allison on her bio page

connect with Allison :

Make the most of citrus season with one of these cake recipes!

« Fairy Birthday Cake
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Comments

  1. Bellenza Wedding Bistro says

    June 20, 2013 at 9:02 am

    Such a pretty “marbled” effect! Lovely technique. 🙂

  2. Pamela says

    June 20, 2013 at 9:44 am

    Absolutely love everything about this. Gorgeous in every way.

  3. Moira Ferguson says

    June 20, 2013 at 10:37 am

    I have been painting portraits, scenes and flowers directly onto cake and cookies…..so much fun! and looks fantastic

  4. Lisa says

    June 20, 2013 at 1:46 pm

    So cool…cake decorating is truly an art form! I love this watercolor technique for fondant. Will be trying to find an excuse to try this soon!

  5. Edith Musch says

    June 20, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    Lovely! But I was wondering: instead of lemonjuice, couldn’t you use clear alcohol, like vodka? I suspect it wouldn’t take as long to dry either.

    • Carrie Sellman says

      July 8, 2013 at 9:45 am

      Yes, any clear extract or clear alcohol would work as well!

  6. Marcus S says

    June 20, 2013 at 4:58 pm

    beautiful…must try this one!

  7. Amanda says

    June 20, 2013 at 7:16 pm

    Love this idea. Before I read I thought the strips were DIY white chocolate vellum. But this is great! Inspired…

  8. Allison Kelleher says

    June 20, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    Thank you all for your sweet comments!

  9. Catherine says

    June 21, 2013 at 2:03 pm

    Hello Allison,
    This is so remarkable! I just looooove it! Thank you for your generosity in sharing your BEAUTIFUL technique. Can I ask what you applied your painted fondant panels to? Was it buttercream or a fondant-covered cake? What type of covered cakes will this work with? Thank you!!!

    • Allison Kelleher says

      June 25, 2013 at 12:21 am

      Hi Catherine,
      Thank you so much! I applied my stripes to a fondant covered cake, but it would work just as well if they were applied to buttercream. Just make sure the buttercream is cold, so you have a firm surface to work on. 🙂
      Have fun!

  10. Elena says

    July 19, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    I am in love with this cake — the design and overall watercolor effect is just lovely!

  11. Renae Heineck says

    July 26, 2013 at 11:42 am

    Allison-

    Thanks for the inspiration! I have a dummy cake to make for a venue and I hadn’t decided on design, now I have. I’ll create the watercolor in blues/greens and accent with a white lotus flower. Thanks for kick starting this design for me. When Erin Fale, from Sugarhouse Cake and I meet for coffee, she talks about your designs and how beautiful they are, and she’s right.

    Here’s to wedding season being over soon 😉 ~ Renae

  12. Rose says

    July 31, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    Hi,
    Thanks for sharing this piece of art, it’s wonderful the way you’ve applied watercolour painting to decorating a cake. The photographs are beautifully done, too – it makes the process look fun (and achievable!)

  13. Renae Heineck says

    September 10, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    Just finished the 3-tier cake with this technique! It was easy and came together beautifully. The trick is letting the fondant get a bit of a “skin” on it before painting. I also sprinkled the luster/petal dust onto the wet lemon extract for effect. I loved the colors so much, with the left over colored fondant scraps I cut out flowers. I really enjoyed implementing this technique into my decorating. Thanks so much Allison.

  14. sue l. says

    January 19, 2014 at 9:30 am

    can you use other types of paints or just the dust type and maybe vodka ? this cake is beautiful I love the idea of painting them makes them even more special no two alike ! thanks for sharing to all of us =)

  15. Leeann says

    May 15, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    Truly a work of art! Thanks for sharing. If I wanted to decorate a ruffled cake, could I use the same method and ruffle the strips after it has dried or would you paint on fondant strips which have already been hardened slightly and ruffled? Thanks!!

  16. Camille says

    June 26, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    When I first tried this I used Everclear and a make-up sponge and it came out beautiful. Then I tried vodka and it was a terrible sticky mess. I don’t know why; it could have been any number of factors. This was just my experience. I love this modern technique and style of cake!

    • Dora Moreno says

      July 23, 2014 at 6:23 pm

      I believe Everclear has a higher alcohol content since it is a grain alcohol. That would make it dry faster than Vodka, thus avoiding the sticky mess!

  17. Tannah says

    July 11, 2014 at 4:36 am

    Just wondering if you would be able to use powdered food colouring instead of petal dust and still achieve the same result?

  18. Brunda says

    January 6, 2015 at 10:19 pm

    I so happy to see this. My doubt is can I use cocoa butter with gel colours to paint on buttercream fondant. Does this makes any difference. As I am not user of alcohol. R same thing as you said using lemon juice. Please reply. Thank for beautiful blog

  19. Eloise says

    January 8, 2015 at 5:04 am

    What brand of petal dust do you use? And what colours are you using for this cake? The colours work so well together, it looks so beautiful!!!

    Thank you 🙂 xxx

  20. colette says

    April 28, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    Beaituful cake! Does the fondant become very hard after drying for so long?

  21. Emily says

    August 1, 2016 at 3:26 am

    so beautiful! If you use vodka instead of water or lemon extract it will cut the drying time in half (and you won’t taste the vodka)

  22. bp says

    August 19, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    I really need a tutorial on HOW you water colored this. My painting looks terrible! Any tips? Please?

  23. Teresa says

    July 15, 2018 at 11:49 am

    Hi, do you have any instructions on how to make the lovely flower on the top of the cake?

Trackbacks

  1. Watercolor Baby Shower Ideas – Babync – Baby's world says:
    November 11, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    […] Here’s another watercolor cake beauty by AK Cake Design via The Cake Blog. […]

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