I first created a cake with this approach for New Years Eve and the process was so freeing that I knew I had to try it again. It’s basically edible art therapy! After posting it on Instagram I got so many requests for a video that I decided to film this one, and I hope it’s as therapeutic to watch as it was to create. If you’re more of a visual learner, this video shows the techniques in action for you to reference as you create one yourself:

The only real decision that’s important to make before you start decorating is choosing your color palette. Each time I’ve used this technique to decorate a cake, I’ve chosen four different colors to make it come to life. I usually start by mixing up one bold mid-toned color, make a darker color to contrast it, then pair those with two lighter pastel colors to use for the spatula painted portions.

It will work with any color palette, so just choose four colors that you’re crazy about and run with it!

You Will Need:

• A frosted cake that’s been chilled
• ½ batch of vanilla buttercream (or other light colored buttercream)
• Food color gels of your choice
• Bowls and spoons for color mixing
• A cake smoother or bench scraper
• A small icing spatula
• Edible Art Paint in Glamorous Gold (optional)
• Food-grade paintbrush (optional)

Step 1: Mix Up A Color Palette

Divide the buttercream into four different bowls, reserving a bit of white buttercream just in case you need to lighten a color. Then, use your food color gels to create the color palette of your choice.

The color gels I used for this specific color palette are all Americolor: Eggplant mixed with Regal Purple for the darkest color, Fuschia for the mid-toned color, Peach and Lilac for the lightest colors.

Step 2: Create Bold Color Swatches

Make sure your cake has been chilled for at least 30 minutes and is firm to the touch before starting the painting process (aka where the fun begins!). Choose two different colors to use as your big, bold swatch colors. I always pick the darkest color and the mid-toned color, but you can use any colors you feel would be the most fitting. One by one, use your small icing spatula to apply color wherever you want on the cake, then use your bench scraper to scrape off the excess and create smooth color swatches.

It’s best to have a few paper towels handy throughout the process, because you’ll need to clean your bench scraper every time you smooth out a color to get a clean finish.

Repeat the process until you’re happy with how many swatches are on your cake, remembering to leave enough blank space for spatula painting.

Step 3: Spatula Paint

Wherever you feel like, use your icing spatula to apply the final two colors, spatula painting them on in strokes. There’s no right or wrong here, so feel free to overlap your color swatches and go with the flow on how long or short your spatula painted strokes end up.

Make sure you clean your icing spatula when switching colors, unless you want the strokes to end up with colors mixed together.

Step 4: Splatter Paint

I absolutely love splatter painting cakes, so I chose to finish the design by splattering some Edible Art Paint in Glamorous Gold all over my colors. You can use any kind of edible paint or luster dust mixed with alcohol for this part, but I love Edible Art Paint because it’s already pre-mixed and ready to go. Just pour a little bit into a bowl, dip a food-grade paintbrush into it, and splatter until you love what you see.

And that’s it! Three different cake decorating techniques combined to make art. The best part is that every cake design you create with this approach will look totally unique, and it’s so easy that you can just relax and enjoy the creative process. I hope painting with buttercream is as therapeutic for you as it is for me!

If you create a cake with this tutorial, I’d LOVE to see your artwork. Be sure to tag me on Instagram to show me!

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I am absolutely over the moon for these color gel pastes and they deserve an entire post all their own. The kit comes with (you guessed it) fifty different colors, and they’re all so good that I probably will never have to spend time mixing custom colors ever again – something I had to do all the time before. Here’s a little video I whipped up to show you the color palette I chose with the spatula painted technique before you read all about it:

Disclaimer: this post does contain some affiliate links, meaning I may receive a small commission if you click them and purchase items I’ve recommended. Using these links won’t cost you any extra money, but they do help to keep Sugar & Sparrow up and running. Thank you for your support!

You Will Need:

• A cake that’s been frosted with smooth buttercream and chilled
• A few cups of tintable buttercream (like vanilla or another light-colored flavor)
• Food color gels of your choosing
• Small icing spatula (I use this one)

Step 1: Start With A Chilled Buttercream Cake

This technique looks beautiful on top of a smooth buttercream surface, especially when you’re only doing it partially down the sides like I am. If you’re planning on covering the entire cake with swipes of buttercream, you could technically start with a crumb coated cake since the entire surface will be covered. Either way, starting with a chilled cake is essential.

Make sure the cake you’re decorating has been chilled for at least 30 minutes and is firm to the touch as a starting point. This way, the swipes of buttercream will adhere perfectly without affecting the buttercream underneath.

Step 2: Mix Up Your Color Palette

Divide your buttercream into separate bowls and tint them with food color gels until you achieve the perfect color palette. The color palette for this specific cake consisted of just five AmeriColor colors that I thought would look pretty together: navy, turquoise, lemon yellow, electric purple, and fuschia. I love the way it turned out!

Feel free to get creative with your color palette, because you can’t really go wrong with this technique! I’ve seen it done beautifully with a monochromatic color palette and the first time I created a cake like this I used varying shades of terracotta, blush, cream and burgundy. Total magic.

Step 3: Apply Your Paint Strokes

One color at a time, use your icing spatula to swipe paint strokes onto the cake in an upward motion. You’ll want them to overlap some, but all in a random pattern.  

When you’re applying the buttercream paint strokes to the top of the cake, swipe the spatula from the outer edge toward the center of the cake and keep the strokes pointed toward the same direction. Like this:

In this particular cake design, I stopped my buttercream paint strokes halfway down the side of the cake with the exception of some smaller, random strokes further down. You can use this technique on the entire cake as an alternative, or just do the sides of the cake and decorate the top with other elements, like a floral arrangement. Whatever look you’re going for, this is such a fun and easy way to add an eye-catching artsy effect! It’s one of my new favorite techniques, and I can’t wait to try it in other color schemes.

Ready to give this technique a try? Tag me on Instagram and show me what you end up creating. I can’t wait to see what fun color palettes and designs you come up with!

The post How To Make A Spatula Painted Cake appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.