Watercolour Cake

Bring the colour to any celebration with this seriously vibrant cake! Celebrate a special birthday or occasion with this floral showstopper.

Brought to you by Neetha Syam from Buttercream Petals Cake Art School

Bring the colour to any celebration with this seriously vibrant cake!

Celebrate a special birthday or occasion with this showstopper by Neetha Syam from Buttercream Petals Art School.

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You will need

For the cake

20cm (8in) double barrel cake

To decorate

uncoloured buttercream (cream)
green buttercream (Wilton Dark Green)
yellow buttercream (Wilton Yellow)
pink buttercream (Wilton Rosa)
blue buttercream (Wilton Royal Blue)
ivory buttercream (Wilton Ivory)
Wilton gel colours
pearl dragees

Equipment

palette knife
cake smoother
piping bags
scissors
Wilton nozzles: 352, 125, 104, 103
flower nail
greaseproof paper

Instructions

Apply uncoloured (cream) buttercream onto the 20cm (8in) barrel cake and roughly smooth it. Use a palette knife to apply strokes of different coloured buttercream (I used pink and yellow) onto the cake. Run a cake smoother around the cake just once to give a watercolour effect.

Prepare a piping bag with nozzle No.125 and fill it with half pink buttercream and half uncoloured cream buttercream. Prepare another piping bag with nozzle No.104 and fill it with blue buttercream. Stick a square of greaseproof paper onto the flower nail using a little buttercream.

Now position the nozzle at a 30-degree angle, the wider end touching the flower nail and narrow end facing upwards. Apply firm pressure to release a fan-shaped petal, making sure to keep the centre of the flower intact. Pipe the second petal a third of the way into the already piped petal.

Repeat the process, piping two similar smaller shaped petals on top of the pink petals using the blue piping bag fitted with nozzle No.104.

Pipe a third blue petal, like a semi-circle. Finish off the flower by piping stamens in the middle of the flower; position the piping bag with grass nozzle and yellow buttercream perpendicular, then apply firm pressure to release short spikes of buttercream.

Prepare a piping bag with nozzle No.103 and fill it with yellow buttercream. Stick a piece of square greaseproof paper on top of a flower nail with some buttercream.

Now position the nozzle at a 30-degree angle, the wider end touching the flower nail and narrow end facing upwards. Apply firm pressure to release a fan-shaped petal, ensuring to keep the centre of the flower intact. Pipe the second petal, a third of the way into the already piped petal.

Pipe two upright petals, ensuring to keep the centre of the flower intact.

Prepare a piping bag with uncoloured buttercream and cut a small hole at the end. Finish off the flower by piping 2 short spikes of stamen in the middle of the flower between the 2 upright petals.

Arrange the piped blooms in a tray, then leave it in the freezer for 10 minutes, or until firm to touch.

Place the frozen blooms on the cake and attach it firmly using a toothpick.

Prepare a piping bag with No.352 nozzle and fill it with green buttercream.

Pipe leaves around the flowers by positioning the nozzle at a 30-degree angle and applying firm pressure to release a good amount of buttercream; form the base of a leaf-shaped petal, then gently pull away, decreasing pressure, to create a neat tapered end.

Using a piping bag with ivory buttercream and a small hole at the end, add textures on the cake. Finish with dragees.