The Picasso cake

As I mentioned in my earlier post, this cake is based on a painting by Pablo Picasso. It was commissioned by the husband of the artist Rayne Bellinger.

I was debating between painting directly on the cake or creating an icing collage. Ultimately, I opted for the second approach as it seemed more in character with the artist. Picasso was one of the originators of the word ‘collage‘ and used this method in his Cubist paintings. Besides, this painting depicts love as two bodies becoming one – so it is really about two lovers kissing rather than just one sitting on the armchair.

The cake was a rectangular Victoria sponge which was covered in white icing.

The individual colours on the painting were achieved by mixing small portions of icing with different colours to get to the correct shades.

Paper stencils for each part were cut out from a printed picture.

Cutting out parts

Part of the face

Cutouts assembled

The different colours were then rolled out and cut to the correct shape of the stencils.

The main areas were marked out on the white cake using tracings on parchment paper. Using these guidelines, the individual parts were assembled together like a jigsaw.

Icing assembled on cake

Finishing touches such as shaded areas, features on the face and other lines were then painted on.

Finishing touches

Finally, a wood-like icing frame was placed around the picture to give it a painting-like effect.

The finished cake was indeed my masterpiece!

The original painting

The Picasso cake