Using palette knives to create a textured paint effect has been such a popular trend lately. And for good reason, all these buttercream painted cakes are so beautiful! I may or may not get sucked into a rabbit hole of painted cakes on Pinterest on a weekly basis…
Anyways, this is great decorating technique for beginners because it’s very abstract and doesn’t require a lot of precision.
Buttercream Painting Tools:
You can find palette knives at the local craft store, but spoons and (clean) paint brushes also work well if you don’t want to buy special tools.
On the other hand, you can get as detailed with this painting style as you like. In the video below you’ll see how I made four different flower types. For even more inspiration, try searching terms such as “oil painting flowers,” “palette knife flowers,” and “impasto painting.”
How much buttercream do you need for palette knife painting?
You only need a very small amount of buttercream for this technique! For the six inch cake in my video I doubt I even used a cup of buttercream. If you frost a cake and only have a little frosting left, this would be a great way to use up the last of it!
I used the back of a sheet tray to mix up my colors, and it also worked well as a surface to practice on before I painted on my actual cake.
What type of buttercream works for painting?
I used my Italian Meringue Buttercream for this technique, but you could definitely use any type of frosting. (Another reason why this painting technique is great for beginners.)
Four Ways to Paint Flowers:
Daisy: Using a long, thin palette knife, pick up a small amount of white frosting. Press the frosting directly onto the cake, then drag the palette knife away from its point without lifting up to create a petal. Repeat this pattern until you have your desired amount of petals.
Use the very tip of the palette knife to dab yellow frosting into the center of the flower.
Use either a paintbrush or the edge of the palette knife to paint a thin line of green frosting for the stem.
Spoon Painted Flowers: Use the back of a small spoon to pick up a dab of frosting. Press the frosting onto the back and pull away from the end of the spoon to create a petal. You can paint these petals with space between them or layer them together to get a different effect.
Poppies: Using a palette knife, start with a lighter shade of the color you want to work with. (I chose a peachy/orange color). Smear the lighter color onto your cake in a semicircle shape. Next, grab a slightly darker color and use the palette knife to smear it underneath your first semicircle, with the top slightly overlapping. Use the very tip of your palette knife to dot a much darker color into the center of the flower.
Dot flowers: Grab a small amount of green frosting on your palette knife, then press down and lift directly up without dragging the knife to create a stem. Repeat until you have a small cluster of stems. Next, use the very tip of your palette knife to dab small dots of pink (or whatever color you like) frosting among the stems.
And that’s it! If you try this technique tag me @bakingbutterlylove on Instagram and hashtag it #bakingbutterlylove. I’m so excited to see what you create!
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