Novelty and Fantasy Cakes Recipes - Artist's Cake

Ingredients

• 20cm square rich fruit cake

• 45ml apricot jam, warmed and sieved

• 450g marzipan

• 800g sugar paste icing

• 115g royal icing

• chestnut, yellow, blue, black, silver, paprika, green and mulberry food coloring

• 25cm square cake board

• fine paint brush

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Method:

1. Brush the cake with the apricot jam. Cover in marzipan and leave to dry overnight.

2. Make a template of a painter's palette that will fit the cake top. Tint 175g/6oz/generous 1 cup of the sugar-paste very pale chestnut. Cut out the palette shape, place on greaseproof paper and leave to dry overnight.

3. Tint 450g/11b/3 cups of the sugar-paste icing dark chestnut. Use to cover the cake. Secure the cake on the board with royal icing. Leave to dry.

4. Divide half the remaining sugar-paste icing into seven equal parts and Tint yellow, blue, black, silver, paprika, green and mulberry. Make all the decorative pieces for the box and palette, using the remaining white sugar-paste for the paint tubes. Leave to dry on greaseproof paper.

5. Paint black markings on the paint tubes and chestnut wood markings on the box.

6. Position all the sugar-paste pieces on the cake and board using royal icing. Leave to dry.