In my standing tradition of fair cakes, I recreated a piece of art on a cake. This year’s masterpiece was inspired by one of Claude Monet’s water lily paintings. I had a fun time playing around with new techniques to decorate the cake, from hand painting to piping buttercream, even some fondant work.
 Step 1: Glue a 8" Styrofoam cake drum to a 1" think 8" Styrofoam circle to create the base of the cake. |  Step 2: Cover the cake base in buttercream |  Step 3: Cover the cake in blue fondant that the color wasn't fully blended to create the look of water. |
 Step 4: Pipe on green lily pads all over the cake. Add a flower on several of the lily pads. |  Step 5: Using shades of blue and green food coloring thinned with a little vodka to paint all of the blue fondant area. This made it look like a water painting. |  Step 6: Using the same shades of green food coloring at a little extra color to the lily pads. Then place white fondant on a cake board and create board lines and wood grains and paint with brown food coloring thinned with a little vodka. |
 Step 7: Using different sized heart shaped cookie cutters cut out green fondant to make the 3-D lily pads. The green fondants color wasn't blended fully to create the same look as the blue fondant. Attached all over the cake, making sure to cover and problem spots. |  Step 8: Using flower cookie cutters cut out white fondant and layer them and curl them up and a yellow ball of fondant and "glue" in place. To finish the cake use a little light pink food coloring thinned out and add touches to the flowers. Then repeat with a deep green color for the lily pads. |
This cake is truly is a masterpiece!
Update: I got first place!