Floral Cake Design: Paint with Cocoa Butter
A course by Emily Hankins, Wedding Cake Designer
Learn how to paint striking tropical flowers onto sugarpaste using colored cocoa butter to create spectacular cake designs
Cakes are often the centerpiece of any memorable celebration, whether it’s a wedding, a birthday, or a baby shower. Designer Emily Hankins has taken advantage of this opportunity to push the boundaries between baking and art, creating beautiful masterpieces that are meant to be as ephemeral as the moments they symbolize. With delicate hand-painted florals, her cakes have witnessed endless milestones and been featured in well-known publications like Cake Masters Magazine.
In this online course, learn to create unforgettable cakes with stunning, hand-painted flowers. Emily walks you through the entire process, from the initial design to the final delivery, showing you how to use cocoa butter to paint your artwork onto a sugarpaste base. Turn cakes into your canvas and craft sweet memories with bold floral compositions.
What will you learn in this online course?
19 lessons & 18 downloads
What's included in this course?
Start by getting to know Emily as she reveals how she went from graphic designer to cake designer and discover the influences that have inspired her work.
Familiarize yourself with the materials and equipment you need before sketching out your idea in a coherent and well-composed design. Learn to apply sugarpaste onto the surface of your cake to lay down a smooth base and then transfer your drawing onto it using a digital template.
Grab your brushes and mix your cocoa butter with edible dust colors to make your paint. Create a large hibiscus step by step, focusing on layering and shading techniques. Move on to the medium-sized and small filler flowers, finishing up with the foliage to frame your florals and make them pop.
Once your creation is complete, learn how to dowel, box, and deliver it. Emily wraps up by walking you through the entire process using a real client’s brief as a case study, from the sketch to the final product.
- 100% positive reviews (53)
- 3,179 students
- 19 lessons (3h 53m)
- 18 additional resources (6 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, Spanish (Latam), French, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Paint vibrant florals onto a tiered cake using colored cocoa butter.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to expand their cake-decorating skills and try their hand at cocoa-butter painting.
Requirements and materials
Familiarity with cake baking is required, as this course focuses on the painting aspect of the process.
As for materials, you need sugarpaste, cocoa butter, dust colors, paintbrushes, a plate, a bowl, a scalpel, a rolling pin, side smoothers, a turntable, pins, and parchment paper.
Reviews
Emily Hankins
A course by Emily Hankins
Emily Hankins is a UK-based cake designer specialized in edible, hand-painted decorations. Originally a graphic designer, she was passionate about illustration and design but eager to express her creativity with a more hands-on craft. That’s when she fell in love with cake design, initially baking for friends and family until she started her own business in 2012.
Besides creating custom pieces for her clients, Emily teaches cake-painting classes nationally and internationally at institutions like Cakeology in India and Cake International in the UK. She was named one of UK’s top 10 cake artists by Cake Masters Magazine, and she regularly writes for Cakes & Sugarcraft Magazine and American Cake Decorating Magazine. She is also one of the co-authors of Designer Cake Decorating, a collection of contemporary techniques.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Preparation before Painting
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Materials
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Researching the Idea and Sketching Out the Design
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Covering the Cake and Creating the Canvas 1
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Covering the Cake and Creating the Canvas 2
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Transferring the Design onto the Cake 1
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Transferring the Design onto the Cake 2
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U3
Painting the Cake
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Mixing the Cocoa Butter Paint
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Painting the Largest Flower: The Hibiscus 1
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Painting the Largest Flower: The Hibiscus 2
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Painting the Largest Flower: The Hibiscus 3
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Painting the Medium-Sized Flower: The Alstroemeria 1
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Painting the Medium-Sized Flower: The Alstroemeria 2
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Painting the Filler Flowers: The Gloriosa ‘Flame’ Lily
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Painting the Foliage 1
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Painting the Foliage 2
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U4
Creating Real Wedding Cakes
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Doweling, Boxing, and Delivering the Cake
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Real Client Brief
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FP
Final project
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Floral Cake Design: Paint with Cocoa Butter
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
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Certificates
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Get front-row seats
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
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Watch professionally produced courses
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FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for intermediate cake decorators who have basic experience with cake covering and want to develop advanced painting and finishing skills.
You'll need sugar paste, cocoa butter, edible dust pigments, fine brushes, flexi and hard smoothers, dowels, a turntable, parchment paper, scribing tools, and access to a digital tool like Inkscape for template creation.
You will learn cocoa butter painting, flawless cake covering, template transfer, doweling, floral and foliage composition, color mixing, and professional cake delivery techniques.
Yes, the course includes step-by-step guidance for painting realistic flowers and foliage using cocoa butter and edible pigments, focusing on shading, layering, and detail.
Yes, you’ll master techniques for covering cakes seamlessly with sugar paste, using flexi smoothers for sharp edges and a flawless, polished finish.
Yes, the course covers creating digital templates from hand-drawn sketches, resizing and printing them, and transferring designs onto cakes with parchment and scribing tools.
Basic familiarity with digital tools like Inkscape is helpful, but the course provides instructions on how to use them for cake template creation and resizing.
Her detayıyla anlatım ve eğitmenin sıcaklığı hiç sıkılmadan izlememi sağladı ❤️
Good course i recommend it.
Great information so far
Je suis cake designer et j’utilise les colorants hydrosolubles en appliquant la méthode aquarelle … et je trouve que cette technique en beurre de cacao donnera encore brillance à mes créations je vais absolument l’essayer, merci pour ce cours magnifique ❤️
increíble
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