British bakers create cake art for Stylist

...and Paul Hollywood judges the best

For our art issue, we got the nation’s best bakers to recreate six classics, using icing for paint and sponge as their canvas.

There is something about The Great British Bake Off that has the Stylist office in its grip. From the gravity-defying sponges to the beautifully crafted cupcakes, TGBBO, which is back on BBC2 on Tuesday nights, has elevated baking into an art form. So, we asked the UK’s best bakers to recreate six masterpieces in cake form, then asked the show’s exacting master baker Paul Hollywood to judge the finished pieces…

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, baked by Bea’s of Bloomsbury

Overall presentation: “The composition is perfect.”

Likeness to artwork: “It’s fabulously like the original and I like its flamboyance.”

Technique: “It’s very intricate and I love the use of real and sugar flowers.”

Score: 8/10

Spot Paintings by Damien Hirst, baked by Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery and curated by Miss Cakehead

Overall presentation: “This is beautiful and striking.”

Likeness to artwork: “The cupcakes are all in line, and the colours are well matched.”

Technique: “All 143 cupcakes are perfectly sized and iced, which is quite a feat.”

Score: 8/10

Happy Butterfly Day by Andy Warhol, baked by Peggy Porschen

Overall presentation: “This is a beautiful design presented perfectly.”

Likeness to artwork: “It’s impressive and I like how the print has been interpreted.”

Technique: “The individual butterflies are marvellous.”

Score: 8/10

Composition with red, yellow, blue and black by Piet Mondrian, baked by TGBBO winner Ed Kimber

Overall presentation: “Fabulous – a clever idea and an impressive cake.”

Likeness to artwork: “The colour scheme is spot on.”

Technique: “The layout is near perfect to the original.”

Score: 7/10

The Scream by Edvard Munch, baked by Konditor and Cook

Overall presentation: “Incredibly vivid.”

Likeness to artwork: “It’s a bold piece of art to tackle. I like the way the colours from the background of the painting have been used for the body of the cake.”

Technique: “Very impressive.”

Score: 9/10

Water Lilies by Claude Monet, baked by Jenni Powell, Two Little Cats Bakery and curated by Miss Cakehead

Overall presentation: “Impressive.”

Likeness to artwork: “It’s not 100% accurate, but it is a difficult painting to take on.”

Technique: “The colour scheme is fabulous and I like the use of watercolours.”

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