As the nights draw in and the weather turns colder, it's also time for an annual autumnal comfort – the Great British Bake Off!
In 2018, we thought it would be fun to join in with this most British of institutions. We asked all of you to take part in an art bake off.
Each week had a different artistic theme, and you can see some of the results on our Twitter feed under the hashtag #artbakeoff.
We started with Pop Art in week one – from Andy Warhol to Keith Haring:
There's still time to share your Pop Art bakes for this week's #artbakeoff theme. Have a look at these beeeeautiful biscuits by Lindsey Gazel (@lindseygazel on Instagram). pic.twitter.com/zmt2r6c8mp
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) August 30, 2018
#ARTBAKEOFF Week 1: Pop Art #KeithHaring #GBBO @ferrengipson @BritishBakeOff @artukdotorg pic.twitter.com/kPc1FArlaP
— Sartle. Art History (@Sartle) August 28, 2018
Our Head of Content ( @andrew_shore) gives our logo the Pop Art treatment for this week's #artbakeoff theme.
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) August 28, 2018
Maybe you can try your own Pop Art #GBBOTwitterBakeAlong while you watch #GBBO tonight pic.twitter.com/ywodF91v1m
And then it was the turn of the Old Masters in week two – from frescoes to Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man:
This #artbakeoff cake was done by our Art Detective Officer, Marion. The idea was to recreate a fresco of the Madonna and Child at San Domenico, Fiesole, c.1430. Marion painstakingly poked out the design and, as you can see, it went down a treat! pic.twitter.com/SI0sy8en33
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) September 7, 2018
This cake is TRULY a masterpiece unto itself! The maker of this cake, Sophie, isn't on Twitter, but her husband (@Andrew_shore) submitted this amazing design on her behalf for our #artbakeoff.
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) September 4, 2018
This week's theme is Old Masters – share your bakes and join in on the fun!#GBBO pic.twitter.com/NegJpobQxI
Week three saw bakers tackling British artists – from George Stubbs and Edwin Landseer to the more contemporary Tracey Emin:
Whistlejacket (after George Stubbs)
Whistlejacket (after George Stubbs, and after being partly eaten)
For the British artists #artbakeoff we've depicted a detail from our own 'Man Proposes, God Disposes' (1864) by Edwin Landseer, Queen Victoria's favourite animal artist. The picture imagines the lost Franklin expedition of 1845. @artukdotorg @RHUL_Library @RoyalHolloway pic.twitter.com/zfUOCxQoJs
— RHUL Art Collections & Exhibitions (@RHUL_Gallery) September 11, 2018
The level of talent and creativity for our #artbakeoff is amazing! For this week's British Artists theme, @olipcouk did a take on @TraceyEmin's 'My bed', made of ciabatta... A bread bed, if you will
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) September 13, 2018
(next week's theme is Cubism) pic.twitter.com/cPGEsViuVj
Week four was Cubism, and this three-dimensional cake wonder:
Continuing on our theme of Cubism, this #artbakeoff submission is by @ksenblokhina. It's the first thing she's ever baked and is a 'meta' representation of a Cubist cake.
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) September 21, 2018
Join in for next week's theme of Impressionism and Post Impressionism! pic.twitter.com/FinQoKJSIu
Week five was Impressionism/Post-Impressionism, which saw Van Gogh and others in fondant and buttercream:
This submission for the #artbakeoff by Freya Spoor is a culinary recreation of Vincent van Gogh's 'Almond Blossom', painted in 1890. I wonder if it tastes like almonds
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) September 26, 2018
This week's baking theme is Impressionism and Post Impressionism, and next week's is self portraits. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/mx0ENiC00s
#ARTBAKEOFF Week 5: Impressionism and Post impressionism. #GBBO @ferrengipson @BritishBakeOff @artukdotorg pic.twitter.com/RZ1aiLuCW5
— Sartle. Art History (@Sartle) September 25, 2018
Week six featured self portraits (although the contestants on the actual show did biscuit selfies earlier in the series!):
Art UK's very own Ferren Gipson and her self portrait in biscuit form
We then moved on to the weird and wonderful world of Surrealism. Dali and Magritte featured heavily!
Here's another stunning submission for the #artbakeoff on this week's theme of Surrealism. This cake is by one of our Sculpture Coordinators, Christine Blackburn, and was inspired by Magritte.
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) October 12, 2018
Next week's theme is Abstract Art! pic.twitter.com/va4QryYnIA
#ARTBAKEOFF Week 7: Surrealism. #Magritte #GBBO @ferrengipson @BritishBakeOff @artukdotorg pic.twitter.com/Rk8O1T3NiB
— Sartle. Art History (@Sartle) October 9, 2018
This week's #artbakeoff theme is Surrealism, and we have some great bakes to share! This cake by @laurensaracox was inspired by Salvador Dalí's 'The Persistence of Memory' and 'Rose Meditative', and René Magritte's 'The Treachery of Images' and 'The Son of Man'. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/li3HuGOWbK
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) October 9, 2018
What could be easier than making a cake of abstract art? Apparently it's quite hard!
#ARTBAKEOFF Week 8: Abstract Art. #FranzKline #GBBO @ferrengipson @BritishBakeOff @artukdotorg pic.twitter.com/WNeLQYWsun
— Sartle. Art History (@Sartle) October 16, 2018
The penultimate week of the competition saw budding artists tackle De Stijl (think Piet Mondrian):
Here's more Mondrian magic for our #artbakeoff! This star bake was created by @colleysm. What a puzzle to put together! #GBBO pic.twitter.com/swbcM78pTl
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) October 24, 2018
It's Tuesday, and that means it's time to share another #artbakeoff masterpiece! The theme this week is De Stijl, and this biscuit composition by @sarah_timmins was inspired by Piet Mondrian's 'Composition C'. #GBBO pic.twitter.com/gYZPJJK3lz
— Art UK (@artukdotorg) October 23, 2018
To finish off with sculpture (although many of these cakes are sculptural anyway!) here's a look back at when Great British Bake Off winner Frances Quinn recreated some Barbara Hepworth shortbread sculptures for The Hepworth Wakefield!
Ahead of tonight's #GBBO we #flashback to when @frances_quinn made Barbara Hepworth shortbread sculptures for us! pic.twitter.com/LCBIEwFYcd
— The Hepworth Wakefield (@HepworthGallery) August 5, 2015
If you feel inspired to create your own baked art, share your efforts with us on social media using #artbakeoff!
Andrew Shore, Head of Content at Art UK
