9 Stunning Cakes That Belong in a Museum

Wedding cake designer Maggie Austin's new book is like IRL Pinterest.
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Kate Headley

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is cool and all, but what if you could stroll around a museum and look at cakes instead? (Bonus points for Costco-style tastings along the way.) Flipping through cake designer Maggie Austin's book, Maggie Austin Cake: Artistry and Design, is like scrolling through Pinterest in real life. The intricately-frosted cakes are embellished with fondant flower appliqués, lacy patterns, pearls, stained-glass-style brushstrokes, and other incredible designs that make you wonder who could possibly cut through such beauty.

Even though the book has painstakingly-detailed instructions to recreate these select masterpieces at home, we understand if you just want to sit here and stare at them instead. Here are nine of our favorites.

Kate Headley

A brushstroke of genius. Would tile a kitchen with this pattern.

Kate Headley

Would it be weird to make a wedding dress molded after this stark-white design? Asking for a friend.

Kate Headley

If your personality is a little more abstract. You can paint this pattern with your fingers!

Kate Headley

Cake with a pearl earring. Okay, lots of pearls, arranged artfully like right-aligned text in Word.

Kate Headley

You may not be able to pull off a headband with a giant flower in the middle, but this cake can. And there's gold, too.

Kate Headley

Ombre cakes > unicorn frappuccinos.

Kate Headley

What the Coldplay song was written about, probably. The texture of beehive and the look of a sunny rose garden.

Kate Headley

Sometimes a little goes a long way, particularly with jewel-toned flowers.

Kate Headley

That moment when you realize a cake is more dressed up than you are.

Maybe start with the cake basics before you tackle these designs:

Photos © Kate Headley, excerpted from Maggie Austin Cake: Artistry and Design.