I kind of deplore the term naked cake but darn it they can certainly be classy cool. I liken the naked cake trend back to Momofuku Milk Bar’s wedding cakes – super awesome slam-jammed with flavours and textures and with an eff-you attitude towards typical wedding cakes – ie, slathered in buckets of frosting or tiers of dry cake wrapped up in too-sweet fondant.
I made this sweet and pretty cake for the world’s coolest TV news anchorwoman, Tamara Taggart, for her lovely Little Gem Woodland shoot for the Glitter Guide! Tamara’s Instagram is also one of my favourites. She has a way of writing which is at once inviting, hilarious and real, sharing daily slices of her personal life with her three frigging adorable children. Vancouver is pretty lucky to have Tamara!
How to make a naked cake – this can be as simple as stacking and filling your cake layers with buttercream and leaving it be. I like the rustic look of the scraped-away buttercream, like the cake I made here – crumb coat your cake, then using a cake scraper, scrape away the layer to leave some buttercreamy remnants. I added extra buttercream to the top and then adorned with fresh flowers from my garden and local berries.
To make a naked cake, you will need:
A baked and completely cooled triple layer cake in a flavour of your choice
4 cups of vanilla buttercream
A piping bag fitted with a large open circle tip
An offset spatula
A cake scraper
A cake board or cake plate
A serrated knife for levelling your cake layers
Fresh flowers and fruit of your choice – make sure the flowers are edible, or remove before eating.
Directions:
1. Place a dab of buttercream on your cake board. Place the first cake layer on top. Using serrated knife, trim the cake to make it level.
2. Using your piping bag filled with buttercream, fill the first layer of cake. Trim the second cake layer to level it; place the layer cut side down on top of the buttercream. Continue this process with the third cake layer. Make sure all of your layers line up evenly, then chill the entire cake at this point in the freezer for 15 minutes.
3. Remove cake from freezer; using your offset spatula, begin crumb coating your cake with a generous amount of buttercream. Any gaps in the cake layers will be filled now with buttercream.
4. Using your trusty cake scraper, lightly run your cake scraper along your cake to scrape away the buttercream, leaving the remnants of buttercream behind as well as a smooth finish where the buttercream peeks through between the layers.
5. Scrape the top of the cake from the outside in to smoothe the top of the cake, too!
6. Adorn the top with fresh fruit and flowers! My approach to decorating the top was to place the items evenly but loosely on top – I like the idea of even spacing. However, I was tempted to also just shower the top with fruit and flowers! Find your style and roll with it!
So there ya go – how to make a naked cake! Happy naked decorating! Hehe!
Oh, and these: Friday power blast fun links:
These big fat sugar cookies from The Faux Martha are on my list to make and devour. I can already taste the creamcheese frosting.
If you love horse head cake stands (or duck head cake stands, like the one above!) you’ll be stoked on this contest! My pals over at Imm Living are hosting another Pin Imm To Win!
This DIY wooden sign by The Crafted Life for Poppytalk makes me want to get all jiggy with a scroll saw.
Multi coloured watermelon cupcake toppers over at You Are My Fave!
Did you know I make this for dinner at least twice a month? Gotta share the secret of this deadly easy and scrumptiously delicious (yes I just said that) honey mustard chicken recipe from I Am A Food Blog!
Hope y’all have a great weekend! (Because Canadians who watch Friday Night Lights say y’all!) xo Lyndsay
steph
your naked cake is so pretty lynds! i super love naked cakes – they always seem to have the right frosting ratio for me :)
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
aww! yes, it is a pretty decent ratio, isn’t it!! ^__^ thanks steph! xo
Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com
So I always feel like “naked cakes” sound like something MUCH more R-rated than they actually are. This is downright family-friendly! Although I am usually buttercream’s biggest fan, I adore the clean simplicity of this look and the beautiful flowers on top. This is so gorgeous!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
haha… i know!! it’s kind of why i hate the name … indeed they are family friendly, especially with “less frosting” ! ^__^ slightly healthier?? thanks so much for stopping by, elizabeth!
Tamsin | A Certain Adventure
Dude, this is the prettiest cake ever. As beautiful as it is mouthwatering! I’d definitely be tempted to have a naked cake draped in flowers like this for my future wedding. xx
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
hey thanks tamsin!! yes such a good one for weddings for sure! i like the combo of minimal with floral…. :)
Michelle @ MakeMeCake.Me
I flippin’ love a naked cake! Gorg!!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
ha! thanks michelle! ^__^
Melissa
I love the look of this cake! This babe of mine has a b-day coming up. I think a naked cake is in order.
Melissa
Also, thanks for the cookie love!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
ooooh first birthday!! so cute!! that went fast! xo
Amanda Vuu
Lyndsay! I am in love with this naked cake! So simple too…reminds me of the wedding cake i had. Also…i am super inspired by the cherries on top of the mini cupcakes!!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
oh cool! my wedding cake was pink fondant with a chocolate pineapple on top. ha… oh dear. i have no idea what i’d choose nowadays… TOO MANY IDEAS out there! thanks so much for popping by! ^__^
Kate @ ¡Hola! Jalapeño
I simply adore your tutorials! (And naked cakes, I like those too.)
Natasha @ The Cake Merchant
This cake is so beautiful, Lyndsay! I love naked cakes because you can avoid the over frosted, too sweet factor of regular cakes. Plus, I’m a fan of any cake that says eff-you.
Jan Billington
hiya
Really pretty cake and lovely sounding recipe.
What is the blue flower? It’s really pretty.
Warmest regards
Jan
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
Hi Jan! Thank you for stopping by – it’s a hydrangea! However, not edible, simply for looks, I remove it before eating.
m
Really beautiful cake,
but as you said, “make sure the flowers are edible”,
Yes, this is very important.
Hydrangea which you used is poisonous.
By the size of the flower you used, a small kitten or a pup might be killed,
a human being will also be affected terribly （Vomiting, nausea and dissiness).
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
Thank you M! I did look it up before using it – ! Thank you for the reminder.