Naked Cake

There's a new trend in cake decorating - the 'naked' cake. Well, I should say it's new to me - maybe it's been around and I just hadn't noticed haha. So the naked cake is just a cake that you frost and then scrape most of it back off - hence the 'naked' part of the cake! Basically it's like a cake that has been crumb coated, but the top is frosted so it's prettier - a crumb coat is a base layer of frosting that you put all over the cake and then chill for a bit, before adding a top layer of frosting. The crumb coat helps keep the cake crumbs out of the finished frosting layer, and gives you a smoother base for adding the outer frosting.

Mickey asked me to make a naked cake for her and Kyle's upcoming wedding; they are having a dessert table with cupcakes but she wanted a small cake on a pedestal so they have a cake to cut at the reception (and also she thinks some people might be looking for an actual piece of wedding cake instead of one of the flavored cupcakes - side note: can't wait to show you the amazing cupcakes she has hired a professional to make! Yes she asked if I wanted to do it, but with all the other wedding things I'm helping with I didn't think I could also swing a couple hundred cupcakes...). So I watched a few youtube videos on how to frost a naked cake and that's when I realized it's basically just frosting the cake and scraping it back off hahah!

So, directions to do this - not much to it but I'll tell you anyway:

• make the frosting you are using - I did swiss meringue buttercream but any frosting will work.
• prepare the cake layers, however many you are using. I did 3 so baked it in one tall pan and cut the layers into 3 even slices. click here to see how I cut them. If you have a cake decorating turntable it is handy when you are rotating the cake scraping the sides, helps in making the sides smooth if you can hold the scraper or spatula along the side of the cake while rotating.  
• place one layer on a plate or cake circle, top with frosting (you want all the layers to have the same amount of frosting, I do approx. 1/2 cup in each layer), add next layer and frosting, continue with all your layers. 
• next frost the entire cake like you usually would except it doesn't have to be perfect. Just put frosting all over the cake including the top. 
• Run a bench scraper or a frosting spatula all around the sides of the cake, removing frosting. I remove small sections at a time, scrape the frosting off into a bowl, then continue scraping the cake. You want to be able to see the cake in some spots. Think of it like distressing the cake just like if you distressed furniture haha! Once you have the frosting pretty much how you want it, hold the scraper or spatula against the entire side of the cake and do a final smooth scraping/smoothing. Smooth the top of the cake  without removing frosting, the top stays frosted as usual. 
• decorate the top as desired. I don't have a picture until after the wedding Saturday, we are putting fresh flowers and/or greenery on the top and around the base - I'll share the pic Sunday!

That's it - basically frost the cake and the scrape the sides! It's different and some people (ahem, my sis) don't think the cake looks 'finished' this way, but I like it - hopefully Mickey and Kyle do too!