Romantic Naked Cake Recipe Topped with Fresh Flowers

Naked cakes have been rising in popularity over the years, becoming particularly popular since 2013. What’s all the fuss about, why are brides requesting a naked cake for their big day?

Could it have anything to do with Brad and Angelina having a naked cake for their wedding in 2014? Angelina said their 10 year old son, Pax, baked the cake because they forgot to order one.

Besides the fact that Brad and Angie had a naked cake, what makes it so appealing? Naked cakes have an exposed rustic and refined look, a nice alternative to the traditional wedding cake. They can be made with a small amount of icing or no icing at all, and adding fresh flowers to the cake makes it chic, sophisticated and desired.

To make a naked cake, these are the ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
18 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (2 1/4 sticks)
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk
9 large egg whites

I’m not going to lie, I used a box mix 🙂

Looks good, ready to bake.

Using 2 nine inch pans, I baked for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, and let the cake cool before slicing and icing.

Instead of making a traditional icing, I made a buttercream icing, which is fairly simple. For this, you will need the following ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons of milk

Cream room temperature butter with a mixer until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar, and beat in vanilla extract. Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes.

It is important to sift the confectioners’ sugar, otherwise the icing won’t be smooth and will have a grainy texture.

When decorating a cake with fresh flowers, it’s important to use some sort of barrier between the flowers and the cake. Not knowing what the flowers have been sprayed with, you wouldn’t want to ingest any harmful chemicals. I used a bit of clear saran wrap.

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I absolutely love my new cake stand (HERE) it is one piece and so beautiful. It has a marble base and gold toned stand and is quite heavy in weight.

Here’s a tip to get a level looking top, place the cake in the freezer to cool for an hour or so and slice off a bit of the top layer to achieve a nice flat look.

To create more layers and a more dramatic appearance, slice the cakes in half or use 3 pans instead of two.