A Naked Cake made from a velvety vanilla cake mix and everyone's favourite vanilla buttercream sandwiched between the layers. Topped with beautiful mini meringue drops and fresh fruit, this naked cake is a breeze to make and guaranteed to wow!
Last weekend I made my first Naked Cake when my lovely sister and niece travelled up from London for our joint birthday parties.
It was all a bit last minute but I was determined to present a beautiful celebration cake so I quickly came up with my version of an easy vanilla naked cake with a simple vanilla buttercream icing.
Absolutely no baking skills are required for this one but I promise you'll end up with an amazing showstopper.
HOW TO MAKE A NAKED CAKE WHEN YOU HAVE NO TIME...I CHEATED
I used a Betty Crocker velvety vanilla cake mix to make the cake! Two boxes were enough to make four beautiful layers and it saved me so much time.
I'm busy, like super busy. And I'm sure most of you reading this are too.
If you or I wanted to make an incredible cake from scratch then we could, right? Baking a masterpiece is a skill, it's fulfilling and enjoyable, but sometimes you want to take the easy option and that's ok too.
I already had a couple of small boxes of meringue drops stashed away in my kitchen cupboard so it was just a case of mixing up the cake batter and making a quick batch of vanilla buttercream.
Swipe the icing around pop some fresh fruit and a few meringues on top and there you have a half-dressed naked cake.
Voila!
WHAT IS A NAKED CAKE?
There are two different types of naked cakes. One is a semi-naked cake or half-dressed, just like this one. The other is where the cake is iced on top and in-between the layers but not at all on the outside.
The cake I'm showing you how to make today looks a lot like a cake that has had a crumb coat which is the layer that seals in all the crumbs before the cake is fully iced.
Naked cakes are minimal and rustic, they are super simple to do and you can use any variety of cake you fancy.
Naked cakes or semi-naked cakes make a beautiful centrepiece at weddings, christenings, baby showers or birthday parties.
WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE A NAKED CAKE?
- Basic sponge - You can make a basic sponge or cheat like I did and use a box mix. I used two Betty Crocker Velvety Vanilla box mixes to make my four-layer naked cake. You will need to add eggs, vegetable oil and water to the box mix ingredients.
- Strawberry Jam (Jelly) - You'll need about half a jar, I like to use the whole fruit preserve but any variety will work.
- Butter - Unsalted butter is my preference for buttercream, you can add a pinch of salt which gives you much more control. Make sure the butter is at room temperature (take it out of the fridge an hour prior) when you press a finger into the butter it should leave an indentation but not be so soft your finger slips right through the butter. Never melt butter in the microwave to make the buttercream.
- Icing sugar (confectioner's) - For a smooth buttercream without any grain. Don't use granulated or caster (superfine).
- Vanilla - Extract not essence, to enhance the flavour.
- Salt - A pinch of salt will help balance the flavour.
- Decorations - Think about adding meringue drops, berries and fresh flowers to make your naked cake look beautiful.
NAKED CAKE FLAVOUR IDEAS
HOW TO FROST A NAKED CAKE
Frosting a naked cake is supposed to be easy and doable. As I mentioned above you can make a half-dressed naked cake by frosting in-between the layers and adding a small amount of frosting on the top and sides.
- Before you attempt to frost a naked cake, make sure the layers are completely cool and flat. You can trim off any excess with a serrated knife so that the layers sit evenly.
- Place the first layer of cake onto a turntable and add the jam (jelly) and spread it evenly over the cake. Next, dollop on the vanilla frosting and use a spatula to spread it to the edges of the cake.
- If making a half-dressed cake, add a little extra frosting so there's slightly too much - it will ooze out between the layers and you can clean this up later.
- Repeat with the subsequent layers until you reach the top layer.
- I don't put any jam on the very top layer, instead, I swipe more buttercream over the top using a spatula to scrape any excess.
- When it comes to the sides of the cake - remember we added slightly too much icing when we sandwiched the layers?
- Now's the time to scrape the excess off spreading it up the sides of the cake until it looks semi-naked.
You might go for a rustic looking cake like mine, or you can continue scraping the excess buttercream until you have a very smooth, but barely there, buttercream.
NAKED CAKE FROSTING IDEAS
The flavour combinations for both the cake and frosting on a naked cake are endless.
- Vanilla Buttercream (recipe below)
- Strawberry Buttercream
- Chocolate Buttercream
- Lemon Buttercream
- Nutella Buttercream
- Baileys Buttercream
- Peanut Butter Buttercream
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lavender Frosting
- Chai Spiced Frosting
TOP TIPS FOR BAKING A NAKED CAKE
- Decide how many layers your cake will have and make sure you have at least two tins to speed up baking time.
- Use a simple box cake mix to save time or try one of the naked cake flavour ideas listed above.
- Once you've decided what flavour cake to make find a complimentary frosting. Use the list above to help you.
- Bake the cakes in advance and freeze them. Remember to take them out to defrost 1-2 hours before you add the frosting.
- If you don't make the cakes in advance make sure they are completely cool before you attempt to ice them.
- Make sure the cakes are even by using a serrated knife, this will stop the cakes toppling over when you stack them.
- Decide in advance what you'll be using to decorate your cakes. There are decoration ideas below.
NAKED CAKE DECORATION IDEAS
- Fresh fruit such as berries and figs.
- Seasonal or edible flowers. Find out more about edible flowers here.
- Mini meringues - drops or kisses.
- Macarons - super easy recipe tutorial here.
- Edible glitter and sprinkles.
- Sweets, small cookies, individual chocolates or truffles.
- And of course, if it's a birthday cake you need candles!
CAN I PUT SPONGE CAKE IN THE FRIDGE?
Sponge cake should NOT be kept in the fridge however you can freeze it before you add the buttercream.
If you were to put the finished cake into the fridge it would dry it. As for the buttercream icing, it does not need to go in the fridge, there is a lot of sugar in it which makes it stable.
Your finished cake will keep in a covered container for about 3 days.
Be creative and have fun experimenting with the flavour combinations and naked cake icing technique.
MORE CAKE RECIPES FOR YOU TO TRY
Kinder Bueno Cake
18th Birthday Cake
Perfect every time lemon drizzle cake
Bounty Cheesecake
Classic Chocolate roulade
If you make this recipe, I’d love to know how it went, I would really appreciate it if you could rate the recipe below and leave me a comment. Thank you!
Vanilla Naked Cake
An easy recipe to create a beautiful vanilla naked cake, frosted with vanilla buttercream and topped with meringue drops and fresh fruit.
Ingredients
- 425 g Betty Crocker Velvety Vanilla Cake Mix, I used two boxes to make four layers
- 6 eggs, medium
- 12 tbsp vegetable oil
- 360 ml water
- ½ jar strawberry jam
For the buttercream
- 300 g butter, unsalted
- 600 g icing sugar
- dash vanilla extract
To finish
- meringue drops
- blackberries, cherries, strawberries, figs
- sprigs of lavender
Instructions
- Grease and line 2 x 10" cake tins
- Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/Gas Mark 4/350ºF
- Mix the eggs, oil, water and cake mix together and whisk for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy
- Pour the cake mixture evenly into your two greased cake tins
- Bake in the centre of the oven for between 22-27 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean
- Repeat
To make the buttercream
- Beat the butter until very creamy then beat in the icing sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract then check the consistency. If it's too thin add more icing sugar if it's too thick add a little milk.
To assemble
- Once the cakes are completely cooled even them out my slicing off the tops to make sure they're flat. Add jam to the top of the first layer followed by a ¼ of the buttercream. Repeat until you reach the top layer then add the remaining buttercream and scrape any excess. Use a spatula to spread as much or as little buttercream as you want to the outside of the cakes.
- Top with fresh fruit and meringue drops
Notes
- Decide how many layers your cake will have and make sure you have at least two tins to speed up baking time.
- Use a simple box cake mix to save time or try one of the naked cake flavour ideas listed above.
- Once you've decided what flavour cake to make find a complimentary frosting. Use the list above to help you.
- Bake the cakes in advance and freeze them. Remember to take them out to defrost 1-2 hours before you add the frosting.
- If you don't make the cakes in advance make sure they are completely cool before you attempt to ice them.
- Make sure the cakes are even by using a serrated knife, this will stop the cakes toppling over when you stack them.
- Decide in advance what you'll be using to decorate your cakes. There are decoration ideas below.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 220Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 9gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 74mgCarbohydrates: 20gSugar: 19g
Kim Carberry
Yum! I usually like cakes covered in icing but this looks so good...It looks so fancy xx
MotherGeek
OOOH this looks so good! Just discovered you via the #BIBS voting platform - good luck!
Amy Treasure
How lovely :) thank you SO much!
GirlsGospel
Ok... You bake it, I'll eat it - deal...? :D Just discovered you via the #BIBS voting platform - good luck!
Amy Treasure
Done! ;-) Thanks so much for stopping by!
Alice V
I learned two things from reading this post: 1. what a naked cake is. I was thinking it was some kind of no-bake cake idea. and 2. that you don't have to refrigerate sponge cake or buttercream. That's a win-win in my book because everything ends up in the fridge! I'm always looking at labels to see if I don't have to refrigerate something. Thanks for sharing this recipe and I love the photos.
Amy Treasure
Oh absolutely! No need to refrigerate - it’s totally stable left out, promise!