Winter Semi Naked Cakes
December 17, 2017
The last two weeks were super chaotic for me. I don't know how I managed to do all the tasks, but I barely survived them. I promise that I will not spread myself too thin again this time next year. I was constantly baking and decorating cakes, on top of keeping the kids on track with their activities before winter break, and participating in all of the functions at work. Whewww! Seven cakes and 8 mini cakes... Boy, I was baking nonstop for straight 3-4 hours on one of the days last week...And guess what? The hubby was not very fond of this. He reminded me that this (baking) should remain a hobby and should not a job. He's right, so I have to give myself (and the oven) a break for this week. No more baking until Christmas Eve!
These cakes are so simple to make but they do require some experience in choosing the perfect cake recipe. I made a mistake thinking that I could pull these naked cakes off using my standard soft, fluffy sponge cake. WRONG! I learned this the hard way just two days before having to deliver three cakes for a friend's engagement party, and that stressed me out so much. I mean, it is an engagement party and the bride-to-be wants her cakes to be perfect. I don't blame her and I was frustrated because I was afraid that I could not deliver the best. Fortunately, I was able to tweak my recipe slightly and finished the cakes on time with amazing results. One week later, I was proud when the bride-to-be informed me that, "Everyone loves the cakes!"
These cakes are so simple to make but they do require some experience in choosing the perfect cake recipe. I made a mistake thinking that I could pull these naked cakes off using my standard soft, fluffy sponge cake. WRONG! I learned this the hard way just two days before having to deliver three cakes for a friend's engagement party, and that stressed me out so much. I mean, it is an engagement party and the bride-to-be wants her cakes to be perfect. I don't blame her and I was frustrated because I was afraid that I could not deliver the best. Fortunately, I was able to tweak my recipe slightly and finished the cakes on time with amazing results. One week later, I was proud when the bride-to-be informed me that, "Everyone loves the cakes!"
DECORATING THE CAKE
One thing I learned was that dense cakes are the best in making naked cakes. That is if you care about those sharp edges and the beautiful "nakedness" of the cake that shows through a thin layer of the light frosting. Most of these cakes have at least 3-4 layers. I stacked the cake on top of a variety of fillings, and just frosted enough to cover about 75% of the cake. Very similar to what you would do with a crumb coat. And that really is all you need to do to make this a naked cake. You just need to make sure the layers are all even. Noted that sometimes I covered the whole cake first, and then I purposely removed some frosting in the middle of the cake to show off the "naked streaks." In addition, I also drizzled simple syrup on top of each cake layer to enhance its moistness and to prevent the cake from drying out.
Decorating these cakes was the easiest part of the entire process, and the most rewarding step as well. To create a winter look, I tossed fresh cranberries with light corn syrup to give that glossy look. I also rinsed the fresh pine branches well with water, and dried with paper towels before I placed them on the cake.
One thing I learned was that dense cakes are the best in making naked cakes. That is if you care about those sharp edges and the beautiful "nakedness" of the cake that shows through a thin layer of the light frosting. Most of these cakes have at least 3-4 layers. I stacked the cake on top of a variety of fillings, and just frosted enough to cover about 75% of the cake. Very similar to what you would do with a crumb coat. And that really is all you need to do to make this a naked cake. You just need to make sure the layers are all even. Noted that sometimes I covered the whole cake first, and then I purposely removed some frosting in the middle of the cake to show off the "naked streaks." In addition, I also drizzled simple syrup on top of each cake layer to enhance its moistness and to prevent the cake from drying out.
Decorating these cakes was the easiest part of the entire process, and the most rewarding step as well. To create a winter look, I tossed fresh cranberries with light corn syrup to give that glossy look. I also rinsed the fresh pine branches well with water, and dried with paper towels before I placed them on the cake.
The first cake I made was an 8-inch three-layered Vanilla Sponge Cake filled and frosted with Vanilla Whipped Cream. The consistent theme runs through these semi naked are the pine tree branches, fresh cranberries, and cinnamon sticks. Once I was happy with the decorations on the top of the cake, I sprinkled powdered sugar to present the snowy look. I also used granulated sugar in some cakes to create the icy appearance.
The second cake was a Pandan Sponge Cake filled with Vanilla Whipped Cream and sprinkled with sweetened dry coconut flakes. This was a 6-inch four-layered cake to create a thin tall look a client has requested. The cake was frosted similarly to the previous cake. However, this was the only cake among seven cakes that had chocolate modeling pine cones, as I was reluctant to use fresh pine cones on top of the cake. I know I was not able to clean the fresh ones really clean, so chocolate modeling pine cones were destined. Don't you think they look pretty cool though?
The third cake was an 8-inch three-layered Vanilla Sponge Cake filled with Durian Whipped Cream and frosted with Vanilla Whipped Cream. This cake was created for the groom-to-be who commented, "I love the durian cake so much!" when he came to drop off the cake stands for me one week after their engagement. I think this cake was probably the simplest one out of all, but I loved how it looked from the top: simply beautiful!
The way I like to decorate buttercream cake is to pipe all of the flowers and leave them harden in the fridge for about 30 minutes before placing them on to the cake. Sometimes I need to speed up the process, I would just throw them in the freezer and they should be ready in 10-15 minutes. This step is not necessary because I see most cake decorators would just pipe and place flowers directly onto their cakes. However, if you are like me who like to have more control on manipulating the buttercream flowers, this step is really helpful for me. It allows me to place my flowers in a certain way without destroying the structure of the piped flowers. I also like to be able to re-position the flowers if I am not too happy with the way the flowers look on the cake.
The fourth cake was an 8-inch three-layered Chocolate Cake filled and frosted with Vanilla Whipped Cream. I made this as a main cake as it was more sturdy than the sponge cakes. I also liked the way the black chocolate naked streaks contrasted on the white frosting. A big representation of a birch tree in the winter, don't you think?
The fifth cake was an 8-inch three-layered cakes, with one layer of Chocolate Cake sandwiched between two-layers of Vanilla Cake. The cake was also filled and frosted with Vanilla Whipped Cream. I loved the taste of this vanilla cake, so fluffy and moist.
The sixth cake was an 8-inch three-layered cake, with one layer of Red Velvet Cake sandwiched between two layers of Chocolate Cake. The cake was also filled with Cream Cheese between layers, and frosted with Vanilla Whipped Cream. I thought this cake was the most festive cake that brings out the holiday spirit. Look at the red naked streak revealing in the center of the cake...So elegant!!!
Finally, the seventh cake was an 8-inch three-layered Red Velvet Cake, which was filled with Cream Cheese and frosted with Vanilla Whipped cream. I was lucky enough to have some left over piece of plaid cloth which I twisted into two mini bows. They fit perfectly for this beautiful cake. I'm so in love with this!
Well, that was a lot of cakes over the last two weeks, but I really did bake and decorate all of them. I can't really tell you which one is my favorite as I love all of them. They were all baked with a lot of LOVE!!!
Semi naked cakes are simple, yet elegant and they represent the rustic look of nature during the winter season. You can really make naked cakes in any season, and just decorate them with all the beautiful flowers or leaves at whatever that season entails. I have already had friends reserving these naked cakes (from me) for their anniversary cakes next August.
That's all for this time around folks. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
xoxo,
Tristina
That's all for this time around folks. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
xoxo,
Tristina
COPYRIGHT © 2017 - SUGAR & PEARLS ~ CAKE DESIGNS BY TRISTINA