This Elegant Naked Cake Is Perfect for Frosting Haters

You may have heard of a trend in cakes (specifically wedding cakes) lately. This trend is “naked cakes,” which involves putting minimal amounts of frosting on a cake and making up for the lost frosting by embellishing the cake with colorful and often stunning flowers and fruits. After seeing how cool these cakes looked, I wanted to try my hand at making (and eating) one. However, I consider myself to have a basic set of cooking skills, so I stuck with a basic naked cake recipe that pretty much anyone could make. 

Naked Blue Velvet Cake

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time: 25 minutesTotal time: 55 minutesServings:12 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ounce blue food coloring
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tub icing
• Fruit or flowers for garnish if you’re feeling daring

Instructions

1. 
   

   Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour 2 cake pans (8 or 9 inch).

2. 
   

   Mix Crisco, sugar, and eggs (using a wooden spoon helps).

3. 
   

   Mix food coloring and cocoa together, then add to the previously made mixture.

4. 
   

   Add salt, flour, buttermilk, and vanilla.

5. 
   

   Gently mix in vinegar and baking soda.

6. 
   

   Bake for 25 minutes.

7. 
   

   Decorate!

   #SpoonTip: Make sure both cake and frosting are cooled, this will make things easier.

My naked cake was definitely far from perfect, but it turned out much better than I had initially hoped, because baking has always been something that is especially difficult for me. I can follow recipes exactly and the end result will be under-cooked, the wrong color, and taste weird. However, this cake turned out great—it was moist, spongy, and sweet enough to stand partially naked. This was definitely a fun and messy recipe!

• Cake
• Chocolate
• Dessert
• Vegetarian