Recipe

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

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 55 mins
Servings: 12

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

Aracelia Skridulis-Perez

Step 1

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

Aracelia Skriduiis

Step 2

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

Aracelia Skridulis

Step 3

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

Aracelia Skridulis

Step 4

Add salt, flour, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Aracelia Skridulis

Step 5

Gently mix in vinegar and baking soda.

Aracelia Skridulis

Step 6

Bake for 25 minutes.

Aracelia Skridulis

Step 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!