WEDDIN' CAKE LOVE- NAKED CAKES

This last weekend, we got to be a part of one of the most fun weddings that I've ever been to (and we got to celebrate two amazing, one-of-a-kind people getting hitched!).  The setting was beautiful- a cabin on a rolling hill in Grant Wood country in southern Iowa with a cool breeze blowing and a few leaves trickling down from the trees.  Gosh, it was lovely.

 

Mandy (over at Youngbranch) and I were honored and excited to get to contribute a little tiny bit to all of this beauty and happiness: the cake!  We've made cakes for our weddings and also for contests and birthdays, but this one was the first time that we've tackled a newfangled "naked" cake.  These bad boys are a little tricky since you don't have gobs of buttercream and fondant to cover any mistakes, but they are gorgeous.  Like, all-the-good-parts-of-pinterest-exploded-on-them, gorgeous.

 

I thought I'd give a few tips on the making of the cake, just in case anyone out there wants to give one a go:

 

1. If it's hot and it's outdoors, don't mess around with frosting.  I melted white chocolate and layered it around each layer with the jelly pooled behind it.  This sat in the shade on a 90'F day for over six hours and didn't melt at all.  The only thing that happened was that the jelly started to ooze out.  If this had been meringue or, heaven forbid, buttercream, the cake would have looked pretty darn gross after just a few hours.  The white chocolate melts a little bit so that it's not really crunchy.  If it will be hot outside but not so hot, add a little bit of cream to the chocolate to keep it a little more pliable.  Just add more cream the cooler the weather is.

2. Grease your pans heavily, then line with greased parchment paper- around the sides, too.  This would have been a lot prettier on the sides if the pan were also lined.  You live and learn!

3. Dusting with powdered sugar covers most imperfections.  Do it before the decorations go on the cake if you want the flowers and fruit to really pop.  It didn't melt and turn into glaze like I was worried that it would in the heat and humidity, so you're pretty safe putting the powdered sugar on.

4. Another plus of the white chocolate "frosting" is that it held the cake together like glue.  I didn't use any dowels or layer supports and it survived a very bumpy and hilly two hour car ride on my lap.

5. If you're making it ahead, don't put the flowers, fruit, or plants on until just before the wedding. 

6. The cake can be made ahead and frozen, just keep it wrapped in plastic wrap until it thaws out.  Brush with a little simple syrup to moisten it if it needs it.  

7.  That's about it.  Have fun!