Naked cakes are still insanely popular and we get so many emails about ours almost every day (phew). They’re wonderfully rustic, fun to play with and can be as wild and quirky as you wish! This autumnal naked cake we created for the lovely Sarah and Gary was a towering design that we’d been looking forward to creating since they visited us for their consultation one rainy October morning last year. We absolutely LOVE the autumn (or fall) season and this was to be our first October wedding cake - to be adorned with pretty oranges and creams!
When we create a naked cake we treat it exactly the same as every other order - we design it and make it bespoke. With every naked wedding cake we always aim to give each one a personality and a style of its own just like the couple! We research more unusual fruits, vegetables, herbs and other edible decorations that we can use as well as source organic food safe florals. Whilst one naked cake may feature our macarons nestled in the flowers another will combine feathery rosemary sprigs with candied lemon slices!
This naked cake had lots of natural elements adorning every tier, but the main focus was to be on the couple’s chosen rose - the large Miss Piggy (who wouldn’t love a rose named after such a fabulous lady!). Its beautiful with its soft orange centre that gradually develops into a romantic pink. Other roses we added were the Wildfire miniature rose and the full and stunning Avalanche rose. Bursting from underneath the clusters of flowers are rose leaves, red currants, lavender sprigs, fresh figs, physalis fruits, blueberries, rosemary and thyme. Needless to say it was incredibly fragrant!
If you want to know our top tip for decorating naked cakes then here it is… Naked cakes instantly look unfinished or even ‘scatty’ due to the missing element of fondant icing so it helps to have a definite arrangement idea in mind. It might seem silly sketching out ideas for an un-iced cake with bundles of real fruits and flowers, but it’s the best thing to start with! Larger florals and brighter colours help give naked cakes more focus as smaller elements such as berries or miniature roses tend to get lost visually.
Another tip would be to go steady on the icing sugar (maybe leave it out all together) or else it starts to look like you’re trying to hide something like an uneven layer or an unruly flower. Naked cakes are supposed to be rustic so embrace one or two small ‘imperfections’; things like a wayward petal or some buttercream squishing out of a layer a little helps add personality to a naked cake.
Physalis fruits were pretty much a must for this cake as they’re so unusual looking and perfect for an autumnal design. We spotted them last Christmas at Hotel 41 when Felicity was presented with one (a deliciously creamy cheesecake with physalis fruits nestled on top) of her many birthday cakes that year. They manage to be ever so petite yet striking at the same time! Looking like golden cherry tomatoes encased in a pale dusky gold husk they’re somewhat orange/citrus-like in taste! Next to these we thought that the textured insides of sliced figs would be another fabulous element to have; especially perched next to large roses and fanciful plumes of rosemary too.
This pretty creation was finally delivered to the Royal Hotel for an evening reception on the 3rd of October perfectly fitting of an autumn wedding!
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