semi-naked wedding cake

Naked cakes and semi-naked cakes are always exciting to create. We LOVE lots of elements in nature so it’s great for us to work with fresh florals, quirky herbs, and tempting fruits. This cake was definitely no exception! Who wouldn’t love an English countryside semi-naked wedding cake?

Our main requests for this cake from the couple involved lots of country garden florals and that it wasn’t too contemporary in look. We sketched out rough ideas of placement before we kept going back to one that featured flowers and berries loaded onto two alternate tiers. We thought the fullness would mimic country gardens closely filled with herb pots and rose bushes.

English countryside semi-naked wedding cake!

The more heavier floral arrangements were first planned or ‘mapped’ out on alternate tiers. We began with the very top tier so that the cake instantly had extra height. One trick is to position the rose slightly upwards so it shows off the rose at a really pretty angle. It also gives the illusion of the large bloom roses being a little taller too. Then any draping florals or foliage get added. In this case it was the white freesias that hang elegantly along the tiers. Finally, we filled it in with small flowers, herbs and some fruits.

The whole point of a naked or semi-naked cake is rustic wilderness. With that in mind we still like to have a little ‘form’ to our designs. Even more laid-back or random versions take a fair bit of planning. We’re often walking back and forth asking each other if a cluster of fruit makes it look off balance or if a rose perched on top looks odd. Taking snaps on our iPads helps too. If you’re not sure taking a picture distances yourself from it a little.

Herbs are an amazing and natural way to add to a semi-naked wedding cake. A lot of people are afraid to use them because they generally get used to flavour savoury food, but they add a fun quirky look and not much flavour when used to decorate. For this cake we used rosemary (our favourite… just look at those feather-y like plumes!) and thyme. We actually grow all our own herbs too (Country Cream Oregano, Curly Mint, Lemon Balm, French Golden Oregano, Rosemary, Archer’s Gold Thyme, Curled Parsley…).