Stacked layers of vanilla buttermilk cake filled with  buttercream and decorated with fresh roses and million stars. The floral blooms give this naked cake a beautiful romantic look, making it perfect for weddings or birthdays.
Naked cakes have been a trend for a while now. The rustic, shabby chic look is so in. I have seen so many different types of naked cakes. It is a trend that has become very popular with lots of brides. Some naked cakes are decorated with fresh fruit, dripping chocolate or caramel. The cakes are artistry and look visually spectacular. Keep reading to find out how I made my naked floral vanilla cake.
For the cake I chose to go with a vanilla buttermilk cake. It is soft, fluffy and moist. Which is perfect as this cakes does not have the protection of the outer layer of  buttercream which seals in freshness and moisture. To make sure the naked vanilla cake stays fresh,  make it a day before you are planning to serve it.
Start off by greasing and lining the base of the round tins. This aids in the easy removal of cake. This step is important. We need the cakes perfect because there won’t be any buttercream  to hide any imperfections.
Beat your sugar and room temperature butter until nice and fluffy. Then add in eggs, followed by flour, baking powder, salt and buttermilk.
Evenly distribute batter between prepared cake tins. The layers are going to be exposed , so you want each one to be almost equal height.  Use a measuring cups and a scale to make sure each tin has the same amount of cake batter.
To get the cake layers level, either wrap the cake tin with tip with damp strips of kitchen cloths. If you want to splash out, you can purchase baking strips. I personally have never used them , because so far the strips of kitchen cloths work perfectly 😊.
Bake the vanilla sponges in a pre-heated over for 20-25 minutes. Run a knife carefully along the sides of the pan and then leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then invert onto rack gently, discard parchment paper and cool completely. Before trimming the top of the cake, I would suggest wrapping and chilling it for about 1 hour. It is easier to trim cold cakes.
Another tip from keeping the cake from drying out is to brush it with a little sugar syrup. This is to help keep some moisture in the cake. To make sugar syrup, use equal amounts of sugar and water, and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature and brush over cakes.
I chose to use a stable buttercream to fill the vanilla buttermilk cake. If you don’t fancy vanilla buttercream, you can go with chocolate ganache or this swiss meringue or any buttercream flavour of your choice.
Once the cake is iced, chill the cake in fridge for at least 1 hour and run a sharp knife around the cake to cut away any excess buttercream that may be bulging out the side of the cake.
Dress the naked vanilla cake with flowers of your choice. I went with roses and million stars.  If you aren’t using organic flowers I would recommend wrapping the stems of the flowers with floral tape. If you haven’t got floral tape, you can roll some sugar paste or fondant into a ball and insert the flowers into it.  Plastic straws can also be used. To do this, insert the straws into the cake and then insert the stems of the flowers into straws.
This naked vanilla cake is perfect for a summer wedding, birthday gathering or even a baby shower.
Ingredients
Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
- 250 grams (1¼ cup), caster sugar
- 300 grams (1¼ cups) , unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 eggas
- 270 grams (2¼ cup), plain flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoom salt
- 240 ml (1 cup), buttermilk, room temperature
Vanilla Syrup
- 50 grams (¼ cup), caster sugar
- 60 ml (¼ cup), water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vanilla Buttercream
- 120 grams (½ cup), unsalted butter, room temperature
- 90 grams (½ cup), trex or vegetable shortening, room temperature
- 400 grams (4 cups) icing sugar, sifted
- 60 ml (¼ cup), whipping or heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
- Preheat oven to 170 ° Celsius. Grease bottom and sides of 4 , 6 -inch round cake tins and line bottom with parchment paper.( I have 2, I baked 2 cakes first and reused them to bake the other two cakes.)
- In the bowl of stand mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 5 minutes.
- Sift together flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.
- Add whole eggs one after the other beating well after each addition and then egg white. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- With mixer on low, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
- Divide batter evenly between cake tin. (I used a measuring cup and a scale).
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Leave to cool tin on wire racks for 10 minutes, then invert onto rack gently, discard parchment paper and cool completely.
- Wrap cakes in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1- 3 hours.
Vanilla Syrup
- Stir water and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat until sugar has completely dissolved. Bring sugar syrup to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Allow to cool completely before using.
Vanilla Buttercream
- In bowl of stand mixer beat butter and vegetable shortening until light and creamy , about 5 minutes.
- Add icing sugar a cup at a time and beat well until combined. As frosting thickens add whipping cream and beat until frosting is light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and beat until evenly incorporated.
Assembling the cake
- Place the first layer of sponge on a thin board the same size as the cake, flat size down. Brush the cake with sugar syrup using a pastry brush (repeat this process with remaining layers of cake). Fit a 1/2 inch round nozzle into a piping bag.
- Pipe a dam of buttercream around the cake for clean even layers of frosting. It also prevents the frosting from spilling over and marking the cake. Fill the dam with frosting and use an off set spatula to spread the frosting carefully. You can also pipe the entire layer of frosting, if you don’t want to use the offset spatula to spread the frosting. Repeat with remaining 3 layers of vanilla buttermilk cake, until all four layers of cake are stacked.
- Chill the cake in fridge for at least 1 hour. Once chilled, run a sharp knife around the cake to cut away any excess buttercream that may be bulging out the side of the cake.
- Now it is time to start dressing up the naked vanilla cake. Trim the stem of the roses to about 2 inches long. Wrap the stems of the roses in floral tape if the flowers aren’t organic. If you haven’t got floral tape, you can roll some sugar paste or fondant into a ball and insert the flowers into it. Plastic straws can also be used, insert the straws into the cake and then the stems of the flowers can also be inserted into straws.And then serve.
