Strawberry and cream naked cake

Have you guys noticed the theme on my blog lately? It is all SWEETS! But hey, who’s really complaining right? After my previous post, I had a few messages requesting a quick low down on how I assembled the strawberry and cream naked cake which was birthday cake number 1 for my spoilt hubby. So here it goes…

Since I am not a professional baker, the idea of doing my first ‘naked’ cake was quite daunting. The finished product by no means was the best naked cake you’ve ever seen but it was my first attempt and I was pretty darn proud. Surprising note: I didn’t even have a cake scraper! *Professional bakers gasps* I just used a good old butter knife. The cream which covered the cake was actually made out of just whipped cream and little bit of icing sugar. It had the perfect amount of sweetness to compliment the vanilla cakes. Talking about cakes, of course I used a baking mix. Or maybe 3. I baked all 3 cakes the night before so it was completely cool to start decorating on the morning of the party.

The filling consisted of just two ingredients: diced fresh strawberries mixed with a little bit of strawberry jam, super easy peasy! If I did have to redo this cake, I would definitely pack on a lot more filling than I did because it was just so refreshing. Also remember to create a dome of cream on the edges of the cake before layering the filling to ensure it doesn’t run down the sides and turn the naked icing red! Unless of course that’s the look that you’re after! Whipping the cream was also really easy, just beat until you have firm peaks. You’ll know its firm if you lift your spatula up and nothing drips off. Then start to assemble in this order: Cake, cream, dome of cream, filling then cake. Repeat until you’ve placed your final layer of cake and then smooth the filling on the sides. You can add more cream on the sides, easily done with a piping bag and then smooth. You can choose to decorate the top however you like but I loved adding whole strawberries as it gave the whole cake a massive pop of colour.

Ingredients:

3x vanilla cake mix (And ingredients required to bake)

3x punnet fresh strawberries, diced

1 cup strawberry jam

500ml double cream

3-4 tbsp icing sugar

Fresh strawberries to decorate

Method:

Bake cakes according to packet instructions and cool completely.

Dice fresh strawberries and mix with strawberry jam.

Whip double cream and icing sugar using a stand/hand mixer until firm peaks form and set aside.

Place the first cake on a cake stand or plate and cover the top with a thin layer of cream. Create a dome of cream around the edge of the cake and place the strawberry filling in the middle. Repeat layering and place the last cake top side down so the top is flat. Place more cream on the top and smooth out. Using a cake scraper or long knife, smooth the icing on the sides of the cake. Add more cream to the sides of the cake using a piping bag and smooth out.

Decorate the top of the cake with fresh strawberries and edible flowers. Place in fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!