Learn how to make a beautiful naked cake with fresh berries and vanilla buttercream. This chic cake decorating style is much simpler than it looks. Follow my success tips and watch the helpful video tutorial to create your own naked cake.
Today we’re baking, designing, and styling naked cakes. I’m sharing my tips for decorating a naked cake, a video showing you how, the vanilla cake recipe I used, plus plenty of inspiration for you to get started. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get right to it!
Vanilla Naked Cake Details
- Yield: 3-layer 9-inch cake
- Style: semi-naked / naked cake
- Skill level: intermediate (but approachable)
- Best for: celebrations, weddings, birthdays
- Frosting: vanilla buttercream
What Is a Naked Cake?
A naked cake is a layered cake with minimal frosting on the outside, allowing the cake layers to show through. This simple decorating style creates a rustic yet elegant look, making it popular for weddings, birthdays, showers. It’s also easier to assemble and decorate than fully frosted layer cakes, making it a great choice for beginner bakers.
Milk Bar owner Christina Tosi is credited with starting the trend back in 2013 when she began highlighting the cake layers, instead of just the frosting. Now naked cakes are a bakery staple!
Unlike fully frosted layer cakes, naked cakes use only a thin layer of frosting around the sides—or sometimes none at all—which gives them a lighter taste and a rustic-chic minimalist appearance.
What I love about the style is that you have creative control. You can decorate the naked cake in your own unique way, which makes this recipe 100x more fun.
There are 2 Types of Naked Cakes
There are 2 types of naked cakes. The cake in today’s photos is called a semi-naked or “half-dressed” cake. There’s a minimal amount of frosting swiped around the sides. So in other words, a semi-naked cake is a crumb-coated cake. Or you can simplify the design even further with a true naked cake. This means the sides of the cake are bare, like my fresh berry cream cake. (Pictured below.)
Both styles are simple, approachable, and beautiful.
Overview: How to Make a Vanilla Semi-Naked Cake
Let’s focus on a semi-naked cake because that’s how I decorated the cake in today’s recipe.
- Make the cake. To begin, you’ll need a layer cake. You can use any of my layer cake recipes, the vanilla layer cake recipe below, or any layer cake recipe you love. The vanilla cake recipe I include below is similar to my vanilla cake recipe, but it has more structure to support the naked cake decorating style. Cake recipes that yield three or four layers provide enough height to work with, but you can easily decorate a two-layer cake this way. Tiered cakes are great too—like my homemade wedding cake.
- Add berries. I dotted fresh raspberries between my cake layers. Admittedly, I only dotted them around the edges because I ran out of raspberries. But I love how they peek out the sides. The fresh raspberries also provide a lovely texture variation. If you decide to do this as well, note that the raspberries will leak some juice around the edges after a day or so. I would leave the berries out if you’re making this cake in advance for a party or celebration.
- Frost the cake. Vanilla buttercream is my favorite for the half-dressed cake style. It’s simple and shows off the semi-exposed cake layers as well as the cake’s decorative pieces. The frosting recipe below is similar to my vanilla buttercream recipe, only with a higher ratio of ingredients to make a larger amount of frosting.
5 Success Tips for Homemade Naked Cakes
- Make a plan. Think about what style of cake you want—naked or semi-naked—as well as how many layers you want your cake to be, and if you’ll want extra frosting for decorative piping on top. This will determine how much frosting you need.
- Prepare your cake pans appropriately. Use quality cake pans and grease them well (I use nonstick spray) so the cakes release easily. I always use parchment paper rounds to line my greased cake pans, and then spray those as well. For even layers, ensure each pan has an equal amount of batter. The easiest and most accurate way to do this is to use a kitchen scale. Place your cake pan on top and begin pouring batter into the pan—repeat for all pans, making sure each pan weighs the same.
- Level your cakes. Level off the top of each cake layer so both sides are flat. This is important because flat and even layers add stability to your finished cake. You can use a cake leveler or large serrated knife. I always use my serrated knife. You can watch me do this in my video tutorial for how to assemble layer cakes.
- Keep it simple. Make it easy on yourself! My recipe and instructions are simple and straightforward. I’ve seen many naked cake recipes that call for a soak in simple syrup to prevent it from drying out. You can absolutely take this route, especially if you’re making a true naked cake, but I don’t find it necessary if your cake is moist to begin with (like my vanilla cake below). Instead of piping frosting between each cake layer, use an icing spatula to spread the frosting—another timesaver and simplified step. The frosting recipe below yields about 4.5 cups (1080g). Use 1.5 cups (360g) between each layer and 1.5 cups on top & around the sides.
- The refrigerator is your best friend. Always chill your naked cake in the refrigerator for a few hours before slicing and serving. Why? This stabilizes all of your hard work! It helps the frosting adhere to the cake, as well as ensures a neater slice. Then you can set the cake out at room temperature for your party or celebration.
3 Helpful Tools for Decorating
Here are a few tools I find especially helpful for decorating a semi-naked cake.
- Straight spatula: A lot of cake decorators use an offset spatula to apply frosting on a cake, but I prefer a straight spatula. Maybe it’s the way my hands work, but it’s just easier for me to use.
- Bench scraper: Use this for running around the sides of the cake to smooth out the frosting.
- Cake turntable: This is optional. I did NOT use it for the cake pictured today, but you can watch me use it in the video tutorial. Transfer your decorated cake to a cake stand by using these cake circles—I use one in the video.
Mix and Match Cake and Frosting Recipes
Mix and match the below cake flavors and frostings to create your own unique naked cake.
Cake Flavors: These cakes are all pretty moist, so I wouldn’t worry about them drying out—especially if you choose the semi-naked/crumb coat look.
- Vanilla cake (below)
- Chocolate cake
- German chocolate cake
- Strawberry cake
- Banana layer cake
- Lemon cake
- Carrot cake
- Red velvet cake
- Spice cake (see recipe note for layer cake)
- Pumpkin cake (see recipe note for layer cake)
Frosting Flavors
- Vanilla buttercream (below)
- Cream cheese frosting
- Chocolate buttercream
- Strawberry buttercream
- Lemon buttercream
- Peanut butter frosting
- Rainbow chip frosting
- Brown butter cream cheese frosting
Helpful tip: Freeze any leftover frosting for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator for next time.
Naked Cake Decoration Ideas
I recommend starting simple, then adding from there. The possibilities are endless! Here are some of my favorite decorations to use:
- Fresh flowers. Use flowers that haven’t been sprayed with pesticides. Avoid strong-smelling flowers as the smell may linger on the cake. And if you can find edible flowers, that’s even better!
- Fresh berries or fruit
- Smaller sweet treats like candies, cookies, meringues, and chocolates
- Candied citrus slices
- Candied pecans
- Fresh herbs, such as mint sprigs
- Cinnamon sticks
- Sugared cranberries
- Sprinkles
- Chocolate or white chocolate curls
Of course you’ll need a cake stand to show off your stunning masterpiece! Here are a few I love: wood slice cake stand (similar to what I have), white cake stand, and marble cake stand.
Get creative, let your inner cake artist shine, and most of all… have fun!
A cake with little to no frosting on the outside, exposing the layers.
No, not at all. It’s often easier than fully frosted cakes because it requires less precision.
Yes, absolutely. Cake layers: make 1 day ahead. Frosting: refrigerate overnight. Assembled cake: up to 1 day in refrigerator or 2–3 months in freezer.
Up to 1 day assembled, or freeze for up to 2–3 months.
Vanilla Naked Cake
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours
- Yield: 12 servings
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This naked cake is simply stunning with fresh berries, vanilla cake, and vanilla buttercream.
Ingredients
- 3 and 3/4 cups (443g) sifted all-purpose flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, Tbsp!)
- 1 and 3/4 cups (420g/ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
- optional: 1–2 cups (120–250g) fresh raspberries (or other berry, see Note)
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 5.5–6 cups (660–720g) confectioners’ sugar
- 5–6 Tablespoons (75–90g/ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- optional garnishes (see post above for inspiration!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. On medium-high speed, add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not over-mix. The batter will be smooth, velvety, and slightly thick.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans and smooth the tops. For even cake layers, use a kitchen scale and weigh the cake pans for accuracy. You should have around 8 cups of batter total (a little over 1800g), so each cake pan should have about 2 and 2/3 cups (a little more than 600g) of batter.
- Bake for 25–26 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a cooling rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy—about 2 minutes. Add 5 and 1/2 cups (660g) confectioners’ sugar, 5 Tablespoons (75g) heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low speed. Gradually increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add 1/2 cup (60g) more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, 1 more Tablespoon cream if frosting is too thick, or a pinch more salt if frosting is too sweet. Yields about 4.5 cups (1080g) of frosting.
- Assemble and decorate the cake: Watch the video for a tutorial on assembling and decorating this naked cake. First, using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Spread 1 and 1/2 cups (360g) of frosting evenly on top. If using, dot half of the raspberries around the rim. Flatten them down into the frosting as best you can so the cake layer on top is sturdy. Top with 2nd cake layer and evenly cover the top with another 1 and 1/2 cups of frosting and more (flattened!) raspberries around the rim. You can sprinkle a few leftover raspberries in the center, too. (Like I did in the video.) Top with the third cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting on top and all around the sides using an icing spatula. Use a bench scraper to smooth out the frosting on the sides of the cake. If you’re making a fully naked cake, spread the remaining frosting on just the top of the cake. If you have leftover frosting, you can freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Decorate the cake with garnishes.
- Refrigerate the cake for at least 2–3 hours or up to 1 day before slicing and serving. If chilling for more than a few hours, loosely cover with plastic wrap (or the lid of a cake carrier) after 1 hour of refrigeration. (The frosting will “set” after about 1 hour and the plastic wrap won’t really ruin your frosting at that point.) And if you’re chilling for more than a few hours, I suggest decorating with garnishes right before serving, so they look fresh.
- Cover and store leftover cake at room temperature for up to 1–2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled, and covered tightly at room temperature overnight. Likewise, the frosting can be prepared then covered and refrigerated overnight. Assemble and frost the cake the next day when you are ready to serve. The frosted cake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day—see step 8. The frosted cake can also be frozen for up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Icing Spatula | Bench Scraper | Cake Turntable | Cake Carrier (for storage)
- Flour: Sift flour before measuring.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 1 Tablespoon (15g/ml) of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 and 3/4 cups (420g/ml). (In a pinch, lower-fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Raspberries: The raspberries will leak some juice around the edges after a day or so. Leave the berries out if you’re making this cake in advance for a party or celebration.
- Room-Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Learn more about why room-temperature ingredients are important.
- I used this cake recipe for my checkerboard cake. The cake layers are slightly thicker here because this cake is 3 layers instead of 4. If you want to make the naked cake as a 4-layer cake, divide the batter evenly among 4 cake pans and bake for 23–24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi sally,
Can I substitute oil instead of butter? What do you think? If it’s okay what is the ration you recommend?
Hi Rukmali, butter is key to this cake’s intended taste and texture, so we don’t recommend swapping it. If needed, you could try swapping with solid coconut oil, as you’ll need a solid to cream together with the sugars. Hope you enjoy!
Hi there,
Would it be possible to modify the quantities in this recipe to make just a 2-layer cake instead of 3? I know I could just make 2 layers and use the remaining batter for cupcakes or something, but I’d rather not have the excess if possible! Thanks 🙂
Hi Morgan, Reducing the recipe down to yield 2 layers without altering the taste or texture can be tough. We recommend this 2 layer white cake recipe instead if you’d like.
Hi there, do you know about how many inches tall this decorated cake ends up being? Assuming we decorate just as the recipe dictates?
Hi Kirstie, we haven’t measured the height of the finished cake, but each layer should be about 1.5-2 inches and then you will have to account for the whipped cream and fruit between the layers, which can vary by person. We hope you enjoy the cake!
Hi there, I’ve made this cake twice now and both times it has come out very dense. I made sure to pay extra careful attention to the recipe second time and done everything exact yet it still came out super dense? All your other recipes have worked wonderfully, unsure on where I’m going wrong with this one? X
Hi Isla, this vanilla naked cake is a slightly denser cake which helps support the naked cake decorating style. If you try this cake again, make sure your baking powder and soda are fresh (we recommend swapping them out every three months or so for optimal freshness) and not to over-mix the batter, which can lead to dense, squat cakes. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Could I add orange juice to make this an orange cake? Would be juice from 2 oranges? Would I have to add or subtract anything else?
Hi Dani, adding orange juice would alter the texture of the cake, but adding orange zest would work nicely! You can always top it with this lemon buttercream (using orange juice and zest instead of lemon) as well for extra flavor. Let us know what you try!
So, I have done Naked Cakes before…
The best part of this cake ….was the CAKE!
Super MOIST and deliciously Vanilla!
There are a lot of folks out there who are self-proclaimed PIE lovers and won’t touch cake.
Haha, they’ll love this one!
This is a must for a cake maker.
Can I ask what the flowers are that you used please. Xx
Hi Rachael, we believe they are called wax flowers, but aren’t certain!
Hi Sally,
I have to say, I have made so many of your cakes/cookies and have success each time.
Just wondering if I could use your “Not so Sweet” filling in this layer cake?
I plan on making the cake this week.
Yes, definitely!
Hi Sally! I’m just wondering why all-purpose flour is used instead of cake flour here. Would cake flour be okay to use instead, or are the other ingredients too dense for that?
Hi Nima, This cake is based on our Vanilla Cake recipe (that uses cake flour), but we use all-purpose here for more structure.
Perfect, thanks Michelle!
Hi! I’m planning in making a cake for my mom’s birthday and I really liked this one. I couldn’t find the flower name in your post.
Any all purpose flour will work.
Hi, I’m 13 and have been trying all your recipes and it’s really good I love them
There’s a question I would like to ask…..
What happens if the batter is filled nearly up to the brim of the cake pan?
Will it overflow?
Or just be more thicker?
Hi Rachael, we do not recommend filling cake pans to the top. If there is too much batter, you risk having the batter overflow and it also makes it difficult for the batter to bake and rise evenly. We recommend filling cake pans 1/2 way so there is plenty of room for the batter to rise and bake properly. Hope this helps!
I made this for my daughter’s wedding for her “cutting” cake. It turned out amazing and she loved it! Love most every recipe I’ve tried on here. This had such a great flavor and texture . Thank you so much!!
Hello. I’d like to make a vanilla naked smash cake for my son’s 1st birthday. I’ve read that smash cakes should be 6 inches. Do you advise making this recipe with 6 inch pans?
Hi Cortney! This would be too much batter. Here’s details on baking 6 inch cakes as well as a 6 inch vanilla cake recipe.
Hi! If I was to make a chocolate one with chocolate frosting, do I need to adjust the ingredients amounts since it looks like your chocolate recipe uses just 3 tins?
Hi Jess, you can use our triple chocolate cake recipe and simply decorate it as we do here.
Looks delicious! Can I use a hand mixer to make the cake instead of a stand mixer?
Absolutely.
Can I use vanilla pods instead of vanilla extract and if so, what kind of quantity is equivalent? Thanks!
Hi Alice! We would do a quick google search for a conversion. Usually 1 bean yields the equivalent of 3 tsp of extract.
Would this cake be similar to what we would call “Victoria Sponge” in the UK? If not, do you have a recipe?
Hi Fiona, it’s similar, but a Victoria sponge cake is typically just a bit lighter in texture. We don’t have a recipe at this time, but let us know if you give this one a try!
Love your recipes! My cake doesn’t seem very sturdy coming out of the pan. Any ideas where I might have messed up?
Hi Hanpow, does it seem dry and crumbly? If so, the cake may have been over baked, or there may have been too much flour that caused the cake to dry out (be sure to spoon and level or use a kitchen scale for accuracy). Or was it overly moist and slightly sunken in the middle? If so, it’s possible that the cake was slightly underbaked and needed a few extra minutes in the oven. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Hi,
Hi! Can we use three 8 inch pans for the same recipe/ qty of ingredients?
Hi Tanu, Yes you can divide the batter between three 8 inch pans instead. The bake time may be a minute longer since your cakes will be thicker, but use a toothpick to test for doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake, it is done.
Thanks! Hope to try it out.
I made this cake for my stepson’s wedding. Very doable for a home baker. Thank you! Where can I submit my picture? I am so proud of it!
Hi Joyce, we’re so glad this was a hit! Feel free to send us a photo at sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com — we’d love to see it!
Hello! If I was to use this recipe for a 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 baking tray would that be okay? Should I put all mixture in at once or do two batches? For either, would I vary cooking time? Thanks so much!
Hi Anna, for a 9×13-inch vanilla cake, we recommend using this vanilla sheet cake recipe instead.
Oh no. I don’t have all the ingredients for the vanilla sheet cake recipe and I need to bake tonight (I am in Australia!). Will this recipe not work at all in the larger rectangle?
Hi Anna, if needed, you can use this recipe for a 9×13-inch pan, but it is too much batter as written. Fill you pan about half way and use any leftover batter for a few cupcakes on the side.
This recipe was AMAZING. I decided to make it for Sunday dinner and it turned out perfectly. It is the first tiered cake I’ve made, but everything was so simply explained, I had no problem making it. Everyone loved it! I did add 2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to the frosting, and that was pretty yummy.
So I made this cake for a big family event and it came out SO SO WELL. Looked gorgeous, tasted divine. Absolutely loved it. The layers each took me exactly 26 minutes to bake and I refrigerated the cake the night before the event so the frosting would set and the cake wouldn’t fall apart in the car on the ride. 10/10!
Hey, my daughter would love this for her birthday (10 and doesn’t like lots of icing but loves fruit, so perfect!) but really wants chocolate sponge layers would this work? And if so have you got a recipe link to a good chocolate sponge I always mess mine up thank you
Hi Faye, yes, you can use our chocolate cake recipe instead! See recipe notes there if you’d like to make 3 layers instead of 2.
I made this cake for a wedding and it turned out awesome!! It was delicious, It wasn’t too sweet, and it wasn’t too not sweet!! I will Definitely be making this again!!!
Can I use plain flour instead of All purpose flour?
Hi Jayne, they’re exactly the same, so yes!
Hi Sally, If I make this recipe in a cupcake version, how many cupcakes would this recipe make?
Thanks!
Hi Clare, about 2-3 dozen.
Can I freeze the layers? Unfrosted, just baked?
Hi Sam, Sure can. Here is how to freeze cake layers.
I would like to make this for a two-tiered wedding cake (6″ and 8″). I will need to leave the berries out of the layers because I will have to assemble the cake the day before. Will this still hold up?
Also, how long in advance can I decorate with the fresh berries on top and some on the bottom layer as well. I don’t want the berries to bleed onto the frosting if the cake sits out for most of the day. Thank you for any advice you can give about decorating with berries in advance.
Hi Robyn, yes, the cake will still hold up nicely without the berries. We’d recommend waiting until as close to presentation time as possible to add the berries. As you mention, they can easily bleed their colors, especially if they will be out for most of the day. Hope it’s a hit!
Hi Sally, I want to make this for my mom’s birthday but we wouldn’t be able to finish it. If I cut the recipe in half how long would the bake time be for 4-5 inch cake pans?
Hi Annie, we’re unsure of the exact bake time for 5-inch cake rounds. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.