Need help with baking a "naked" cake please.

[Cakeandcardio]

Hello,
I had arranged for someone to bake a cake for my son's christening this Sunday but he's unwell and can no longer do it. So at this short notice my only option really is to do it myself so any experienced bakers can you please help?!
I've bought a 10inch square tin and plan to make a naked cake (keeping it simple!). I have three questions:

1. Should I line both the bottom and the sides of the cake tin?
2. Do I need a dowel in the middle to hold the top layer up? (It's going to basically be a big victoria sponge)
3. Any ideas for toppers? It's too short notice to get anything online so maybe thinking flowers? Any ideas of anything else?

Thanks a lot

Thanks!

Whereabouts are you OP?

If you are doing a jam layer in the middle, spread the jam on the bottom cake and then stick it in the fridge for a bit before you put the top cake on - stops the top sliding about so much than if you just put it straight on.

Naked cakes are harder than you think to make look good, especially for a novice baker, and I don’t know if it would work on a large but low shape like you’re describing. It may just end up looking like you’ve badly iced it.

I make cakes for a living and would still be more nervous about a naked cake than a fully iced one tbh. Much like naked bodies, there’s nowhere to hide any imperfections!!

Better to just fill it with buttercream and jam, then refrigerate to set the buttercream and stop it sliding about. The suggestions of sprinkled icing sugar and berries is a great one. The berries offset the sweetness of all the icing, unlike sugar paste flowers etc and it’s a simple idea that will work well in any shape and size.

Although you don’t need dowels because you’re not supporting another layer on top, I know what you mean about the jam making it more prone to move about and it may help to use a couple of dowels at strategic points - I use straws as they’re easy to cut to the right heights and you could even pop a rose stem into the centre of each straw for an added touch of class.

Scotland

@SteveHarringtonsChestHair thank you! I may well be out of my depth!

Give it a go, OP. You’ll be fine. Cover any mistakes with either icing or sieve some icing sugar over and cover with berries or flowers.

@MinnyMous At this point, I think I have to give it a go anyway 😅 I called the local bakeries and they could not help! So it's down to me. Haha.

I think all the terminology (naked cake etc) is getting you potentially complicated answers when what you need is pretty simple.

You want a square 10-inch sponge with some decoration. That’s it.

Main cake:
Two (or maximum three) layers of sponge.

If you’re baking it yourself line the bottom & sides.

Jam, then buttercream to fill

Decoration:
Icing sugar & fresh flowers (classic, simple, remove flowers to serve!)
or
more buttercream scraped thinly around the sides (what posters mean when they say ‘naked is tricky’) plus top decoration.
or
buttercream crumb plus fondant/Royal icing (smooth) - trickier than you think.

If I were you I’d go to M&S, Waitrose or any large supermarket, buy a perfectly iced sheet cake or celebration cake and pimp it up however you like.

I promise no one will judge you or remember the quality of your Christening cake. Honestly.

Or…

Buy a load of cupcakes and dessert
options (eclairs, tiny cheesecake bites etc) and one small iced cake. Cut that for photos and let everyone eat different desserts.

No one really cares about the cake per se. They want a sweet slice with a
cuppa for sure but it’s fine not to have a fancy cake!

You'll be fine!

I'd agree with the other posters about naked cakes being harder than fully iced or totally uniced cakes. There's nowhere to hide so and rough bits really stand out.

Could you do a cupcake tower instead? The beauty of cupcakes is that if they sink you can just fill the case with icing or buttercream to level it out. Just put them on a stand and you're good to go. If you need a recipe I don't think I've had a bad one yet from the hummingbird bakery for cupcakes.

I'm not sure what supermarkets you've got in Scotland but a basic supermarket sponge cake and nice buttercream is probably your best bet. Butter, icing sugar, a dash of proper vanilla (not the cheap stuff!) and whip it for a good 5-10 mins then palette knife on or use a butter knife for the messier look. Fruit or herbs are your friend unless you have edible flowers in the supermarket. Pile up or do a crescent shape for ease and prettiness.

Enjoy!

Lots of good advice here, so you'll be fine!

However, if you decide to use flowers they shouldn't just be stuck into the cake (many flowers are not edible, but even if they are liquid will leave their stems and go into the cake). You can wrap the stems in floral tape to make them food safe, or you can use straws as suggested by a PP.

This could be nice.one layer with fruit.
YouTube for baked cake tutorials.its not too hard at all.

Another with a simple cross

You can get ready rolled fondant nowadays thoguh which it brilliant.you just flop it over the cake.

@kateandme. Thanks! It's thr first picture I've been looking at. Baked it so far and my husband is now doing the trimming. Will update later with how I get on.

You can do it!

Thanks everyone for all of your help and advice. There was some excellent tips here and they really helped.
The tip about the flowers was brilliant as I hadn't thought about the water. So went with fruit instead. Will attach some pics.

Well done, that looks gorgeous - and delicious!

That looks lovely! Hope you and your family had a lovely day.

Looks ace OP, great job, hope it was a nice day :)

Thanks everyone! Not quite what a professional would make but family and friends seemed happy enough with it. We had a lovely day. Thank you

That looks lovely, well done!

Ok oi! STOP putting yourself down.own the effort and the amazing cake and smile.looks bloody delicious.honestly I want a slice and you can NOT say that with all cakes. It looks really elegant and lovely.
Here's to more baking op.you can clearly do it.i see many cupcakes in your future with your lo😘