This April, LUX turns another year older and we are all too excited to celebrate with you! We've officially reached our 'sweet sixteen' and what could be a better than an all-out bash, especially when the party falls on the 16th of April in 2016?! It was meant to be.
It's hard to ignore the palpable joy and anticipation in the air that comes with another LUX birthday, especially one that captures the fun and glitter of being a young teen. We've been digging out old (embarrassing) photos, reliving the best and worst moments of those years, and talking about our dream version of a Sweet Sixteen party.
So, to get ready for that glittery, youthful fete, I'm tackling the art of making a naked cake worthy of the occasion. The smell of cake has got to be one of the most tantalizing scents in the world. That rich, sweetened vanilla smell is currently wafting throughout my loft and I can't help but be instantly transported to years gone by of birthday parties and blowing out candles surrounded by loved ones.
One of the most freeing parts of making a naked cake, is that you can make the tiers out of any cake your heart desires. For our cake we used this Canadian Living recipe (with a few tweaks to the quantity and cooking time) to make a rich, dense lemon cake, switching out the lemon glaze for a lemon buttercream.
Once your cakes have been baked, the fun begins!
After a lot of research there are two resounding hard and fast rules when it comes to stacking cakes:
Apart from that, the rest of the process is straightforward and full of room for creativity!
The Simple Steps
1. Take your cooled cakes out of the fridge and gently cut the tops off the cake layer to make each one a level, flat surface.
2. Using a piping bag, ice the top of the bottom layer adding extra icing to the edges.
3. Gently place the next layer of cake on top of the icing, pressing gently to fuse the icing to both layers.
4. Using a flat icing spatula, apply a bit more icing to the seam of the two pieces of cake, working slowly to spread the icing along that edge to your preferred look and thickness of that decorated seam.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for each layer (we made our cake with three 5'' layers).
6. Top your cake with edible flowers, candles, edible gold flake, or any other decoration your heart desires! We used floral wire to help adhere flowers to the cake, as well as tweezers for the more delicate blooms.
