“Naked Cake”, Creamy, Sweet and Tart Layer Cake flavored with Vanilla, Cardamom and Kumquat Curd

I’m not a great baker and I find decorating cakes challenging. I’m always in awe of great cake decorators. Well, I’m in awe of all creative people doing their thing. When I first saw a “Naked Cake” I loved it. There are so many really beautiful versions out there, you can check out a million versions on Pinterest. Basically it’s barely-there frosting. Really, just considered a “crumb coating” by bakers-in-the-know. That’s where you put a first layer of icing on the cake, let it chill or firm, then you can add the rest of the icing without risk of crumbs mixing in the icing and mucking up your work. Well, this is my first try and I think it went pretty well. The kumquat curd takes the cake!

You Are My Sweet Tart

I was trying to think of new ways to use these beautiful Kumquats of ours. So, I thought of kumquat curd. Turns out, I wasn’t the first to think of this, it’s already a thing. I make kumquat jam nearly every year. Kumquat jam could work in place of the curd in this recipe, but the curd is richer and less sweet than jam, which is preferred for this cake. Curd is used in tarts, on scones and in cookies and other baked goods. It’s made with fruit, eggs and butter! Can’t go wrong, right?

Cardamom has a lovely fragrance and it goes very well with citrus, which makes it a great match for the kumquat. In this cake, the cardamom is subtle in taste and the little flecks of the spice look beautiful in both the cake and the buttercream.

I used 2 6 1/2 inch cake pans. Much smaller than the standard 9 or 8 inch cake pan. Then I split each cake in half for four layers, stacked. If you’re looking to make a tall and impressive looking cake, this recipe will do the job. The cake came out of the pans perfectly and they’re not too delicate to handle, but still super moist and light tasting.

perfect cake — Perfect cake from 6 1/2 inch cake pan
Cardamom Vanilla Cake

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. I bet your mom would love this cake and I bet you’ll have some fun making it. I did!

If You’re Curd-ious, This Is How I Did It

You can make the curd a day or two ahead and leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to decorate the cake. I used about 15 kumquats. I split them in half and removed the biggest seeds that I could see and added the fruit to the blender and let it rip. Puree all the fruit. You need 1 cup of puree. Into a heavy bottom pot, put the puree, the egg yolks, the sugar and a pinch of salt. Let it all come to a boil. Keep it boiling for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. It will become very thick. More seeds will likely rise as the fruit cooks. Remove if you like, but they won’t be noticeable once cooked and in the cake.

After 10 minutes, remove from heat. Add butter, a bit at a time, and continue to stir until it’s all combined. Transfer to a small bowl, cover in plastic and refrigerate.

Cake Baking Tips

One of the secrets to baking is to make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature (eggs, milk, butter). Now, I used to think that if you were in a hurry, you could just put the butter into the microwave to soften. Actually, that may cause the texture of your baked goods to change. So, for anything that’s going to be an investment of your time, make sure you follow the smallest details. I like to give myself every advantage for successful baking!

Add all your dry ingredients to one large bowl. Add your eggs to a large measuring cup with a spout for pouring. In the bowl of a mixer set at medium, add butter and whip it until its light. Add the sugar and continue to beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, letting each egg completely disappear before adding the next. Continue to mix and add the vanilla. Turn the mixer down to low. Slowly add some of the flour, then some of the milk, alternating until all the dry ingredients and the milk are incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix about 20 seconds longer.

Vanilla Cardamom Cake Batter. Beautiful little flecks of cardamom

Divide the batter into your prepared pans. I use plenty of butter, then lightly flour the pans. Shake out any excess.

Your baking time is going to depend upon the size of the pans you use. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven. The cake usually takes about 30 minutes, but start checking at 25 minutes. The cake is done when the toothpick comes out with a crumb or two. If the toothpick comes out clean, it’s over cooked. You can tell when to start to check with a toothpick by looking at the top of the cake. It should be brown, but with no movement at the center when you pull the pans from the oven. Let cakes cool 10 minutes, then remove from the pans.

Once cool go ahead and split the cakes if you are making multiple layers, like I did. Split the layers by using a very long serrated knife, or, you can even use unflavored dental floss. Just try to keep the layers as even as possible. I like to wrap each layer separately, tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate prior to icing and decorating. The cake is less fragile and easier to apply the icing.

Cardamom Buttercream Frosting

It sounds fancy, but it’s just adding a little hint of cardamom to a basic vanilla buttercream. This is a very easy version of buttercream frosting, but it’s important to follow these important basics. You will love the way it tastes and how well it spreads on the cake.

Again, make sure that your butter has been sitting out for at least 3-4 hours. It needs to be very soft. Put the butter in your mixer with the whip attachment. Start whipping the butter on medium high setting, until it’s light then keep it whipping about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then slowly, by spoonful, add the confectioners sugar. Let each spoonful incorporate before adding the next. Then, add vanilla, cardamom, a pinch of salt and the milk. Let the frosting whip again for another 5 minutes.

You can use the frosting immediately or you can refrigerate it and use it the next day. Just take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before icing.

Get Creative!

Ok, so now the real fun begins. Unwrap your cake layers. Fill a pastry bag with icing and a large round tip, or if you don’t have that, put the icing into a zip lock bag and snip the end off. This cake will be beautiful without a single bit of fancy piping. Now, put the first layer centered on your cake plate. Make a border of the icing around the edges of the cake.

make a border around the entire cake layer to keep the kumquat curd filing from spilling

Fill the center with 1/3 of the kumquat curd. Then spread the curd evenly, inside the ring of icing. Set the second layer on top and repeat and again with the third layer, then top with the forth layer.

Put a large dollop of icing on the top of the cake and smooth over the top. Then, using a off-set spatula, spread the icing very thinly on the side of the cake, just enough to lightly coat the cake. Clean any crumbs or icing off the plate and decorate as you like. I added a few freshly cut and cleaned roses and some thinly sliced kumquats. Go ahead and use your imagination. If you like, you can even add some fancy piping. If you’re not a fan of the “naked look”, you can frost in the traditional way. Honestly, this cake can handle more buttercream! When you taste this cake, you will see how delicious the creamy frosting is when mixed with the sweet and tart kumquat filling.

“Naked Cake” with kumquat curd filling in a vanilla cardamom cake

Note: The recipe for the vanilla cake was closely adapted from the recipe for Basic Vanilla Cake by Baked By An Introvert https://www.bakedbyanintrovert.com This cake truly is delicious, light and very moist.