Semi- naked Wedding Cake

This wedding cake was so much fun to make and I got so much positive feedback from the wedding guests. The top tier is a spiced carrot cake with a spiced orange buttercream, the middle is a lemon cake with a limoncello icing and the bottom is a classic Victoria sponge. Yummy!

I have named this 'The Arrowsmith' after the lovely couple I made it for.

This recipe doesn't have any accompanying photos because all the recipes are already on my blog. The middle and bottom tiers follow the same method as my Victoria sponge (https://www.brionybakes.co.uk/blog/victoria-sponge) but with icing on the sides and the top tier is my spiced carrot cake (https://www.brionybakes.co.uk/blog/spiced-carrot-cake-with-spiced-orange-buttercream).

The happy couple.

THE RECIPE

Bottom Tier - Victoria Sponge

3 x 10 inch cakes

Ingredients

Sponge

900g unsalted butter, softened (President)

900g caster sugar

900g self-raising flour

4 tsp baking powder

17 medium eggs

3 tbsp milk (whole or semi-skimmed)

Buttercream

500g unsalted butter. Softened

1kg icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Jam of your choice

Method

1. Oven on to 180°C/fan 170°C. Line three 10 inch cake tins with butter and baking parchment.

Make sponges

2. Butter into stand mixer with whisk attachment. Beat until fluffy and pale (see pic ). Add sugar and beat until well combined.

3. Break eggs into bowl, add milk and whisk together.

4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into another bowl.

5. Switch to paddle attachment. Add half egg mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Add half flour mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Repeat.

*use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix to make sure you get any unmixed ingredients

6. Divide batter into tins. Smooth. Bake in middle of oven for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and skewer comes out clean.

7. Cool in tins for 10 minutes. Tip onto cooling racks. Leave to cool.

Make buttercream

8. Butter into stand mixer with attachment. Beat until fluffy and pale. Sift icing sugar into bowl. Add half sugar to butter, beat until combined and smooth. Repeat. Add vanilla essence. Beat to combine.

Assemble

9. Use bread knife or cake leveller to make each sponge flat and level.

10. Put one layer on your serving plate. Pipe or spread buttercream. Pipe or smooth on jam. Repeat. Put on top layer. Spread icing over the top of cake and around the sides. Use a cake smoother to get even sides.

Middle Tier - Lemon Cake with Limoncello Buttercream

3 x 8 inch cakes

Ingredients

Sponge

600g unsalted butter, softened (President)

600g caster sugar

600g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

11 medium eggs

2 tbsp milk (whole or semi-skimmed)

2 tsp lemon extract

Zest of 1 lemon

Buttercream

250g unsalted butter. Softened

500g icing sugar

2-3 tbsp limoncello

Dash of lemon extract

Lemon Curd

300g caster sugar

2 lemons, zested and juiced

115g unsalted butter, cubed

3 medium eggs

Method

1. Oven on to 180°C/fan 170°C. Line three 10 inch cake tins with butter and baking parchment.

Make sponges

2. Butter into stand mixer with whisk attachment. Beat until fluffy and pale. Add sugar and beat until well combined.

3. Break eggs into bowl, add milk and whisk together. Add lemon zest and lemon extract.

4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into another bowl.

5. Switch to paddle attachment. Add half egg mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Add half flour mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Repeat.

*use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix to make sure you get any unmixed ingredients

6. Divide batter into tins. Smooth. Bake in middle of oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and skewer comes out clean.

7. Cool in tins for 10 minutes. Tip onto cooling racks. Leave to cool.

Make curd

8. Sugar, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and limoncello in a pan. Heat until melted. Beat eggs. Agg to pan. Stir continuously until thickened. Leave to cool.

Make buttercream

9. Butter into stand mixer with attachment. Beat until fluffy and pale. Sift icing sugar into bowl. Add half sugar to butter, beat until combined and smooth. Repeat. Add limoncello and lemon extract. Beat to combine.

Assemble

10. Use bread knife or cake leveller to make each sponge flat and level.

11. Put one layer on your serving plate. Pipe or spread buttercream. Pipe or smooth on curd. Repeat. Put on top layer. Spread icing over the top of cake and around the sides. Use a cake smoother to get even sides.

Top Tier - Spiced Carrot Cake with Spiced Orange Buttercream

3 x 6 inch cakes

Ingredients

Cake

320g carrots, grated

70g walnuts, chopped

30g pistachios, chopped

100g raisins

300g plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

300ml vegetable oil

5 medium eggs

1 tsp orange zest

Juice of half an orange

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g golden caster sugar

200g light brown sugar

Icing

250g unsalted butter, softened

500g icing sugar

1 tsp orange extract

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp ginger

Splash of milk (to loosen)

Method

1. Oven on to 180°C. Grease and line 3 x 6 inch tins.

Make cakes

2. Grate carrots. Chop nuts. Weigh out raisins.

3. In a big bowl, add oil, eggs, zest, juice, vanilla extract and sugars. Whisk to combine.

4. In another bowl, add flour, bicarb, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and salt. Whisk to combine.

5. Tip flour mixture into oil mixture. Mix to combine. Add carrots, nuts and raisins. Mix to combine. Divide into tins.

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes until skewer comes out clean.

7. Leave to cool.

Make icing

8.Beat butter in stand mixer with paddle attachment until light and smooth. Sift icing sugar, cinnamon, allspice and ginger into bowl. Add icing sugar in 2 batches. Mix well each time. Add orange extract. Mix well until smooth. Add splash of milk to loosen icing (it needs to be spreadable but not too sloppy).

Assemble

9. Level off each cake using a serrated knife or cake leveller.

10. Add ⅔ of icing into large piping bag (you can do this with a palette knife too if you don’t have a piping bag). Cut 2cm hole in piping bag. Place one cake on plate/board. Pipe on icing. Level with palette knife. Put next cake on. Repeat.

11. Pipe icing around side of cake and on top. Smooth with palette knife or cake scraper.

Construction of the Cake

Place 5 dowels in bottom 2 tiers; I use thick straws because they are easy to cut to size.

I transport my cakes in separate tiers and build it at the venue.

Stack cakes carefully. I use a metal spatula or fish slice.

Always take spare icing and tools in case of emergency.