I cook, you eat
By BONGANI MALUNGA
Not every cake you make has to be fancy or covered with heavy fondant or heavy cake decorations. A naked cake is one that slightly exposes the cake but still oozes a beautiful sight, it is a classic simplicity meets creativity. The naked cake can have a hint of icing but should still give viewers and consumers an outside sight of what they will be enjoying. The naked cake is perfect for tea parties, family reunions or a simple afternoon at home.
Ingredients
2 and 2/3 of a cup of cake flour
2 tablespoons of coacoa powder
1 teaspoon of salt
½ a cup of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 and ½ a cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of white vinegar
1 cup of milk
1 and a 1/3 of a cup of heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons of crimson pink colourant or red food colourant
1 and ¼ of a cup of icing or powdered sugar
In a large bowl, add 2 and 2/3 of a cup of cake flour and sift it to make the flour even softer. Also add two tablespoons of cocoa powder along with a teaspoon of baking soda and a teaspoon of salt, they all have to be sifted as well. Whist the dry ingredients and store in the bowl before making the wet cake batter.
When making the wet cake batter, add half a cup of unsalted butter (at room temperature) and add one and a half of a cup of regular white sugar. Beat the mixture with a hand mixer until it is well combined and appears fluffy. Then add two eggs, one at a time while continuing to beat the mixture, continue the process by adding one cup of vegetable oil, one teaspoon of white vinegar, two teaspoons of vanilla extract and one cup on full cream milk and continue to beat with the hand mixture until a batter forms.
The next step is to add the original dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder) to the wet batter and beat again with a hand mixer, the final step would be to add crimson pink or red food colourant for a colour of your liking and beat one last time. Insert the batter into two cake pans greased with butter and dusted with flour, make sure that you insert them evenly.
Bake into a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes after baking. Thinly slice the top of one cake which will be the base, the slicing is done to create a flat surface, store the cake crumbs of the sliced part for decorating later.
For the decorative part of the cake one would be required to make an icing. In a bowl add 1 and a quarter of powdered or icing sugar which has to be sifted. In a separate bowl insert two cups or 500g of cream cheese which should be at room temperature and beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract and the sifted powdered sugar and beat until they form a smooth finish.
In yet another bowl, add one and a third of a cup of chilled heavy whipping cream and beat with a hand mixer until a stiff peak forms. Finally, add the cream mixture to the cream cheese mixture in a folding motion. Using a spatula, take the icing and smear it on top of the first cake base, smear the the remainder of the icing on the whole cake. Sprinkle the cake crumbs on the edges of the base of the cake and place strawberries for decorative purposes.