Did you know that September 16th is the most popular birthday?? In honor of everyone who is lucky enough to celebrate this awesome day as well as all the September birthdays, I am sharing a fun “naked” cake!
Calm down now, this is a G-rated post. A naked cake simply refers to the fact that the sides of the cake are left bare, or free from frosting.
Pink, Orange & Yellow Naked Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 package 2-layer size yellow cake mix
- 1 1/2 cups 3 sticks butter, softened
- 6 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Lemon Extract
- McCormick® Assorted Food Colors & Egg Dye
- 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Orange Extract
- 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Imitation Coconut Extract
- 2 teaspoons pineapple juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Pour batter evenly (about 1 1/4 cups each) into 3 (9-inch) round cake pans sprayed with no stick cooking spray.
- Bake 25 to 29 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean.
- Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes.
- Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
- For the Frostings, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy.
- Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently.
- Add water; beat until light and fluffy.
- Divide frosting evenly among 3 bowls.
- Tint and flavor each bowl of frosting.
- For Pink Lemonade Frosting, stir in lemon extract and 7 drops red food color.
- For Burnt Orange Frosting, stir in orange extract, 36 drops red food color and 30 drops yellow food color.
- For Piña Colada Frosting, stir in coconut extract, pineapple juice and 30 drops yellow food color.
- Place a cake layer on serving platter and spread with Pink Lemonade Frosting.
- Top with second cake layer and spread with Burnt Orange Frosting.
- Top with remaining cake layer and spread with Piña Colada Frosting. Do not frost sides.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
How to create the perfect Naked Cake:
Make sure your layers are level prior to assembly. (more info on how to bake a level cake here)
Chill the cake layers in freezer for at least 1 hour prior to assembly.
Make sure your frosting is quite creamy and spreadable. A stiff frosting will pull at your cake and potentially break it. (The perfect spreading buttercream? Whipped Buttercream!)
Be very intentional on how you spread your icing onto each layer. A piping bag works great here! (See: How to Build a Layer Cake)
Have fun! Mix up the cake colors and flavors as well as the frostings. Add fruit or a decorative pastry tip to add texture.
Achieving the “perfect” colors in icing is often complicated and difficult to replicate.
With the help of charts, the recipe is specific down to the very last drop. If you decide to try this cake, you are destined to get the exact same results that I did!
Another reason to celebrate! What do you think of the fun design? Two cakes, one with pink, orange and yellow and the other with green, blue and purple. A Rainbow!
Recipe shared from McCormick with permission.
There is a complete chart with all the frostings as well as a very detailed recipe you can download for both cakes! I can’t help but be impressed with the level of detail they have provided.
It really takes all the stress out of baking and leave you with all the FUN!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all the September Birthdays!!
It was an absolute delight to create these Naked Cakes with McCormick. Thank you so, so much for supporting the brands that support this blog. I only work with the best, and am thankful that McCormick is willing to partner with me! <3
I’d hate to have to cover that beautiful nakedness… I think I’ll just keep that cake modest and cover it with my mouth! 🙂
your cakes are gorgeous! love!!
I never knew this was the most popular birthday, interesting. But it is my half birthday, so I should probably make a cake for myself. I love the flavored frostings too. They sound amazing!
So pretty! Look at those colours!
I LOVE that I could actually make this cake. I always had problems making the outside frosting layer all smooth and pretty. So then I would just eat the cake myself because I was ashamed to present it to people.
My skinny jeans thanks you for this. Pinned!
I love this fun and simply cake idea! So festive!
Love these cakes! We’re big fans of naked cupcakes in our house, though that’s because 9 times out of 10 we’re making the fun tie dye cupcakes and it’s just wrong to cover those fun cupcakes with frosting! Gonna have to try these though!
ha ha I know what you mean! 🙂
What? There’s a ‘most popular’ birthday? I feel like I definitely learned something today lol! This cake looks gorgeous!! Off to check out the different colors and combos!
Thanks for the birthday cake! 😉 (I’m a September.) And I loved your hashtags on instagram. My husband made that remark to me when I told him Sept was the biggest bday month!
Ha ha… I have no proof. And I guess I should spend less time thinking about when other people are… well… enjoying each other! 🙂
My nephew’s birthday is September 16th and I had no idea he was born on the most popular day of the year… Love the idea of the naked cake and all the bright colors you incorporated.