naked layers

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THIS DESIGN EXPOSES a cake’s bare essentials. It highlights the most scrumptious part—the ingredients!

To make it, fill and stack the cake layers as described on pages 108 to 110, icing the top of each tier. For something unexpected, you could also layer different icings and cakes together for a multicolored flavor fusion.

Incorporating fresh fruit and herbs into a cake design creates a fresh, fun look. Make sure to lightly wash the fruit before using, and use toothpicks or thin skewers to hold the fruit in place.

Although this cake is shown with fruits and herbs, you can also decorate an open layered cake with other items including fresh flowers, sugar flowers, and marzipan confections. Modern decorations such as mushrooms (page 224) or sugar fans (page 227) could be used as well. Keep in mind that with no icing on the sides of the cake, you’ll have less surface area to adhere designs to, so I recommend placing them around the base of the tiers.