Cake Frosting Tip: Leave the Sides Naked!

Elizabeth Passarella
Elizabeth Passarella
Elizabeth Passarella is the author of the essay collection Good Apple and a contributing editor at Southern Living. A former editor at Real Simple and Vogue, she has spent more than 20 years writing about food, travel, home design, and parenting in outlets including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Parents, Martha Stewart Weddings, Coastal Living, Airbnb, and The Kitchn. Elizabeth grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and now lives with her husband and three children in New York City.
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published Apr 26, 2011
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

The hardest part of making a pretty layer cake is usually frosting around the sides—filling in gaps, spreading at an awkward angle, working fast enough so that the icing doesn’t slide onto the countertop… But if you want to keep the process stress-free, try leaving the sides un-frosted. It can be just as pretty.

This technique works great if you have a fluffy filling, maybe one dotted with fruit or nuts. You’ll have plenty of frosting, since you don’t need it for the sides, so add a little extra in between each cake layer to make it dramatic. Then plop some on the top, and you’re finished.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

We think it also looks nice to have two different textures and colors, like a frosting in the middle and a ganache on the top. In fact, chocolate ganache is the perfect icing to use in this situation. It drips beautifully down the sides, eliminating the need to do anything else.

Here are the recipes pictured above:
• Chocolate-Orange Layer Cake, from Cooking Light (top).
• Ginger-Pecan Cake, from Martha Stewart (above).

Is this anyone’s go-to technique? Any other tips?

Related: How to Frost a Layer Cake (an easy tutorial if you do want to go all out)

(Images: John Autry; MarthaStewart.com)

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Cake
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