Guys, I have a dirty secret… I have subbed grocery store cakes for homemade cakes on a handful of occasions. And no one knew because of my excellent lying makeover skills. Is that bad? If so, it gets worse. I was asked to do a wedding cake for a small wedding… like very last minute. I picked up a store bought cake the morning of the wedding and stripped it down to re-decorate it in between the ceremony and the reception. I didn’t tell them it was store bought, no one asked. In fact… I got a reputation for being a pretty good cake maker. If only they knew!
So now that I’ve spilled the beans… yes, my birthday cake came from the grocery store. It cost no where near a real bakery cake, but I still got compliments and it looked good in pictures. I did tell my guests it wasn’t home made. They didn’t mind. I do bake sometimes, if I were attending a party and that was all I was charged with, I most definitely would! But for my birthday party I decorated, planned the menu, grocery shopped, and had to clean my house (that last one is the kicker). So I cut myself some slack on the cake.
This ‘naked cake’ is THE easiest way to make a grocery cake look bakery. I feel a bit shameful that I’m calling this a makeover. It’s more of a make-under. Ready for the instructions? Scrape the icing off. Ok, end of post.
Just kidding. Let’s talk about the cake first. Did you know you can walk right up to the bakery counter and ask for a chocolate cake with white icing and not detail? Now you do. If the bakery gals aren’t super sweet (as anyone working in a bakery should be), then you can just pick one of those tacky cakes off the shelf with the multicolor roses or balloons. That’s what I used for the wedding cake. The bonus of getting a plain one? You don’t have to feel guilty scraping someone’s handywork into the trash plus you’re not wasting all that icing plus you have no risk of red smudges from roses in your beautiful white icing.
I like to work in layers to make sure I don’t end up digging into the cake with my spatula. I also chose to leave a bit extra icing on the top compared to the sides. My flowers were darker and wanted them to stand out against the white, not blend in against the chocolate. Even so, I used my spatula to spread the icing and get rid of the perfect lines in the icing on the top.
I love fresh flowers… for everything. And cakes are no different, then you can decorate it with fresh flowers. I like to put a bit of parchment paper down under the flowers, then start laying the flowers on and building them up. That’s it, that’s all friends. Then you can plop it on your favourite cake plate and show it off to all your friends as if you a) made it b) bought it at a fancy bakery.
Have you ever tried a grocery store cake makeover? Would you consider it? I feel like it’s really lazy, but then I think it’s no different than buying a bakery cake- but you’re just putting in some of the labour to cut the cost.
Boo! Geometric Ghost Free Printable
Great idea!! Wish I knew about this before this week, which we call birthday-palooza around here!! One last batch of icing and cupcakes to go…
Thanks Erin! I hope you guys had the best week and are busy relaxing now ;)
I am a terrible baker, so I think this idea is amazing! I never buy iced grocery store cakes because they are so obviously not homemade. Instead I usually buy an angel food cake and make strawberry shortcake if I am responsible for dessert. This might be my new “go-to” cheater dessert!
Oh yes, we have definitely had more than a few angelfood cakes in our time ;) An alternative is always handy!
BRILLANT!!!
Thanks Dawn! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment :)
This is genius and absolutely gorgeous! I now know what I’m faking, I mean, bringing to Thanksgiving!
Haha, there’s nothing wrong with faking it ;) If you do try it out, I’d love to see a pic!!
Ha, your secret’s safe with me! Love the idea!
Oooh you made this cake so pretty and I love those fresh flowers on top :)
Thanks Katie! Fresh flowers make any cake look gorgeous!
What a great idea! I definitely need to try this sometime!
Thanks so much Ginnie, I’d love to see a photo if you do!
High fives on the cake {fake}! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful creativity on The Inspiration Board at homework. I loved your project and featured you today!
Have a wonderful weekend!
carolyn ~ homework
Thanks Carolyn! I so appreciate your support (and your wonderful party)!
Um, you’re genius. And hilarious. I always love coming and reading your posts!! :) This cake is so pretty though, and I totally would have just thought you’d make it yourself! So, next time I come for your next dinner party, I’ll definitely eat a piece of your fancy cake, too. ;) Thanks for linking up with us at Motivational Monday, as always!! See you again next week. :)
Ahh thanks so much Amanda your comments make my day! And when you do, I’ll accept the compliments and never tell you that it’s from Safeway ;)
This is totally a huge Derrrr!!! Why have I never thought of this and why isn’t everyone doing this now?!? I LOVE the look of “naked” cakes and the flowers on top of yours make it so so pretty! Thanks for sharing this at On Display Thursday!!
Haha maybe everyone is doing it and they just won’t tell us? Thanks for the comment Emily, and great party as always :)
Colleen, you sneaky sneak!
Who me?! The secret’s out :)
What a great idea for a rustic looking cake, but without ALL the work! Genius!
Thanks Leia- some days I’m just not up for ALL the work (especially on my own birthday!), I’m glad you like it :)
What a beautiful makeover and a great time saver! I love the look, prettier than it was when it started. I guess when creating this makeover the “baker” must eat the frosting that’s taken off the cake? :-)
Thanks so much Lea! The makeover is even more satisfying when you get to scrape some tacky balloons off the cake ;) And I can promise you all of the frosting did not make it to the trash :)
What spatula did you use?
It’s a Wilton one with a round tip, they sell them at Michaels and I believe they’re specifically for icing cake :)
Much appreciated! Can’t wait to try this out! You’re a genius! ;)
Lazy and genius are close cousins ;) I’d love to see it if you do try it out!
Also works with a grocery store lamb cake at Easter. Respread the icing, put your own ribbon around the neck and put on a plate with green coconut grass and jelly beans. Everyone thought I used my grandma’s old lamb cake mold (which never works for me).
really informative posts
Is it a two layer cake?
Yes! Just the standard ones you can get for $10 in the bakery section :)
Whatever the store sells! This one is two layers, yes :)
This is awesome! Just in time for my niece’s 1st birthday smash cake. Should the cake be left out to get to room temperature before working on the frosting? Thank you for your help!
I would definitely let it warm up a bit!