My sister in law turned thirty this week and I quickly saw the opportunity to attempt a Pinterest inspired project. I’ve liked and pinned naked cakes recently because I find them to be beautiful, simple, and they have a little less frosting so the guilt factor slightly diminishes. Turns out they are also easy to make! If you have interest in making one try the steps below.

1. Decide how many layers you want and buy one box of cake mix for each layer. My decision making skills were lacking on this part and I’m embarrassed to share how much time I spent at the grocery store debating flavors. Finally I left the store with four boxes, two lemon and two French vanilla.

2. Bake the cakes following directions on the box in round pans.

3. Let the cakes cool and put them in your refrigerator overnight.

4. You could buy icing from the grocery store but I highly recommend making your own. I made cream cheese, lemon, lavender frosting found at Be What We Love. It was simply amazing.

5. Then I cut the tops off of the cakes to make them flat.

6. Start layering. Cake, frosting, cake, frosting, cake, frosting…you get the idea.

7. I found an array of bright pretty flowers and fruits and began my favorite part of the process. I embellished the cake with peonies, a big rose, some greens, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and edible glitter!

8. That’s it!

Looks like the party guests liked it!

Check out Kristi Murphy for a great tutorial on how to make a naked cake.