Who doesn’t like cake? Well if you’ve been on social media in the last few months you're bound to have heard of the latest food craze… cake! Not just any old cake, “Korean minimalist cakes”.
Photo upon photo of these cakes are being posted everywhere online and have been on everybody's ‘To Do’ lists this month.
What’s so special about these cakes? Well not only are people eating them with wine glasses… their simplistic look is captivating the eyes of many professional (and non-professional) bakers!
What Exactly Is A Minimalist Cake?
Well, minimalist cakes are cakes that are often single or two-tiered and have a simple colored coat of frosting around them along with a border of frosting.
A popular touch that is added is by writing on the top of the cake with the remaining frosting.
These cakes are perfect for those beginner bakers who don’t have all the techniques down-packed yet. (Although let's admit it, icing cakes are still relatively difficult no matter how much practice you’ve had).
The Craze…
One of 2021’s very first crazes and of course, as it should be it’s food-related. This trendy treat began to circulate the internet towards the middle of January and has been on everyone's feeds ever since.
Video tutorials both successful and not have taken over the social media platform, TikTok as well as those posting their baking success to Instagram. These aesthetic cakes are perfect for any occasion and allow everybody to stir into their creative side.
The Requirements
Minimalist cakes are essentially just cakes with very simple but effective decorating.
You’ll need a great recipe (Keep reading and below you’ll find a simple one). Depending on the occasion or what ingredients you are limited to the choices are all up to you!
The great thing about minimalist cakes is that it doesn’t matter what flavor you do because you’ll be covering that cake entirely anyway, so the cake itself won’t be bare and showing through the frosting.
Minimalist Cake Recipe
If you're craving cake already and are bursting at the seams to switch the oven on, fear not, here's a basic cake recipe to get you started.
Ingredients
- 1 cup White Sugar
- 125g Butter
- 2 Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence
- 1 ½ cups Standard grade flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ cup Milk
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356 Fahrenheit)
- Grease a 23cm x 23cm cake pan.
- In a medium bowl, cream the white sugar and butter together. One at a time beat in each egg and add the vanilla essence.
- In a separate bowl incorporate the flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture, and mix.
- Lastly, stir in the milk until the mixture is smooth, pour into the prepared pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes (Cake will be done when it springs back to the touch).
Minimalist cakes are all about decorating and appearance, so you’ll need a thick frosting and my preferred choice is always... buttercream!
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons of milk
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla essence
- Grab a medium bowl and mix powdered sugar and butter, stir in the vanilla and add in milk.
- Gradually stir just enough to make the frosting smooth, if the frosting becomes too thin combine a small amount of powdered sugar to thicken it.
- If the frosting becomes too thick add in more milk.
Get creative! Add in food coloring and put some frosting into a piping bag and pipe borders, just make sure to have a steady hand if you choose to write on the cake.
Less is More… Frosting is The Exception
Believe me when I say you’ll need a lot more frosting than you expect, depending on how many layers your cake is, if it’s a single panned cake you could just dollop and spread.
Layered cakes require a little more effort although you could dollop a spread for the best outcome and look you would need to do what is called a crumb coat first. A crumb coat is a layer of frosting that will get quite messy and is essentially a base coat.
Trust me, it won’t look great during the crumb coat process but once you let that layer chill in the fridge and apply another layer that’s when your cake will transform!
Baker To Baker Tips
Anything can go wrong in the kitchen, and it’s important to know some extra tips to make your life easier and make your cake tasting the best!
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- If your butter is too cold or if you want to avoid unincorporated lumps of butter in your cake batter, melt your slightly butter before adding it into your mixture.
- Double-check and check again! I cannot stress how important it is to make sure you have read everything correctly and added it all in, one missing ingredient can wreck your cake entirely.
- Apparently, not everyone does this! To ensure your cake is cooked completely stick a knife into it and if it comes out clean then it’s done.
- Minimalist cakes require thick frosting so make sure you have enough ingredients to thicken it. I have countless times have had to run to the grocery store because I underestimated how much icing sugar I needed.
- Chill, chill and chill again. Your cake NEEDS to be chilled every time you work on it so stick it into the fridge before decorating.
Minimalist cakes are easy but look elegant and professionally done. This delicious craze has taken over the internet, as it should!
The simple and effective look is easy to replicate and will continue to be on our feeds for a lot longer. So, what are you waiting for? Get your ingredients and bake up a storm.
