Rustic Winter Cake Design + Espresso Cardamom Buttercream

This lovely rustic cake design wrapped with fresh thyme is the perfect wedding or holiday cake. Also includes a recipe for espresso cardamom buttercream.

I recently had the chance to participate in a holiday concept photoshoot that was organized by Amanda of Advice from a Twenty Something. It was an amazing day of holiday cheer, with beautiful food, great drinks and so much party inspiration!

In addition to being a ‘model’ for the shoot (aka party guest), Amanda also asked me to provide a holiday cake for the shoot. As if I needed an excuse to make a cake!

Given the rustic vibes of the shoot and the neutral tones, I thought a rustic ‘naked’ cake design would be perfect. I’ve been craving cardamom everything lately and I thought the spice would be the perfect addition to a simple buttercream frosting. In order to balance out the intensely aromatic taste of the cardamom, I added some espresso. The result is heavenly.

I absolutely love naked cake designs. They are so understated and there are millions of options for decorating to your heart’s content. I’ve seen many with gorgeous florals, brightly-colored berries, or even drizzled with chocolate. If I could do things over again I probably would have added one to the dessert table at our wedding.

Given that we’re in the middle of the holiday season, I was inspired by evergreen branches and pinecones. I originally wanted to wrap small vines around the cake, but when I was visiting the flower mart all of them were too bushy and leafy. I realized what I really needed was actually at the farmer’s market – fresh thyme!

The shoot was so much fun! You can read more about that and see the pictures here. Here are a couple of photos of this cake, as well as a second cake I did with mini pinecones to decorate it. I’m so proud to see my work featured like this!

Thanks so much for reading A Side of Sweet! For more Sweet in your life, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, Bloglovin‘, Snapchat (@asideofsweet), or Twitter. You can also subscribe to receive a weekly email with new posts.

Rustic Winter Cake Design + Espresso Cardamom Buttercream

Print Recipe

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This lovely rustic cake design wrapped with fresh thyme is the perfect wedding or holiday cake. Also includes a recipe for espresso cardamom buttercream.

• Author: Kelly Egan
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 0 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 10 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: No Bake
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• 2 cups (four sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon cardamom
• 1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
• 4–8 inch round cake layers
• Thyme
• Mini pinecones (optional)

Special Equipment:

• Offset Spatula
• Rotating Cake Platter
• Stand Mixer
• Cake Leveler (optional)
• Bench Scraper

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Instructions

For the espresso cardamom buttercream:

1. Warm the milk on the stove or in the microwave until steaming but not boiling.
2. Mix in the espresso powder until dissolved. Set aside to cool.
3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until butter is pale in color and creamy. Mix in the cardamom and powdered sugar. With the mixer running on medium, add the milk espresso mixture slowly. Increase mixer speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

For the naked cake design:

1. Place a cake layer on your platter or turntable with the domed side up. Use the cake leveler or a serrated knife to level off the domed part of the cake.
2. Place a large dollop of buttercream frosting on the leveled layer and use an offset spatula to spread evenly, about 3/4 inch thick. Put in the fridge to chill 5 minutes.
3. Level the next cake layer and place it on top of the buttercream. Cover with buttercream. Repeat with the remaining layers, with the top layer having the cut side down.
4. Cover the entire cake with a layer of buttercream, using the bench scraper to remove all but a thin layer. For a great video on frosting, a naked layer cake, check out this one (just stop when she puts the whole cake in the fridge).

P.S. – Like this rustic cake design? Check out this holiday cake with sugared cranberries for more inspiration: