These mini naked cakes are filled with sweet and tangy orange marmalade, topped with a simple white icing, and garnished with fresh flowers. These darling, two-bite desserts are an elegant treat for a springtime brunch, bridal shower, or tea party. And they look fancy, but don't let them fool you... they're actually simple to make!
These party-perfect mini naked cakes are dessert finger food at its finest!
The mini cakes are made of small circles cut from slices of moist, citrusy pound cake. They're topped with a simple white icing, but I kept the sides bare to let the bold flavor of the sweet orange marmalade filling shine through.
And since they remind me of petit fours, they of course needed to be topped with fresh flowers!
These mini naked cakes would be the perfect dessert for a bridal shower, springtime brunch, tea party, or Easter celebration. They're easy to eat at a party, since they can be devoured in just two bites. Or one big bite. I won't judge!
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Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
See recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredient list and measurements.
Cake Flour - Thanks to it's lower protein content, cake flour helps to create a cake that's more tender than a cake made with all-purpose flour.
Unsalted Butter - Butter adds fat and flavor to our cake. I always prefer to bake with unsalted butter, and we'll add a bit of salt separately to the batter.
Superfine Sugar - Superfine sugar is granulated sugar that has been finely ground, and so it dissolves more easily into the cake batter than regular granulated sugar would. You can find superfine sugar in the baking aisle at your local grocery store or you can make your own superfine sugar by processing granulated sugar in the food processor. You can also substitute regular granulated sugar with a similar result.
Lemon Extract - Lemon extract adds a light citrus flavor to the cake.
Eggs - Eggs are what hold the cake batter together. We'll need half a pound of eggs, which equals just about 4 ½ large eggs. Since we're aiming for a tender cake, we'll use the egg white rather than the egg yolk of the half egg.
Sweet Orange Marmalade - Sweet orange marmalade is used in the middle of the mini cakes. Be sure to choose a sweet orange marmalade, unless you prefer the tart orange flavor of orange marmalade.
Confectioners' Sugar - Confectioners' sugar is paired with milk to create a simple icing for the top of these cakes.
Whole Milk - Whole milk is stirred into confectioners' sugar to create the glaze. You can use any type of dairy or non-dairy milk (or even water) that you prefer.
Flower Garnish - Use small flowers to garnish the cakes. Edible flowers would make the cakes extra special! I love the color contrast between the orange filling and purple flowers shown here, but use any flower you like best.
Special Equipment
In addition to essential baking equipment (like a mixing bowl and spatula), I recommend some special tools for making this recipe.
- A stand mixer with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, for mixing the pound cake batter.
- A 1 ½ inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, for cutting the cake circles.
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
See recipe card at the bottom of this post for detailed recipe instructions.
Step 1: Make the pound cake. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add extracts and beat until blended.
Step 3: Slowly add the eggs, one at a time, beating until blended.
Step 4: With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and stir just until blended.
Step 5: Pour the cake batter in a standard loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray.
Step 6: Bake the cake at 300°F for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the cake is domed and golden. Let the cake cool completely.
Step 7: Assemble the mini cakes. Cut the cake loaf into 18 slices, each ½ inch wide. Using a 1 ½ inch circular cookie cutter, cut 2 small circles from each slice of cake (except for the two ends). You should now have 32 small circles.
Step 8: Spread 1 teaspoon of orange marmalade atop half of the little cakes. Top each with the remaining cake circles.
Step 9: Make the icing. In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and milk. The icing should be pourable but thick.
Step 10: Decorate the cakes. Spoon the icing over each petit four and quickly spread it over the top with the back of a spoon.
Step 11: If using, garnish the cakes with flowers.
Allison's Top Tips
For the best results, measure the key ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, and eggs) by weight in grams using a scale. This will give you a more accurate measurement of the ingredients than measuring them by volume using cups, which will help to ensure that the cake's texture is just right.
When making the glaze, it's important to get the consistency just right so it doesn't run off the cakes. The glaze should be pourable but thick. If your glaze is too runny, add a little more powdered sugar. If it's too stiff, add a tiny bit more milk.
Add the flower garnish to the cakes just after icing them, before the icing sets. The slightly tacky icing will help to hold the flowers in place.
Storage Instructions
Store the assembled cakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.
Pound cake can be baked up to two days ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature before assembling the cakes.
More Mini Dessert Recipes
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Recipe
Mini Naked Cakes with Sweet Orange Marmalade
Special Equipment
- Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- 1 ½ inch round cookie cutter
Ingredients
Pound Cake:
- ½ pound (227 grams) cake flour sifted (1 ⅞ cups)
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5 grams) salt
- ½ pound (227 grams) unsalted butter room temperature (1 cup)
- ½ pound (227 grams) superfine or granulated sugar (1 ⅛ cups)
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) lemon extract
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract
- ½ pound (227 grams) eggs room temperature (4 large eggs plus 1 large egg white)
Filling and Topping:
- ⅓ cup (113 grams) sweet orange marmalade
- ⅓ cup (38 grams) confectioners' sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoons (6 grams) whole milk
- small flowers for garnish (optional, see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Spray a standard loaf pan (8.5 in. x 4.5 in.) with cooking spray and set aside.
Make the cake batter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.½ pound (227 grams) cake flour, ½ teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder, ¼ teaspoon (1.5 grams) salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer), cream the butter and sugar by first beating butter on high speed until smooth and creamy (about 30 to 60 seconds) and then adding sugar and beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).½ pound (227 grams) unsalted butter, ½ pound (227 grams) superfine or granulated sugar
- Add the extracts and beat until blended.1 teaspoon (4 grams) lemon extract, ½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract
- Slowly add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until blended. The batter will be very wet with some lumps of butter.½ pound (227 grams) eggs
- With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and stir just until blended.
Bake the cake.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the cake is domed and golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully turning the pan over to remove the cake. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack.
Assemble the mini cakes.
- Cut the cake into ½ inch wide slices. You should have 18 slices.
- Using a 1 ½ inch circular cookie cutter, cut 2 small circles from each slice of cake (except for the two ends). You should now have 32 small circles. Save or discard the leftovers.
- Spread 1 teaspoon of the orange marmalade atop half of the little cakes. Top each with the remaining cakes.
Make the icing.
- In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and milk. The icing should be pourable but thick. If your glaze is too runny, add a little more powdered sugar. If it's too stiff, add a tiny bit more milk.
Ice and decorate the mini cakes.
- Spoon the icing over each petit four and quickly spread it over the top with the back of a spoon. Some icing may drip down the sides, but the sides should not be completely coated.
- If using, garnish each cake with flowers.
Marlene Miedema says
Great presentation, however this is a very dense cake. I was expecting a lighter, more moist cake. “About an hour” is way too long to bake this. I went 7 minutes less and it came out dry. I was careful not to over mix when the flour was added. The flavor is ok, a little bland. Perhaps when the marmalade and icing is added it would be fine. In my opinion it would be easier to use a pre-made pound cake instead.
Franki says
Marlene
Thank you for suggesting pre-made cake. Sometimes shortcuts are really helpful.Here, you don't sacrifice either flavour or presentation.Merci!
Shameika says
Hello, will the cakes dry out in open air like that
Allison Ferraro says
Hi Shameika! These cakes, like all cake, will dry out if exposed to air for a period of time. If you're not serving the cakes right away or if you want to store leftovers, be sure to store the cakes in an airtight container at room temperature to keep them from drying out.
- Allison
Stephanie says
These look soo adorable.
The possibilities endless!!
Thank you for sharing
Marija says
It is such a lovely cake! Thank you!
Allison says
Thank you, Marija!
-Allison