My brother is getting married Sunday, and I am making their cake. It's going to be a 4 tiered stacked "naked " apple cake with cream cheese frosting. Heres a picture of what they want: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=naked+apple+cake&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35

I have a couple of questions. First, If I use the regular WASC recipe, with spice cake mix, how many apples could I add  before it would make the cake too unstable? ( like chunks falling apart at the side) They want small chunks of apple in the mix. I made a practice round with 1 box, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of sour cream with apple butter, and 2 apples. It didnt have enough apple chunks for them, but, I noticed the cake seemed unstable because of the chunks already. Is there a way I could make that better?

Second, should I make some sort of apricot glaze to pour over my layers so the cake doesn't dry out before the event?  I am planning on freezing them until the drive up there. Also not sure if I should torte each layer before freezing or after?  Then also glaze before or after torting?

Any ideas?  Thanks!

at this point my recommendation is to put the amount of apples you feel comfortable with--two apples is a lot!

maybe add a few dashes of cinnamon to spike it up plus i would add lemon--

yes the glaze is a great idea i'd do it before freezing but i would also test that in advance --see how a little portion does after it thaws -- just stick a glazed & a unglazed piece in the freezer overnight--thaw it and see which one you like best--

and that made me think of this--use your judgement at this point--you can't go crazy with other opinions at this late date imo--

--freezing will probably 'level' out the moisture throughout the cake--where the edges will soften up a bit--but the apples will impart enough moisture where it will be fine--(my mom-in-law made the killerest apple cake with this crunchy leathery top and soft incredible inside--mmmm--

maybe ditch the apple butter in the cake and smear it on the baked cake  as another filling and to punch up the apple flavor--just a thin layer and you can still do the cream cheese--

watch your safety factor with the cream cheese--a total of 4 hours max out of the fridge unless you have a recipe that has been tested to stay out longer--

Thanks. Yeah, a test batch with and without glazefor the freezer might be good.  Ill try it.:)

two other ideas--might be too late to experiment but--chopped apple chips is one and i can't think of the other---ummm--

oh yeah--replace the oil with applesauce and that would punch up the flavor too--

i keep thinking more flavor when they were saying more apple chunks but i think two apples would be the maximum or too much--i mean even though it's naked--it's still a tier cake and you gotta stay within your comfort zone to pull it off--

another idea--ground raisins--that would definitely punch it up--you can only put so many apples in there--this isn't apple pie--trust your gut--

oh maybe dust the apple chunks with the cinnamon--that would amp it up considerably--

(too many) apple thought for you ♥

and from experience and having done everything wrong at least once--i would never ever recommend doing any of these things without testing in advance--

i know i mean how could dusting the apple chunks w/cinnamon change anything--i don't know and that's my point--the tiniest change can bring surprising results --- the week of the wedding is not a good time for surprises

so again test what you can and go with your gut 

and best wishes

The apple sauce sounds good for punching up the apple flavor!!! I have heard of some people using apple butter in their cakes but I have never tried it. Apple cake sounds delicious!!!!

Thanks for all the great ideas guys!  :)

Do you know if I should split each layer in half before I freeze? Or should I do it after?  I've never had a cake I had to freeze before.  :)

you could do it either way -- if you do it before freezing you'd need to separate them with parchment because this moist of cake might meld itself back together

but probably either way

and you will probably have a better time with this if the cakes are chilled before splitting them--nice & cold

Alright. Yeah, I just tried splitting one of my 12" layers and it totally ripped. Cant use that one. It was a teenie tiny bit warm yet. Guess I should have got it cold first. The 8 and 6" layers split nicely though.

oh dang it--the smaller the easier huh