Burn-away cakes: What are they and how do they work?
FILE - Baker ices a chocolate cake.
Burn-away cakes are going viral on TikTok and they look cool, but how do they actually work?
The mesmerizing trend seen on social media showcases what appears to be a regular cake with an image as the central design on top.
Once a flame is placed close to the image, it begins to burn away, revealing a secondary image or design below.
Bakers on social media have gotten creative with their designs.
One TikTok user decided to go with a Pokémon theme and showed the evolutionary phases of a Pokémon named Charmander. The video, posted by @CakesByNams, garnered millions of views.
The burn-away trend was made popular by an Ontario-based baker Namaya Navaratnarajah, according to Eater. Navaratnarajah, who owns the account @CakesByNams, posted several viral TikToks showcasing the burn-away design.
Navaratnarajah clarified, however, that she did not create the method.
She told the New York Post that she had first seen the design from cake artist Denise Steward.
The burning confections are made up of a standard iced cake that is topped with an image, the Post reported.
The cake is then piped with a frosting border and topped with a second layer made of either a thin sheet of rice paper or wafer paper – this is the piece that will be lit on fire.
The base beneath the burn-away layer should be made of a sugar-based frosting, which should withstand the blaze and be left untouched after the thinner first layer burns away, according to Eater.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.