Naked Wedding Cakes

with Tara Little, Bavarian Cakery Weddings & Events

While wedding cakes are often viewed as the traditional dessert at a wedding reception these days, the style can be anything but traditional. Imagine all the possibilities—fondant, buttercream frosting, whipped cream, or even a naked cake. We’re getting hungry just thinking about it. The point is, gone are the days of traditional cakes, and we’ve even seen the shift years ago with the emergence of groom’s cakes to sit next to the wedding cake on the dessert table. And we’re loving the latest trend of serving up naked wedding cakes. So what about naked-style wedding cakes? We’ve got all the details thanks to our friend Tara Little at the Bavarian Cakery Weddings & Events of Houston, Texas.

According to Little with the Bavarian Cakery, this is the cake for couples who don’t want a lot of icing to overpower the cake flavor. She explained, “A naked style cake can be done a few different ways depending on how much icing you’d like. The icing is placed on the cake where you can see all the layers of cake through it.” Essentially, it is bare, or naked, from the frosting, whipped cream, or fondant that usually covers the cake. This way, you see the beauty of the unfrosted dessert—and it becomes a treat for the eyes as well as the tastebuds.

Paying tribute to the simplicity of the cake, decorating can be minimal, but it can also be extravagant, depending on your preference. Regardless, the most common decorating idea consists of flowers, which are usually added by your florist after delivery and set up at the reception, according to Little with Texas’ Bavarian Cakery. Other ideas include decorating with fruits, especially berries or citrus’s, nuts, or even sprinkles for just a little bit of extra pizazz.

Any expert baker, like at the Bavarian Cakery, can replicate a look or idea that a couple has found on Pinterest or Instagram, making the sky the limit for decorating ideas. It’s just lucky that “any tiered cake looks nice with this type of design,” as Little noted.

Of course, we couldn’t not ask Little about popular flavor combos for these naked wedding cakes that she’s seen of late. And she first told us that “for naked cake, or scant icing, the lighter the cake is underneath, the better, so any coloring doesn’t bleed through.” That makes sense then why Little sees lots of options like “wedding white, buttery yellow, amaretto, southern almond, luscious lemon, Italian cream, funfetti, and banana nut.”

Photos courtesy of Bavarian Cakery Weddings & Events