9 Naked Cakes That Prove Less (Frosting) Is More

All October long, our Baking Club is making its way through Christina Tosi’s Momofuku Milk Bar, possibly the Club's most technically challenging book to date. After gathering our materials, members dove right in, tackling Tosi's complicated layer cakes, each with multiple sub-recipes.

Tosi's cakes have an especially unique look because she bakes them on quarter sheet pans, cuts out the layers with 6-inch cake rings, and builds them up with the help of strips of acetate. This results in frosting-free sides that highlight layers—so-called "naked cakes."

Inspired by our club bakers? Make a naked cake yourself with one of the nine recipes below. We bet you'll agree that sometimes frosting-free is the way to be.

Faith Durand's Dark Molasses Gingerbread Cake

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'World's Best Cake' With Banana & Coconut

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Double Layer Cranberry Ginger Upside-Down Cake

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S'mores Layer Cake

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Little Flower's Tomato Ricotta Cake

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The Walnut Variation: A Cake

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Vermont Spice Pumpkin Cake

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Tomato Soup Cake

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Brown Butter Waffle Cake + Sorghum Meringue Buttercream

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See what's ahead for the Baking Club this fall (and beyond) here, and get in on the action by joining us on Facebook.