Hold the buttercream! These are the kinds of easygoing cakes that don’t need frosting ~ just a dusting of sugar, nuts, streusel, fresh fruit, or a simple glaze ~ and they’re good to go.
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I love this style of simple, homey cakes. They’re the ones I reach for most often because the flavor is baked right in, rather than added in a thick layer of frosting on top. They work for dessert, but they’re just as happy at brunch, with afternoon coffee, or even for breakfast.
I’ve got lots more simple frosting-free cakes in my archives ~ this is a curated sampling of favorites. You can browse my full cake collection if you want to keep exploring.
Why some cakes just don’t need frosting
A good unfrosted cake has moisture and flavor built right into the batter ~ fruit, ricotta, olive oil, sour cream, nuts, citrus, spices, good butter. And without a heavy frosting on top, the cake stays lighter, less sweet, and a whole lot easier to make (and snack on.)
Fruity Cakes
A simple dusting of sugar is really all these juicy colorful cakes need. The fruit peeking out from the top is more tempting than any frosting could ever be. And there is a simple fruit cake for every season (and micro-season!) of the year.
Some of these cakes have the fruit laid out over the batter, and others have it folded right in.
Almond Fig Cake
My almond fig cake is a lovely, not too sweet coffee cake in the Mediterranean tradition that's great for breakfast, snacking, or dessert.
Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake
Jump into fall baking with my cinnamon apple coffee cake recipe ~ it will fill your kitchen with the enticing aroma of cinnamon and apples.
Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
A moist and easy fresh strawberry buttermilk cake that can go from breakfast and brunch to dessert.
Dorie Greenspan’s Dimply Plum Cake
Dorie Greenspan's dimply plum cake can be made with any variety of plum, pluot, or aprium. It's an deliciously old fashioned snack cake!
Chocolate Almond Pear Cake
My gluten free chocolate almond pear cake is a melt-in-your-mouth flourless chocolate cake topped with thin slices of juicy pear
Crumb and Streusel Cakes
Streusel comes from German baking ~ the name literally refers to something sprinkled on top. Butter, sugar, and flour bake into that crisp, crumbly layer that makes coffee cakes so good. They’re proof that a cake without frosting doesn’t need to be boring.
Keep streusel cold and crumbly. Cut or rub cold butter into the flour and sugar just until you have clumps, then scatter it loosely over the batter. If you overmix it into a paste, you lose that great crumbly texture.
Nuts, oats, cinnamon, cardamom, or brown sugar are easy ways to change it up.
Authentic Irish Apple Cake
An authentic Irish Farmhouse Apple Cake ~ delicious with or without the traditional custard sauce!
Cardamom Plum Cake
Plums + cardamom, baked into an easy coffee cake with a soft crumb and bright, aromatic lift.
Fresh Pear Coffee Cake
My fluffy fresh pear coffee cake with a crunchy toasted pecan streusel goes with your morning or after dinner coffee!
Chocolate Sour Cream Crumb Cake
Deliciously indulgent chocolate sour cream crumb cake recipe inspired by German streuselkuchen. A must-bake for breakfast cake lovers!
Sour Cherry Streusel Cake (German style)
A simple comforting sour cherry streusel cake showered with powdered sugar and ready to brighten up your winter morning.
Cardamom Crumb Cake
My New York style Cardamom Crumb Cake has the warm, aromatic lift of cardamom in every bite.
Glazed Cakes
A glaze can be the perfect compromise between a plain cake and a frosted cake. A thin powdered sugar glaze adds a punch of sweetness to each bite, without overpowering the cake.
A quick glaze is basically powdered sugar + something delicious. Start with 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon liquid, whisk, then loosen it a few drops at a time until it drizzles the way you want.
Try lemon or orange juice, coffee, milk, maple syrup, or a splash of Amaretto, Grand Marnier, or Kahlúa.
Glazed Old Fashioned Doughnut Cake
My glazed Old Fashioned Doughnut Cake tastes just like your favorite buttermilk doughnut, baked up in a bundt pan!
Lemon Drizzle Cake
Lemon Drizzle Cake is an easy lemon bundt with a distinctive crunchy lemon glaze. You only need a few basic ingredients to make this lovely lemony dessert.
Glazed Gingerbread Bundt Cake
This Gingerbread Bundt is warmly spiced, beautifully moist, and finished with a simple glaze that highlights every curve of the pan ~ a festive, straight-to-the-table holiday cake.
Tangerine Poppy Seed Cake
A coffee cake for tangerine lovers!
Vanilla Cranberry Bundt Cake
A soft vanilla Bundt with bursts of tart cranberry and a silky glaze that catches the light ~ simple to make, beautiful to serve, and unmistakably festive.
Nut-Topped Cakes
Nuts make one of my favorite cake toppings because they add visual interest, texture and flavor.
Toast your nuts to bring out incredible flavor. Put them in a single layer on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 2 minutes until fragrant. Let them cool before chopping.
Mocha Hazelnut Cake
My mocha hazelnut cake has a cloud-like softness with the crunch of toasted hazelnuts ~ serve it for breakfast, brunch, tea time, or dessert!
Almond Croissant Cake
My almond croissant cake is a French style coffee cake with a wonderfully light texture and plenty of flavor for almond lovers!
Swedish Visiting Cake
Swedish Visiting Cake is a simple yet delicious almond coffee cake with a crispy top and a soft, moist center.
French Pistachio Cake
French pistachio cake is surprisingly simple and a new star in my cake collection ~ this rustic dessert is a must-make.
Almond Ricotta Cake
Italian almond ricotta cake is a new favorite of mine, the flavor and texture are irresistible!
Sugar Dusted
A dusting of sugar can range from a quick swipe of powdered sugar through a sieve, to a more elaborate (but insanely easy) lace stenciled design. Be sure to wait until the cake has cooled before adding the powdered sugar ~ it can sink right into a warm cake.
Granulated sugar or coarse sparkling sugar gives an extra crunch to the top of a cake.
Honey Cake
A simple honey cake is an old fashioned tea cake that has few ingredients, is easy to bake, and showcases the complex flavor of honey!
Apple Cider Doughnut Cake
Apple Cider Doughnut Cake is a warm cinnamon apple bundt cake that tastes just like Fall's iconic apple cider doughnuts. It's basically everything you love about the season, baked up in a pan.
Almond Flour Banana Cake
We all have that one banana bread recipe we swear by. This isn’t that. Almond flour banana cake is softer, more tender, and just happens to be gluten and dairy-free. (You’ll be back for seconds.)
Perfect Buttermilk Pound Cake
Perfect Buttermilk Pound Cake is that once in a lifetime recipe made with the perfect ratio of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. This easy bundt cake always comes out perfect, and you'll be baking it for years to come.
Lemon Olive Oil Cake
My lemon olive oil cake is a moist and tender cake with a surprisingly bright lemon flavor.
Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cake
Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cake is a rustic Italian style dessert with a fabulously rich dense texture almost like cheesecake!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Meet your new go-to flourless chocolate cake ~ rich, silky, and impossibly simple. It bakes up into a luxe, mousse-like slice that needs nothing more than a dusting of powdered sugar to feel festive. Perfect for the chocolate purist.
Bare and Beautiful
These cakes are meant to go it alone with nothing but maybe the lightest dusting of sugar.
Cardamom Coffee Cake
Cardamom Coffee Cake from the 1974 Moosewood Cookbook ~ Mollie Katzen calls this epic bundt the richest cake in the world!
Pound Cake
A timeless pound cake recipe is that always appropriate little black dress of desserts ~ it’s a delicious fit for every occasion!
Jewish Cardamom Apple Cake
A traditional Jewish apple cake recipe passed down through generations.
Gingerbread Cake
A classic holiday snack cake that's been made for hundreds of years!
What a great collection, I’m going to try the fig cake first. Do you think it would make good cupcakes?
Sure, I don’t see why not. Depending on the size of them, just check in at 15 minutes.