I'll be making a cake for a friend's birthday.....but he doesn't like frosting. lol

I've seen in Martha Stewart's magazine where she had an unfrosted cake and dyed each cake layer a different color.....and that looked cool....but he wants chocolate cake...

Any ideas??

Does he consider ganache to be frosting? Nice rich chocolate cake drizzled in ganache is heavenly.

What about baking it in a pretty (I mean, manly) shaped bundt cake pan and dusting it with powdered sugar? Or drizzling it with white chocolate?

MiaT: he probably does. He was going on and on how he loved plain cake with nothing on it (this was before I asked him what kind of cake he wanted me to make for his birthday...maybe he was hinting around, lol).

Shelle_75: that is a great idea! The only problem is that I don't have one of those pans! But you've definitely given me something to think about!

Thanks!

Chocolate bundt cake with powdered sugar. Or stencil Happy Birthday or whatever on the top with powdered sugar. If you make a layered cake, use a raspberry or cherry filling - you will need to check with him on that one. He may not like fillings either. Some people just like plain cake.

What about alternating layers of chocolate cake?

a deep dark layer
a medium layer
and a white chocolate layer

you'd get that beautiful effect of the MS one but all in chocolate

oh oh....

pipe Happy Birthday with one shade of chocolate batter. Bake it for a few then fill the pan with the opposite shade/strength of chocolate batter and bake until done....

I do believe it was leahs that shared that bit of info in regards to a different type of cake....lemme look for that link....

How about a chocolate cheesecake? I'm not allowed to make anything else at family events...

bottom layer - oreo cookie crumbs
middle layer- werthers originals caramels melted in butter mixed with pecans
top layer - chocolate cheesecake
on top - brownies and caramel and pecans...

I'm attaching a pic of a recent one I made...

Wrap it in fondant! Peels right off, no fuss, no muss.

I still like the other ideas too of course - an unfrosted cake can look so pretty. Really like all4cake's idea of decorating the cake with...cake. Cool! Do you have a pic of that all4cake??? I'd love to see it, it sounds awesome.

OK. Since you can't wow him with your decorating, since he doesn't like frosting...

This is THE BEST chocolate cake!! It's my boss's favorite cake - we used to splurge on his birthday and get it for him - it was a sad day when Barefoot Contessa closed!! It was $40 for a single 10" layer - five years ago - but so worth it!!

Covered in ganache with a single candied violet on top. Beautiful and yummy! I was so happy when i found the recipe!!

http://www.recipezaar.com/81807

I swear, the technique was just on a thread not that long ago complete with a picture. and leahs explained how it was done.

I'm still looking.

I had to break away to cook...and play...and run my mouth

If you have a paper doily, you can put that on the cake, sprinkle over it with icing sugar, then carefully remove the doily. YOu get a nice lacey design, but NO frosting.

How about the Williams-Sonoma cake pans? They have an octopus, stadium, train, castle and more. These bundt-type pans are really not meant for iced cakes because the pan detail is so fine. Most are just decorated with powdered sugar.