So last night, I was lurking around Pinterest, looking at some cakes. I came across this pin about naked cakes.

First of all, no offense to anyone, but in my opinion I think that they are ugly.

Second, does anyone make these if a bride asks, and is the price lower since there is no icing or a lot of decorations?

I think some of them have potential if they are done correctly.  However, I am a traditionalist so that would never be a choice for me personally.  The ones I've seen have icing in the middle but not on the side.  I would probably charge the same because I still have to bake it and use the same materials and supplies. 

well what pricing formula do you use? How many hours do you traditionally spend on icing and fondant? The material cost shouldn't bee that much difference. I have seen many that still have gumpaste flowers so that is still time consuming. Of course you have to have perfect sides on your cakes since you can't hide them without using a gumpaste flower there. I have seen very few that I would consider pretty.

AI personally don't like them, but I have made other cakes that I didn't like upon request so I guess I might do this. I wouldn't choose to do it though. If the reason is to keep costs down then I have a better solution: Just elope already!

I couldn't imagine as a bride ordering an ugly cake to keep costs down. But when I look back at my wedding cake from 97...gawd that thing was hideous! lol  I find it amazing how much the wedding industry can influence people's opinions. Noone would have EVER considered getting one of these things..until some magazine said it was cool.

I like them.Ii think they would fit well with a rustic theme. And if I sold one, I'd charge less because I'd be using much less icing and time for icing.

I have had a request for them but I and the planner talked her out of it.  It still has to be done well without icing falling out of the middle or it will look like crap.  It will have to be done the day of the wedding and I usually have too many deliveries to have to make a cake the day of.  I have done one before and it went came together quickly but I don't want to have to do it 'day of'.  I would definitely NOT charge less. 

Everyone has such good points. I think they fit well with a rustic theme...but only as a dessert cake. If I was to make one of these cakes, I would be doing it for a dessert table. Never in a million years would I make one to be the centerpiece of said table.

I love them, when they are well done.

They don't have to be made the day off, I've done 2, just wrap saran wrap tightly around the exposed cake, and leave it on until the last possible minute, then spritz with a soaking syrup.

They are actually way harder than they look though, the people charging way less for them are the people producing the sloppy messes with icing gooping out of the sides.

They have to be perfectly torted, sides smoothly carved, filled just so, and obviously extra care has to be taken so that nothing goes stale.

I charge by ingredients/supplies + misc overhead + time, so they save some money on ingredients, but labour wise it costs just as much as having a flat iced cake.

scrumdiddlycakes - do you have a pic of one of yours?

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3062295/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

I have done several. I charge the same as I would with any other cake.

Why can't they just put a like button on here...

Looks yummy, but not what I'd choose for a wedding.  Also looks expensive!!

It is actually my favourite way to serve carrot cake, and how I do all my gingerbread and apple cakes, I think I have a picture of one of those, I will see if I can dig it up.

Like this pic, it looks so homey and comforting to me for some reason.

(I did NOT make this, just similar to how I do mine)

http://thecakeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vintage_book_paper_flower.jpg

One thing I always do is bake the cakes an inch bigger than I need them, and use an agbay to cut both the top and bottom off, so I can carve them well and no brown bits show. I would ever do one without a really good leveler though.

........wrap saran wrap tightly around the exposed cake, and leave it on until the last possible minute, then spritz with a soaking syrup.........

How many of us are at a reception to do this ^^?   Usually many of us have more than one delivery per day and cannot be there. 

I turned down severl request - talked others into covering them w/a thin coat of  piping gel.

I think your cake is really pretty, and has that homey feel...but I'm still not sold on the idea. If you are going to pay the same price as a actual wedding cake, why not get a cake like my best friend's wedding cake? She had a 3 tier with BC in the messy style...very nice and very homey looking.

I guess what I'm saying is that this fad is not for everyone...and not for me for sure!

It should be totally a preference thing and not a cost thing! If someone is charging a lot less, chances are they aren't doing it right :)

People are allowed to not like them, lol, that's why there are so many decorating styles out there! Or in this case, lack thereof :P

I actually took mine out of my portfolio, because I got a lot of confused comments from people, mostly from men.

AThank you. I actually agree with you and in my opinion " cake is just the vehicle to get icing in my mouth". This is the first "naked" cake I made. The bride really didmt care dor icing much and has gone to every bakery and been told no. When I hear that others won't so aomething I take it as a challenge. For.me, I charged the same because delivery scared the poo out of me. I didn't know if it would be as structurally sound as a regular cake

I'm still in the research phase of my business, and I have come to the conclusion that I will try everything at least once...just to see if I can. And scrumdiddly...just like a man to be confused about art....hahahaha

I had no idea what a Naked Cake was and when I saw the pictures, I think it is pretty neat idea... :)

That is very true, but that looks more like a dessert cake to me when it's finished like that.

I like the look of them. I am also one of those people that don't like a lot of frosting on a cake so I generally shave some of he outside icing anyway unless I made the cake. So this is right up my alley. 

I wouldn't charge a penny less for that look.

I just had couple come in last week to book one of those. I charged the same price as any other cake I would do. I am looking forward to doing it. Their colors are purple and red so it will be Red ( Strawberry with red coloring) on bottom, Red w/ Purple ( Red velvet with the cream cheese tinted purple) in the middle, and Purple (blueberry tinted purple) on top. It will be accented with red/ purple berries and figs. I think it will look beautiful!

I really hope that it looks lovely...I would love to see it when it get done!

The cakes will dry out if not covered with icing!! That's your name do you really want it to be associated with a dry cake? Not me.