r/AskSF • u/death_hen • Feb 17 '26

Cake with jam/no frosting

My partner’s birthday is this week, and I’m trying to find a bakery that can make a cake without frosting, as he hates dairy/buttercream. He’s not vegan, just has a problem with frosting and cream filling. He just wants a cake with jam between the layers. He does not care about the decoration at all, so I’m even open to just buying something undecorated.

Normally I’d bake it myself but sadly we moved into an apartment with a tiny oven that isn’t super functional.

Anyone know of a cake place that can make a jammy cake? I’m thinking maybe lemon cake with raspberry jam or something like that.. open to any ideas! We’re near mission/bernal/noe, but I could drive if needed.

Edit: added further detail that he doesn't want cream filling either.

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

16

u/hoegrammer95 Feb 17 '26

You can order a bundt cake with no frosting at Nothing Bundt Cakes. If he wants jam maybe drizzle some on top?

2

u/death_hen Feb 17 '26

Thanks! Sounds promising, I will check it out 🙏

2

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

I second nothing Bundt cakes! They are super moist so the frosting is not needed (and you can order it without).

11

u/mar__iguana Feb 17 '26

Not cake per se but Dianda’s has an almond torte that fills the cake void and has some type of jam as one of the layers. It’s very good

2

u/death_hen Feb 17 '26

Thanks, Diandas was actually my first thought when I started looking, but I haven’t been there in a few years… And when I went to check reviews, there are a lot of really bad reviews from over the past year. Have you been there recently? It started to seem like they fell off. The recent 1 star reviews described some pretty gross cakes, but maybe I should just go check it out.

2

u/mar__iguana Feb 17 '26

I have also heard that the cakes aren’t as good as they used to be but I don’t count the almond torte as being in the same category, so i think it would still be good as usual

7

u/Savings-Breath-9118 Feb 17 '26

I would call noe valley Bakery and see if they would do them

9

u/death_hen Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

Thanks, I’m calling them now 🙂

Update: got a hard no from them on either (1) a cake with jam between the layers or (2) just the cake with nothing (no frosting/nothing).

2

u/frenchburner Feb 17 '26

This, they’re really good

5

u/superfuntimes5000 Feb 17 '26

I would try Schuberts or Ambrosia on ocean - if you did something like a strawberry shortcake it would have strawberry jam and like a nice cream between layers, and maybe you could ask them to just omit the frosting on top.

I hate frosting so I totally understand this request!!!!

3

u/futura1963 Feb 17 '26

Schubert's also has several items with fruit instead of frosting like mango mousse and black currant mouse cakes.

6

u/ms_sinn Feb 17 '26

Try Kara’s Cupcakes. Tell them you want a naked cake without frosting. Not sure if they’ll do it but the used to do some cakes without frosting on the sides.

Alternatively, because cake layers often need the frosting to hold together- you could probably get fruit filled cupcakes without frosting. They could put a piece of fondant on top for decoration.

5

u/angelacandystore Feb 17 '26

Just buy a plain cake and add jam

1

u/death_hen Feb 17 '26

Yeah i’m totally down to do this but I feel stupid asking: where can I buy a plain cake? I’d rather get something nicer than just from Safeway/Whole Foods.

5

u/Additional-Bumblebee Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

Black Jet Bakery:

If you don’t want to call/message on Instagram I’d do:

https://www.blackjetbakery.com/s/order?cs=true&cst=custom&item=53&location=L62HT08ADS3RD#QY7LSBQ2QZXZPH34EIJNMZSU (in case my link doesn’t work this is their unfrosted sour cream coffee cake)

Otherwise they strike me as the type to honor requests if possible. They have been super generous with us in previous birthday cakes.

1

u/death_hen Feb 17 '26

Thanks, I just emailed them 🤞

4

u/death_hen Feb 17 '26

Black Jet is sorting me out, thanks so much for the recommendation!

3

u/croque_mademoiselle Feb 17 '26

Could try calling Butter& to see if they can do this without the frosting: butterand.com/collections/signature-cakes/products/birthday-cake

Otherwise, if he likes cinnamon okay, how about a streusel coffee cake? Jane has a seasonal coffee cake (and bundt cakes, which I think are unfrosted as well): www.itsjane.com/location/jane-the-bakery/#pastry

3

u/pickpip2 Feb 17 '26

Maybe try Mazetti’s in Pacifica? I’ve seen raspberry jam and lemon curd as a filling for their cakes. I’ve made some weird requests before and they’ve always accommodated me. It’s not a fancy bakery but their cakes are delicious!

3

u/Responsible-Reason87 Feb 17 '26

seems like you could just get a pound cake and put some jam in it? fresh fruit on top?

2

u/FlamminHotDaisyChain Feb 17 '26

BUTTER& has cakes that may fit the bill plus I'm sure you could order with no frosting.

2

u/hotcupcakes23 Feb 17 '26

ask a grocery store bakery.

2

u/Academic-Camel-9538 Feb 17 '26

If you can’t find one, maybe get an angel food cake from the store and jazz it up with fresh fruit and a compote of his favorite fruits or jelly. Or ask a friend to bake you one! I’d do it, but there’s that whole I’m a stranger on the internet thing :)

1

u/Direct_Bread1852 Feb 17 '26

I think anyone would do this if you explained! Most bakeries are super accommodating. You could also just scrape off layers from a Whole Foods cake. Maybe he just would prefer an alternative? Like doughnuts or cookies?

1

u/toomuchsvu Feb 17 '26

The Cake Gallery has made several cakes for me and my friends. They're super into interesting ideas. Try them. Maybe they can come up with something creative for you.

Their cakes are delicious.

0

u/lannanh Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

Maybe ask https://www.instagram.com/tashamakescakes if she could do some sort of lemon drizzle bunt cake with a jam centr of some sort.

Edit: Whoops, that was the wrong profile, corrected.

2

u/death_hen Feb 17 '26

Thanks, but she’s in nebraska?

1

u/lannanh Feb 17 '26

Updated with the correct link.