Ultimate Cake Recipes (2024)

Let our recipes inspire you with ideas for chocolate cakes, angel food cakes, Black Forest cakes, Bundt cakes, pumpkin cakes, coconut cakes, carrot cakes and other homemade treats.

01of 33

Black Forest Cake with Cloud Frosting

This simplified version of the German classic gets its fruit flavor from cherry jam and cherry juice. Beating heavy cream with cream cheese creates a beautifully light frosting that is lighter than cream cheese frosting but more stable than whipped cream.

View Recipe

02of 33

Brown Sugar Bundt Cake with Pecans

Channeling praline candy, this homey cake is all caramel sweetness and toasted, nutty crunch. The batter comes together fast, and there’s no icing or glaze to fuss over—just a quick sift of powdered sugar.

View Recipe

03of 33

Peach Upside-Down Cake

This moist cake from Rendleman Orchards in Alto Pass, Illinois, is ideal for a cookout or summer potluck.

Upside-Down Cake Recipes You'll Flip Over

View Recipe

04of 33

Peppermint Patty Cake

This dazzling cake boasts dark rich layers and silky Swiss meringue buttercream. That frosting is where you get the peppermint flavor, so baker Kristine Moberg of Queen City Bakery says to use a high-quality extract like Nielsen-Massey.

View Recipe

05of 33

Raspberry-Lemon Cakelets

Tender from cake flour and bright with citrus, this pretty butter cake will surprise you. Pair it with tea or a glass of bubbly.

Sparkling Spring Desserts

View Recipe

06of 33

Vanilla Crepe Cake

This cake by chef Gavin Kaysen of Bellecour Bakery in the Twin Cities will wow people with its many layers, luscious creaminess and subtle vanilla flavor.

View Recipe

07of 33

German Chocolate Cake

This celebration cake is a staple at Bake Chicago. It has a wonderfully fudgy, old-fashioned, homemade texture. The frosting has an unusual method that may feel initially like it's failing, but stick with it. Laced with sour cream, it's creamy and utterly delicious.

Meet Five Midwest Cake Creators (and Try Their Recipes)

View Recipe

08of 33

Cocoa Gingerbread with Heaven Frosting

A humble snack dresses up for company. With its nutty flavor and tiny flecks of toasted milk solids, browned butter elevates a simple cream cheese frosting to saintly levels.

Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Angela Garbacz, owner of Goldenrod Pastries in Lincoln, Nebraska, features recipes that adapt to gluten- and dairy-free needs in her cookbook, Perfectly Golden. This simple, sweet cake reminds her of her time in Poland.

Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes to Satisfy Any Sweet Tooth

View Recipe

10of 33

Apple Sour Cream Kuchen

This German-style, not-too-sweet, yeast-raised cake begs for a cup of coffee. For an extra tang, you can serve it with a dollop of lightly sweetened sour cream.

Irresistible Apple Dessert Recipes

View Recipe

11of 33

Chocolate Chai Bundt with Candied Oranges and Rum Buttah

Reine Keis of SweetArt Cafe in St. Louis says that the secret to vegan baking is not assuming that one plant-based alternative fits all recipes. Coconut yogurt is her power play in this recipe.

Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes

View Recipe

12of 33

Gingerbread Latte Cake

Rebekah Stuber of Bay Laurel Baking Company in Des Moines says her flavor-packed spice cakes always earn the most raves. Her secret to airy cream cheese frosting on this gingerbread cake? Folding in whipped cream.

View Recipe

13of 33

Poppy Seed Torte

The recipe for this four-layer cake-with a puddinglike filling, unmistakable poppy seed flavor and soft whipped cream frosting-comes from Wisconsin's White Gull Inn.

View Recipe

14of 33

Seven-or-So Layer Cake

This striking (and gluten-free!) cake is inspired by the Jewish bakery classic, Seven-Layer Cake. Our simplified sheet-pan method sandwiches rich mocha glaze with almond cake.

View Recipe

15of 33

Doughnut Bundt

Nutmeg is the secret ingredient that makes this playful Bundt taste just like a cake doughnut. (Be sure to use freshly grated nutmeg—you'll really notice the difference in flavor.)

View Recipe

16of 33

Carrot-Spice Cake with Coconut-Pecan Filling

Tender layers of carrot-tinted spice cake are sandwiched with a luscious coconut-pecan filling—and it's all covered in swirls of classic cream cheese frosting.

Neapolitan Party Cake

This crowd-pleaser is easier than it looks. (You only make one batter.) Garnish the strawberry-frosted cake with double-dipped berries to hint at the festive stripes hiding inside.

View Recipe

18of 33

Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Elderflower Cream

To "bring the smell of the field" into this dessert, chef James Bloomfield of Traverse City, Michigan, infuses whipping cream with fresh elderflowers. Get the same effect with a splash of St-Germain.

View Recipe

19of 33

Modern Fruit Cakes

These super-moist cakes eat like elegant patisserie and are worth every minute of the process. Whipping up a batch to gift? Learn how to make these pretty fruit cake gift boxes for extra sparkle.

View Recipe

20of 33

Cafe Latte's Turtle Cake

Sheer three-layered audacity put this creation from a Saint Paul bakery in our hall of fame: buttermilk-cocoa cake, candylike chocolate frosting and creamy caramel sauce.

View Recipe

21of 33

Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake

Like the chocolate-and-vanilla retro classic, this gingery icebox cake requires some make-ahead assembly—but no baking. And it's absolutely drool-worthy.

Pumpkin Recipes We Absolutely Love

View Recipe

22of 33

Whoopie Pie Cake

Karen Cope of Minneapolis won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair for this stunning chocolate-and-marshmallow cake, based on whoopie pie cookies.

View Recipe

23of 33

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

This utterly unforgettable cake layers moist chocolate-pumpkin cake, luscious milk chocolate ganache and fluffy pumpkin-spice whipped cream. The recipe comes from Minnesota blogger Amanda Rettke iambaker.net.

View Recipe

24of 33

Prettier by the Pound

St. Louis pastry chef Nathaniel Reid gives pound cake a chic, patisserie-style makeover. Your trusty loaf pan never had it so good. Try Double Chocolate Pound Cake, Candied Lemon Pound Cake, Yogurt Pound Cake with Apricots and Coconut, or Hazelnut and Milk Chocolate Pound Cake.

25of 33

Chocolate Gift Cakes

These 6-inch gifting cakes are topped with a swoop of silky frosting. The recipe (which makes three cakes) comes from Minneapolis blogger Sarah Kieffer's cookbook Baking for the Holidays.

View Recipe

26of 33

Tres Leches Cake

A Mexican-inspired standard and guaranteed backyard crowd-pleaser, our brown-sugar sheet cake is soaked in milky syrup, chilled, then topped with whipped cream and berries.

View Recipe

27of 33

Coconut Cake

This three-layer wonder stays extra moist thanks to butter and buttermilk. The blue-ribbon recipe is from Teresa Reese of Osceola, Nebraska.

View Recipe

28of 33

Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Drizzle

With its subtle mix of warm spices, vanilla, maple and citrus (and tangy white icing), this is no ordinary zucchini cake. The recipe comes from The Vegetable Butcher cookbook, by Cara Mangini.

View Recipe

29of 33

Lemonade Cake

Lemon Butter Frosting tops a summer-perfect cake flavored with thawed lemonade concentrate.

View Recipe

30of 33

Fabulous Red Velvet Cake

We gussied up chocolate cake mix with sour cream and red food coloring, then crowned this cake with a white chocolate-cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut.

View Recipe

31of 33

Toasted Fennel-Lemon Cake

This moist beauty begs for a mug of afternoon tea. Fennel seeds add the faintest hint of licorice flavor, just enough to make the cake stand out from the other Bundts in the room. We like the sweeter flavor of Meyer lemons in this cake. Look for them sold in bags at large supermarkets. If you substitute regular lemons, reduce the zest to 2 tablespoons.

View Recipe

32of 33

Raspberry Swirl Angel Food Cake

A subtle swirl of fresh raspberries infuses this homemade angel food cake with light fruit flavor. Like all angel food cakes, it has no fat or cholesterol.

View Recipe

33of 33

Pumpkin-Praline Layer Cake

This nutty layer cake is a favorite dessert with Midwest Living® readers. Whipped cream tops a moist filling of pumpkin, brown sugar, pecans, butter and more whipping cream.

Pumpkin Recipes We Absolutely Love

View Recipe

FAQs

What is a Tom Selleck cake? ›

Tom Selleck – Sometimes Better Than Sex Cake or Robert Redford is a Midwest dessert that is a shortbread crust, chocolate pudding layer, and cream top.

Learn More Now ›

Which cake is king of cakes? ›

King cake is a New Orleans tradition. They're in popular for Mardi Gras but available all year round. The cake is made with a yeasted cinnamon dough, braided and baked in a circle or an oval. King cakes are decorated with gold, purple and green icing or with colored sugar to celebrate Mardi Gras.

Keep Reading ›

What is the most fancy cake in the world? ›

The "Diamond Cake" by Debbie Wingham - Price: $75 million

An amalgamation of luxury and confectionary art, it's embedded with more than 4000 diamonds, including pink, yellow, and white ones, making it not just a cake but a jewelled masterpiece. It's no wonder it holds the crown for the most expensive cake in the world!

Read On ›

What is Elvis Presley cake? ›

An Elvis Presley cake is a single-layer classic yellow cake that's topped with a pineapple glaze. Much like a poke cake, the syrup and juices of the pineapple will seep into the cake through fork holes, resulting in a decadent, ultra-moist cake.

What is a godfather cake? ›

A two-tier Godfather themed cake featuring all hand-modeled and edible elements from the classic movie. The cake is lemon chiffon with a delicious raspberry butter-cream filling, covered in dark chocolate ganache and LMM fondant.

Discover More Details ›

What's in a Robert Redford cake? ›

Whatever you want to call it, this cake involves chocolate and all kinds of other sweet indulgences that may help explain its name (with apologies, perhaps, to the actor Robert Redford). This is a popular, irresistible chocolate cake dessert with loads of chocolate, caramel topping, candy bars, and whipped topping.

Explore More ›

Which is the very tasty cake? ›

Chocolate is often touted to be one of the best cake flavours. It's almost impossible to resist a slice of gooey, moist chocolate cake. These cakes are made with chocolate sponge, layered with chocolate ganache or mousse, or topped with truffle frosting.

Keep Reading ›

What is a cake without cream called? ›

Oil Cake. Oil cakes follow the same principles as butter cakes, but use oil as the source of fat. Because oil is liquid at room temperature, oil cake recipes skip the step of creaming the fat and sugar; usually the oil is incorporated into the wet ingredients, which are whisked or folded into the dry ingredients.

Discover More ›

What was a witch cake? ›

A bizarre form of counter-magic, the witch cake was a supernatural dessert used to identify suspected evildoers. In cases of mysterious illness or possession, witch-hunters would take a sample of the victim's urine, mix it with rye meal and ashes and bake it into a cake.

Which cake is in trend now? ›

Top 10 Trending Cakes You Need to Try

New Cake Ideas	Description
Abstract Buttercream Painting	Playful & artistic, uses buttercream like paint
Geometric	Modern & chic, uses geometric shapes
Metallic	Shiny & trendy, uses edible metallic dust
Edible Flowers	Pretty & natural, uses real flowers (safe to eat!)

6 more rows

Apr 14, 2024

What is the most bought cake? ›

1. Chocolate Cake. Chocolate cake is a perennial favorite among Americans. Its rich and indulgent flavor makes it a top choice for birthdays and special occasions.

Tell Me More ›

What is the tastiest cake Flavour in the world? ›

Chocolate is often touted to be one of the best cake flavours. It's almost impossible to resist a slice of gooey, moist chocolate cake. These cakes are made with chocolate sponge, layered with chocolate ganache or mousse, or topped with truffle frosting.

Which type of cake is very tasty? ›

Top Cake Flavors You'll Love

Cake Flavor	Description
Red Velvet	Velvety texture with a hint of cocoa
Black Forest	Chocolate cake with cherries and whipped cream
Pineapple	Refreshing and fruity, ideal for summer birthdays
Strawberry	Sweet and tangy, perfect for a fresh taste

6 more rows

Mar 26, 2024

Learn More Now ›

Which cake is super taste? ›

Although taste is a personal thing, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, and black forest cake are among the cakes that people think are the best.

Who is the most beautiful cake? ›

What Is the Most Beautiful Cake in the World?

Black Forest Cake. A rich German cake made with layers of chocolate sponge cake, whipped cream, and cherries. ...
Velvet Red Cake. ...
French Opera Cake. ...
Floral Tiered Wedding Cake. ...
Geode Cake. ...
Lavender Honey Cake. ...
Mirror Glaze Galaxy Cake. ...
Italian Tiramisu Cake.

More items...