Ultimate Cake Recipes
Neapolitan Party Cake [1]
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.
Cafe Latte's Turtle Cake [5]
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. Originally published: December 2005.
Download a free printable collection of our all-time best recipes [7]
Peach Melba Upside-Down Cake [10]
Hello, color! Sunny peaches and ruby raspberries dance across a tender buttermilk cornmeal cake. It's divine with whipped cream—if you're into that kind of thing.
Coconut Cake [14]
This three-layer wonder stays extra moist thanks to butter and buttermilk. The blue-ribbon recipe is from Teresa Reese of Osceola, Nebraska.
Coconut Cake [15]
Quick Black Forest Cherry Cake [18]
This quick twist on the classic German chocolate-cherry cake uses boxed cake mix and cherry preserves. Don't skip the kirsch or brandy; it adds that signature Black Forest flavor.
Three-Tiered Fudgy Chocolate Cake [22]
Buttermilk and sour cream lend moistness and tang to our old-fashioned chocolate cake. All that's missing are the birthday candles.
Cookies-and-Cream Cake [26]
Combine white cake mix and Oreos for a super-easy dessert. The recipe, from a Spearville, Kansas, reader, was among the winners in a Midwest Living® chocolate recipe contest.
Cutie-Pie Carrot Cake [30]
Book club meeting. Mother's Day brunch. A well-deserved raise. Cream cheese frosting is always the answer, especially when it's on a 6-inch cake that's perfectly sized for life's everyday celebrations.
My My’s Brown Sugar Pound Cake [34]
Patty’s grandmother sifted together the flour and baking powder three times before adding them to the batter. We had good results just whisking them together. This recipe comes from Patty Pinner's cookbook Sweets (crownpublishing.com [35]).
Tres Leches Cake [39]
A Mexican standard and guaranteed backyard crowd-pleaser, our brown-sugar sheet cake is soaked in milky syrup, chilled, then topped with whipped cream and berries.
Tres Leches Cake [40]
Key Lime Coconut Cake with Marshmallow Frosting [43]
Billowy Meringue Frosting tops a moist and buttery lime-flecked cake whose subtle coconut flavor comes from canned cream of coconut.
Chocolanutty Banana Cake [47]
Dessert or coffee cake? It’s up to you. A hint of orange rounds out the flavors.
Chocolate Pumpkin Cake [51]
This utterly unforgettable autumn 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 [52]).
Raspberry Swirl Angel Food Cake [57]
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.
Carrot Pineapple Cake [61]
No one will believe you baked this beautiful, moist cake in your slow cooker! The homemade cream cheese frosting is lusciously delicious, but you can substitute canned frosting in a pinch.
Our Best-Ever Chocolate Cake [65]
This recipe has been perfected through the years. We think you’ll agree that it is the moistest, richest, “chocolatiest” cake ever. Of the many ways to frost it, we vote for our classic Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting — though you can certainly use your family’s favorite.
Pumpkin-Praline Layer Cake [69]
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.
Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Drizzle [73]
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 [74]cookbook, by Cara Mangini.
Hummingbird Cake [78]
This tall layer cake, with a medley of flavors from nuts, fruit and spices, comes from the kitchens of Silver Dollar City theme park near Branson, Missouri. Add a sprinkling of pecans on top for even more crunch.
Hummingbird Cake [79]
Double-Ginger Pineapple Upside-Down Cake [82]
Crystallized ginger and powdered dry ginger add welcome zing to an American classic. Fanning the pineapple like flower petals is striking, but also functional--no bare spots between rings.
Lemony Prairie Cake [86]
Mix just six ingredients, including lemon-lime carbonated beverage, to make this lovely, citrusy cake from an Alta Vista, Kansas, reader.
Lemony Prairie Cake [87]
Tinted Angel Cake [90]
The many colors of Kool-Aid, a Nebraska invention, give an array of choices for this angel food cake that starts with a mix. Pink lemonade Kool-Aid adds pastel prettiness and a delicate flavor to Tinted Angel Cake. The tropical punch version gives the cake flavor that's as intense as its color.
Tinted Angel Cake [91]
Maple Syrup Cake [94]
Ruth Smiley of Parke County, Indiana, gave us her recipe for Maple Syrup Cake, which she makes in a fluted tube pan. We mixed up an easy maple syrup icing to drizzle over the top.
Maple Syrup Cake [95]
Cranberry Layer Cake [98]
This moist white cake combines toasted pecans and refreshing orange peel with cranberries. Orange peel flavors the thick cream cheese frosting, too.
Cranberry Layer Cake [99]
Buster Brown Cake with Delicious Icing [102]
A Canton, Ohio, reader contributed this recipe for a favorite brown sugar cake that is often served at family gatherings.
Fresh Apple Cake [106]
This nutty comfort cake from Sharon Buckner of Rhineland, Missouri, gets a sugary top and caramelized gooey bottom as it cooks. Don't be surprised by the thick batter; it will bake into a moist, dense cake.
Fresh Apple Cake [107]
Pioneer Wedding Stack Cake [110]
This wonderfully moist and generously spiced six-layer cake is a showy spin on humble applesauce cake.
Pioneer Wedding Stack Cake [111]
Toasted Fennel-Lemon Cake [114]
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.
Fabulous Red Velvet Cake [118]
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.
Fabulous Red Velvet Cake [119]
Spiced Pecan Sweet Potato Cake [122]
Deborah Biggs of Omaha completes this amazingly moist dessert with Maple Whipped Cream.
Old-Fashioned Pound Cake [126]
This recipe for an old-fashioned pound cake with a sugar-browned crust comes from a Benton Harbor, Michigan, reader, whose family eats the cake warm from the oven.
Old-Fashioned Pound Cake [127]
Dutch Mocha Chocolate Cake [130]
Cocoa powder, coffee and sour cream combine to make this moist, dark three-layer cake. The Unforgettable White Chocolate Frosting (at end of recipe) is irresistible, but if you prefer, you can use a regular butter frosting.
Pink Lemonade Strawberry Shortcake [134]
Pink lemonade concentrate gives a summery twist to classic strawberry shortcake.
Poppy Seed Torte [138]
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.
Poppy Seed Torte [139]
Best Carrot-Pineapple Cake [142]
Cream cheese frosting crowns a rich, moist and nutty carrot cake. Cinnamon and allspice add just the right spiciness.
Wee White Layer Cake [146]
With two tender layers and almond-kissed buttercream, this 6-inch cake is the stuff birthday memories are made of—just smaller.
Wee White Layer Cake [147]
Pumpkin Pie Cake [150]
Sprinkle moist pumpkin filling with a cake mix topping for a quick and easy cake. The recipe is from Farmer's Inn in Havana, North Dakota.
Pumpkin Pie Cake [151]
Hot Cocoa Cake [154]
Zingerman's Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan, took a basic chocolate cake and infused a little coffee and bittersweet chocolate to give it a sophisticated flavor.
Hot Cocoa Cake [155]
Tart Cherry Half-Pound Cake [158]
Pound cakes traditionally are made with a pound each of sugar, butter, flour and eggs. This recipe, from Chicago cookbook authors Barry Bluestein and Kevin Morrissey, uses closer to a half-pound of each main ingredient. "We've also added a bit of milk, so the cake is lighter and moister," the authors say.
Peach Cordial Mini Bundt Cakes [162]
The memory of a childhood orchard trip inspired Melinsa Murphey of Olathe, Kansas, to create this recipe. The cakes are moist and sweet and quite generously proportioned, so you may want to serve a half-cake to each person (or bake them in muffin cups instead).
Lemonade Cake [166]
Lemon Butter Frosting tops a summer-perfect cake flavored with thawed lemonade concentrate.
Lemonade Cake [167]
Whoopie Pie Cake [170]
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.
Whoopie Pie Cake [171]
Butterscotch Cake [174]
Yellow cake mix and butterscotch-flavored pieces create an easy-on-the-cook cake from The Gourmet Grocer in Kansas City, Missouri. Make a smooth Butterscotch Frosting from cream cheese, powdered sugar and melted butterscotch-flavored pieces.
Butterscotch Cake [175]
Shortcut German-Chocolate Cake [178]
Coconut, pecans and caramel make a sweet sauce for an easy, one-layer twist on German chocolate cake.
Sweet Potato-Cranberry Cake [182]
Chocolate and sweet potato batters are swirled together to make this moist, tender spice cake from Patricia Polley of Columbus, Ohio. Wrap and store the cooled cake overnight for easier slicing. (It's a great alternative to coffee cake for brunches.)
White Three-Layer Butter Cake [186]
This moist three-layer cake stars at any elegant get-together. The recipe is from an Eaton Rapids, Michigan, bed & breakfast.
Heavenly Chiffon Cake [190]
Doris Heikes of Decorah, Iowa, enjoys bringing this dessert to potluck buffets. The tender cake is topped with Browned Butter Icing and sliced almonds or chopped nuts.
Heavenly Chiffon Cake [191]
Coffee Nut Torte [194]
Cocoa and rum flavor the soft butter frosting that crowns this airy three-layer cake from Elizabeth Varga of Barberton, Ohio. The recipe came from her Hungarian grandmother.
Coffee Nut Torte [195]
Prairie State Oatmeal Cake [198]
This moist, coconut-walnut-topped oatmeal cake comes from an Alexis, Illinois, reader, who likes to take it on family outings to Wildlife Prairie State Park near Peoria.
Chocolate Picnic Cake [202]
A crunchy topping of walnuts, chocolate and sugar replaces the usual frosting on this rich and moist red-colored snack cake.
Chocolate Picnic Cake [203]