Signature Midwestern Cakes

For the Show-Me State, we went to the Italian neighborhoods of this Mississippi River city for St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, a one-layer bakery legend that is irresistible for its name alone.

To represent Iowa, we turned to Des Moines-based Better Homes and Gardens® magazine for Best-Ever Chocolate Cake. Our sister publication has influenced home cooks since 1922. Its red-plaid cookbook, first published in 1930, has sold 39 million copies. This delicious recipe never goes out of style.

This modern version of a pioneer wedding cake represents the Mount Rushmore State and its prairie heritage. It's said that each guest brought a cake layer to a pioneer wedding to stack together. Our Pioneer Wedding Stack Cake is based on a simple molasses recipe with applesauce filling. The moist layers are simple, yet elegant.

The Peace Garden State produces almost 20 percent of U.S. honey-and it's also a big oat producer. The two flavors complement each other in Honey-Glazed Buttermilk-Oatmeal Coffee Cake.

Using cake mix cuts steps in Sour Cream-Walnut Date Cake, which has a date-nut center. The baking pan brings in the North Star State's heritage. Family-owned, Minnesota-based Nordic Ware makes the fluted tube pan that gives the cake its familiar shape. The pan's design is more than 60 years old.

Caramel sauce adds a creamy-sweet finish to individual Amish Apple-Butter Baby Cakes. You can choose from two Prairie State ingredients, apples or pumpkins, for this treat, which honors the state's Amish bakers.

The Sunflower State's wheat crops and native state flower inspired our cake ideas for this part of the Midwest. The cupcake seemed like the ideal shape for this recipe; frosting piped like petals turns the individual Kansas Sunflower Cupcakes into pretty treats. Wheat germ adds a hearty touch to the buttermilk-vanilla cakes.

The fruit belt of the Great Lakes State inspired our Cherry-Berry Shortcakes. We played up the sweet cherries grown here, along with blueberries and raspberries. Add the nostalgic summertime biscuit base and sweetened whipped cream for a colorful and tempting dinner finale.

The top ice cream-producing state in the Midwest gets Ice Cream Cookie Cake created in its honor. You can mix and match cookies and ice cream to make this frosty, no-bake treat that's also an easy make-ahead dessert.

The many colors of Kool-Aid, a Cornhusker State 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.

Several states claim to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae. Since the Buckeye State makes a good case, we created the Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Cake for Ohio. Four layers of baked white cake get sandwiched in ice cream layers in favorite sundae flavors: strawberry, pineapple and chocolate-banana. A whipped topping frosting crowns the cherry-topped dessert.

Dried cranberries and dairy products star in Cranberry-Sour Cream Pound Cake from the Badger State. This recipe proves why top ingredients make the best baked goods.