If you think you don't need another Bundt cake recipe, this one exists to prove you wrong. Adapted from Nell Lewis of Platte City, Mo., who entered the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest in 1963, it is a favorite...
German chocolate cake is an American classic, named after a chocolatier called Samuel German (as opposed to the European nation). Milder than devil's food cake, this chocolate cake has layers that are...
This prune apple cardamom cake by the chef Genevieve Gergis was inspired by sticky toffee pudding, a dish that her husband and business partner, the chef Ori Menashe, loves. It's on the menu at their restaurant...
A classic British bakewell tart is a threesome: a crust; a layer of raspberry jam - one chockfull of seeds; and a sponge cake redolent of almonds. Sliced almonds and a drizzle of icing may or may not be...
This simple vanilla Bundt cake has plenty of freshly grated nutmeg to nod to the flavor of old-fashioned doughnuts. But since it's baked rather than fried, it also gets a generous coating of melted butter...
This orange cranberry cake is a gift to the holiday baker. It can be made ahead. It travels well. And it can be brought out any time of day - with coffee or tea in the morning or afternoon, or with Cognac...
This dessert is somewhere between a sponge cake and a clafoutis: light and airy, yet rich from the addition of dark chocolate and rum. Make sure you use really ripe, in-season figs, as they make all the...
This coconut cake was adapted from a recipe by Simone (Simca) Beck, best known as Julia Child's co-author on "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She called it "Gâteau d'Hélène: a white cake filled...
Stella Parks developed this recipe for an all-butter triple-layer chocolate cake with a shockingly tender crumb and deep, fudgy flavor. The cake looks intimidating at first, but Ms. Parks's technique involves...
This Technicolor cake is a project, but one you can pull off with a little elbow grease and lots of butter (nine sticks, to be exact). Most rainbow cakes call for coloring the individual layers of cake...
Rice flour makes this poundcake melt-in-your-mouth tender, and gives it a mild and delicate flavor that's spiced with a touch of black pepper. It keeps well, so feel free to bake it a day or two ahead...
This wheat-free chocolate cake with the earthy flavor of chestnuts is surprisingly light. The recipe is a slight adaptation from one in Alice Medrich's baking book "Flavor Flours." The cake may be baked...
Making this cake, which is adapted from "Sweet," by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, is a labor of love, but that's only appropriate, for a cake adorned with rose petals. If you want to save time, however,...
There is very little that needs to be said about a chocolate mousse cake. This one lives up to its name. It is gloriously intense. But the whisked egg whites ensure that it has a balancing lightness. A...
Layered with whipped cream, raspberry purée, saltines and fresh fruit, this easy icebox cake balances bright, fresh flavors with tangy cream cheese. The saltines add a nice saltiness, but you can substitute...
Maida Heatter's famous lemon cake first appeared in The Times in a 1970s feature highlighting a few of her best-loved cake recipes. This one was actually found by her daughter, Toni Evins Marks, who lived...
With a texture that falls somewhere between pudding and ganache, this bittersweet torte is silky smooth and very rich. The whipped cream topping, run through with spiced pumpkin purée, is a fluffy contrast...
Clafoutis is a classic French dessert most often made with cherries. But since clafoutis is little more than a rich, sweet pancake batter poured over fruit and baked, substitutions are easy. If you're...
Like carrot cake, parsnip cake is lightly spiced, exceedingly moist and slathered with cream cheese frosting. This version, adapted from Susan Spungen's cookbook, "Open Kitchen," is less sweet than most....
Tres leches, which means "three milks" in Spanish, refers to the whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk that make up a creamy soaking sauce for the baked cake. Over time, it saturates the cake,...
Alex Levin, the pastry chef of Osteria Morini in Washington, adapted this Rosh Hashana honey cake recipe from his grandmother, an accomplished baker, though he put his own touches on it. Mr. Levin took...
This layer cake is affectionately referred to as "Grandma's Cake" by many Southerners. Using jelly as the filling and the frosting is a wonderful way to add fruity flavor to a cake year-round. The jelly...
The flavor of this ultrabuttery layer cake, adapted from Odette Williams's "Simple Cake" (Ten Speed Press, 2019), can be as mild or pronounced as you like, depending on the variety of honey you use. Clover...
This cake elicits awe on sight, and it's a delightfully easy stir-and-bake dessert created by Margarita Manzke, the pastry chef and an owner at République, a restaurant and bakery in Los Angeles. Dense...
This is the kind of dessert worth dreaming about: a buttery yellow cake topped with a chocolate-sour cream frosting, made doubly rich with cocoa powder and melted chocolate. The batter may seem thin when...
This is the birthday cake I've made for my son since he was about 11. After boxed cakes, ice-cream cakes, a cake in a Darth Vader mold (that year, the party's theme was "May the Fours Be With You), this...
This is a fancy restaurant dessert that's easy to make at home: mix up the little cakes, stash them in a fridge for a day and then take them out as you sit down to your meal, popping them in the oven just...
From the outside, this looks like your standard, run-of-the mill poundcake. But slice into it, and you'll discover a ruby-red row of raspberries nestled into the sour cream-lemon cake. It's light yet moist,...
Why doesn't maple syrup find its way to American cheese platters the way chestnut honey does to Italian ones? We think it works particularly well with subtle, creamy cheeses, a conviction that inspired...
Soaking a cake in liquor or syrup is an old concept. Bake a standard cake, like this golden one, and when it's done, pour enough sweetened, butter-laden alcohol over the top to really saturate it. The...
A dulce de leche swirl adds caramel sweetness to this light, moist pound cake, adapted from Margarita Manzke of République in Los Angeles. Although Ms. Manzke makes her own dulce de leche, the jarred...
More coffeecake than dessert, this moist apple cake is pure comfort, with candied ginger, a touch of honey in the batter and a honey glaze. New crop autumn apples are wonderful to use in season, but you...
Without much prompting, Maria Luca Caudullo, whose in-laws founded the Bronte pistachio company Antonino Caudullo, will reel off any number of pistachio recipes. Filet of beef with a pistachio crust, "olives"...
A roulade is a classic dessert made by rolling a thin cake around a flavorful filling, which creates an inviting swirl once sliced. This roulade starts with a subtly spiced, moist pumpkin cake that is...
Joe Trivelli, the head chef of the River Café in London, has a recipe for an apple cake in his 2018 cookbook, "The Modern Italian Cook." It's simple to prepare but complex in flavor, because its batter...
This magnificent version of the popular banana-pineapple-pecan cake developed by Southern Living magazine in 1978 is adapted from the chef Ashley Christensen's cookbook, "Poole's: Recipes from a Modern...
Susan Levin Turner has taught many Southerners, both professional chefs and home cooks, how to bake a proper cake. She has made cakes for politicians and celebrities, and turned out five when the chef...
Not your traditional gingerbread, this cake is flavored with familiar spices and enhanced with freshly grated ginger. (And yes, of course, there is still molasses.) Unlike a brittle cookie or dense loaf,...
This towering trifecta of flavor and texture - crisp wafer, creamy peanut butter and glossy dark chocolate - comes together quickly and easily. The hidden star here is Katherine Yang's utterly delicious...
This is an easy spice cake from "The Joy of Cooking" made moist and delicious by using a stealthy ingredient: a can of condensed tomato soup. Make it and see if your guests can guess the secret.
This cake, at its best when warm, is full of dark molasses flavor and three kinds of ginger (fresh, ground and crystallized). It can be served with powdered sugar, whipped cream or even ice cream - a drizzle...
When my Paris friend, Bernard Collet, told me about this cake, a favorite for over 60 years in his family, I was expecting something tall, soft, frosted and fit for candles. I expected a gâteau but got...
In her new book, "My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life," Ruth Reichl calls this the cake that cures everything. The recipe produces a large stacked rectangular layer cake with whipped cream...
You get the best of both worlds with this tender and moist cake adapted from a version that was served at the 76th birthday of Edna Lewis, the legendary Southern chef. It is quite simple to put together...
Layer cakes are always festive, particularly when they are four-layered, fluffy and cloudlike. This one, based on the flavors of an Indian dessert called ras malai, combines rose water, ricotta cheese...
This beautiful tea cake from the San Francisco chef Elisabeth Prueitt has all the fall flavors of pumpkin spice channeled into a moist, spicy loaf with a base of sweet potato purée. It also has a delicious...
This crunchy, spicy carrot cake is much lighter and less cloying than most I've tasted. It's important to grate the carrots on the fine holes of your grater, or else they'll remain too crunchy. For best...
This deeply spiced gingerbread cake recipe comes from the cookbook author Genevieve Ko, who found inspiration in the light-as-air cakes she tasted from Chinese bakeries in Southern California, as well...
This cake is a showstopper that a baker with rudimentary skills could pull off. The topping is a toffee glaze made with brown sugar, agave, butter and sea salt; you pour half of it over the cake while...
In this intensely rich recipe, you'll jazz up a fudgy chocolate soufflé cake with crème fraîche and candied, cinnamon-scented butternut squash, turning a decadent dessert into something stunningly autumnal....