249 better cake recipes

Banana walnut upside-down cake with a brown sugar-maple syrup caramel, sliced bananas in concentric circles, and a cinnamon butter cake. Served warm with whipped cream.

Maple walnut poundcake with a cinnamon walnut streusel swirl and pancake syrup sweetening the batter. A dense, tender tube-pan cake that makes its own maple glaze as the streusel melts during baking.

Overnight sourdough cornmeal cakes griddled to crispy-edged breakfast glory. Mix the batter before bed, let it rise, and cook on a hot griddle come morning. Six ingredients, zero fuss.

Banana chocolate marble cake swirls melted semi-sweet chocolate into a moist sour cream banana batter, finished with a glossy orange-scented chocolate ganache.

Dense, jewel-toned fruit cake packed with whole dates, walnuts, and candied cherries held together by just enough batter. A showstopper for holiday giving.

Upside-down chocolate cake layers marshmallows and a cocoa-walnut syrup under boxed devil's food batter, baking into a gooey self-saucing chocolate dessert.

Carrot fruit cake loaded with raisins, candied fruit, and pecans in a spiced batter. No eggs needed. Soak with rum or brandy and store for up to 3 months.

Grandma's apple cake loaded with 4 cups of chopped apples and nuts in a moist, cinnamon-spiced oil batter. No mixer needed, baked in a tube pan and dusted with powdered sugar.

Black chocolate cake made with a boiled chocolate-milk-sugar syrup folded into a simple butter batter. Dense, fudgy, and baked in a single 9x13 pan.

Berkshire fruit cake packed with raisins, currants, and citron in a spiced molasses batter with cinnamon, cloves, and mace. Baked low and slow for 4.5 hours.

Chocolate apricot upside-down cake with a caramelized brown sugar base, tender apricot halves, and pecans beneath a cocoa-rich batter. Served with cinnamon whipped cream.

Apple filling cake baked in a tube pan with layers of grated cinnamon apples swirled through a moist oil-based batter. Dense, fruity, and warmly spiced.

Cherry pudding cake with a spoonable cinnamon batter studded with canned cherries and chopped nuts, served with a hot almond-cherry sauce poured over warm portions.

Italian country spice cake (torta speziata): cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves with raisins plumped in warm water and a hit of brewed espresso in the batter.

Double chocolate bar cake with melted milk chocolate, cocoa, and sour cream batter, filled and frosted with whipped chocolate cream. A light, airy three-layer stunner.

Sour cream chocolate layer cake with a tangy, moist crumb and a rich sour cream chocolate frosting. Old-school bakery flavor from a one-bowl batter.