249 better cake recipes

Glazed apple cake: silky McIntosh apple purée folded into a warm-spiced batter, topped with fanned Granny Smith slices and a glossy apricot jam glaze. A bakery-style fall dessert.

Whole wheat funnel cakes sweetened with honey and fried in a cast-iron skillet. Spiral the batter by hand for that authentic fair-style crunch at home.

Glazed coconut tube cake soaked in hot coconut sugar syrup for 4 hours. Buttermilk batter with flaked coconut, chopped nuts, and a double dose of coconut flavoring.

Jeweled candied fruitcake loaded with dates, candied pineapple, whole cherries, and 2 lbs of pecan halves. More fruit and nuts than batter. A stunning holiday gift cake.

Apple topped cake with whole wheat flour, honey, egg whites, and yogurt in the batter, crowned with sliced apples and a cinnamon-sugar drizzle. A lighter bake.

Orange chocolate crunch cake with fresh orange segments baked into the batter, topped with a crunchy layer of brown sugar, chocolate chips, and walnuts. No butter needed.

From-scratch German chocolate cake with sweet chocolate melted in boiling water, buttermilk batter with folded egg whites, and a coconut-pecan frosting cooked on the stovetop.

Orange liqueur cake with chopped dates, pecans, and buttermilk batter, soaked in a Grand Marnier orange syrup. The fruitcake alternative for people who claim to hate fruitcake.

Milk chocolate bar bundt cake with melted Milky Way bars folded into the batter, plus buttermilk, pecans, and vanilla. A Southern church-cookbook classic with serious richness.

Cranberry upside-down cake with fresh cranberries in a brown sugar butter base, topped with a light egg white-folded butter cake. A stunning holiday dessert flipped to reveal jewel-red fruit.

Chocolate bar nut cake melts ten ounces of chocolate bars into a buttermilk batter loaded with two and a half cups of chopped nuts and chocolate syrup. Baked low and slow in a tube pan for 90 minutes. A dense, fudgy Bundt-style chocolate cake.

Frosted chocolate pound cake with cocoa in both the batter and icing, baked in a tube pan. Dense, velvety, and loaded with butter and five eggs for richness.

Moist two-layer chocolate cake with a bright orange zest frosting. Boiling water in the batter creates an extra-tender crumb. Drizzle with orange liqueur for special occasions.

Chocolate sauerkraut cake that sounds wild but bakes up incredibly moist and tender. The sauerkraut disappears into the cocoa batter, and a creamy chocolate frosting seals the deal.

Jewish apple cake baked in a tube pan with layers of cinnamon-sugar Granny Smith apples and a moist oil-free batter made with applesauce and orange juice.

Dense, moist apple cake packed with dates, walnuts, and golden raisins. Oil-based batter loaded with fruit and spice bakes into a pudding-like texture in a 13x9 pan.