246 better cake recipes

German sour cherry chocolate cake: a dense, fudgy chocolate cake crowned with tart pitted cherries that sink into the batter as it bakes. The sharp cherries cut the rich dark chocolate beautifully.

Coffee cake with a hidden filling of dried figs, walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon baked between layers of vanilla batter. A sweet surprise in every slice.

Chocolate mayonnaise cake with a caramel-like brown sugar frosting. The mayo keeps this old-fashioned cake incredibly moist without eggs or butter in the batter. Frost immediately for the best texture.

Banana pineapple pecan cake (Southern hummingbird-style) with crushed pineapple folded right into the batter, finished with a pineapple buttercream. Moist, fruity, and a potluck winner.

Banana layer cake with mashed bananas folded into a classic creamed butter and cake flour batter. A soft, tender two-layer cake with old-fashioned technique and genuine banana flavor.

Hot fudge sundae cake that bakes its own chocolate sauce underneath the cake layer. Pour hot water over the batter before baking, and the oven creates a fudgy pudding sauce beneath a light chocolate cake.

Fruit cocktail cake with a moist sour cream batter spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, studded with canned fruit cocktail. The retro pantry-staple cake from a 1960s Sunday-supper card.

Pink maraschino cherry layer cake with cherry juice in the batter, chopped nuts, and fluffy 7-minute icing. A retro party cake with a pretty blush color and sweet cherry flavor throughout.

Southern Coke cake made with Coca-Cola in both the chocolate batter and the boiled cocoa-pecan frosting. Marshmallows in the batter melt into gooey pockets as it bakes.

Mom's Heath Bar cake with a brown sugar buttermilk batter topped with a crumbly streusel and crushed frozen Heath bars. A one-pan toffee-studded coffee cake in under an hour.

Self-saucing hot fudge pudding cake with a cocoa batter that creates its own chocolate sauce as it bakes. Warm, gooey, and made from pantry staples.

October cake with yams, apples, walnuts, and raisins in a maple syrup batter spiked with orange marmalade and Grand Marnier. A dense, spiced autumn loaf cake.

Toll House crumb cake with sour cream batter, chocolate chips folded in, and a brown sugar walnut-chocolate streusel topping. The classic Nestlé coffee cake recipe.

A Southern classic bundt cake made with butter cake mix, sour cream, and a hidden ribbon of cinnamon-brown sugar-nut filling swirled through the center.

Heritage-style yeast-risen buckwheat cakes made with an overnight batter and a touch of baking soda. A pioneer-era breakfast griddle cake with deep, earthy flavor.

Chocolate cola cake with real cola in both the batter and the warm cocoa icing, plus buttermilk, mini marshmallows, and optional pecans. A Southern sheet cake classic.