249 better cake recipes

Layered apple cake with cinnamon-sugar apple slices tucked between three tiers of orange juice-brightened batter. A dramatic tube pan cake that reveals a stripe of fruit in every slice.

Butter cream banded fudge cake with a hidden cream cheese ribbon swirled through dark chocolate batter, topped with chocolate fudge frosting. A three-layer 13x9 sheet cake with a surprise inside.

Microwave chocolate cherry upside-down cake bakes in 12 minutes flat. A dairy-free wacky cake batter swirled with cherry pie filling, inverted onto a plate for a glossy ruby topping.

Intensely moist chocolate layer cake with boiling water in the batter, topped with a rich cocoa buttercream frosting flavored with brandy and vanilla.

French apple cake with poached apples topped in a light, flourless almond batter with lemon zest and whipped egg whites. Served lukewarm with custard or cream.

Slow cooker chocolate pudding cake with cocoa, chocolate syrup, and chopped pecans. The batter steams into a fudgy, gooey cake with its own chocolate sauce on the bottom. Served warm with cream.

Milky Way layer cake melts eight candy bars with butter into a chocolate-caramel-nougat batter for a moist Southern celebration cake. Tender crumb, rich frosting-friendly base, layered or sheet style.

Old-fashioned chocolate cake with crushed peppermint stick candy folded right into the batter. A tender cocoa layer cake with a cool, pepperminty crunch. Straight out of a mid-century church cookbook.

Chocolate syrup cake bakes up moist and rich with a thin batter that turns into a fudgy 9x13 sheet cake. A vintage one-bowl dessert built around a full bottle of chocolate syrup.

Apfeltorte: German apple cake with whole peeled apples baked into a butter cake, their cores stuffed with rum-soaked raisins and chocolate. Finished with apricot glaze and powdered sugar.

Three-layer German chocolate cake with mashed potatoes in the batter for a tender crumb, German milk chocolate, and a cooked pecan-coconut frosting that's stirred for 12 minutes until golden.

Rocky road cake: a moist devil's food bundt loaded with chocolate chunks, marshmallows, raisins, and nuts. Mayonnaise in the batter keeps every slice tender and rich.

Finnish pecan balls (Finnish snowballs) made with butter, cake flour, and toasted pecans, rolled twice in powdered sugar for a melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie.

A rich, moist double-chocolate layer cake with sour cream, cocoa powder, and a full bag of chocolate chips folded into the batter. Dom DeLuise's famous recipe that lives up to its outrageous name.

Caramel-pecan cake made with buttermilk chocolate batter, folded egg whites for lift, and a gooey caramel-chocolate chip topping baked right on top.

Three-layer pecan fudge cake made with unsweetened chocolate in both the batter and frosting. Rich, dense, and loaded with chopped pecans throughout.