618 better recipes

French-style fruit fritters: apple, orange, or pineapple slices macerated in lemon and sugar, dipped in an egg-white-lightened batter, and deep-fried golden. Serve with powdered sugar or syrup.

The classic Joy of Cooking devil's food cake with a cooked chocolate custard folded into the batter and whipped egg whites for lift. Finished with caramel icing. A vintage recipe worth mastering.

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.

Saucy chocolate cake that creates its own hot fudge sauce as it bakes. Cocoa batter topped with brown sugar and boiling water transforms into cake over a pool of warm chocolate pudding.

Orange muffins packed with citrus: 1¼ cups of orange juice in the batter and a juicy orange segment crowning every cap. Tender from a butter-shortening combo, makes three dozen for brunch.

Fudge cakes with melted unsweetened chocolate, butter, and chopped nuts in a light batter lifted with stiffly beaten egg whites. Somewhere between a brownie and a cake, frosted and cut into bars.

Peach cake with sliced summer peaches dredged in flour and folded into a thick, oil-based cinnamon batter. Bakes up moist with a tender crumb, finished with a powdered sugar glaze or a dollop of whipped cream.

Low-fat brown sugar apple pie made with fat-free margarine crust and Butter Buds in place of real butter. Granny Smith apples spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh lemon zest.

Moist chocolate chip applesauce cake with cocoa and cinnamon in the batter, topped with a crunchy layer of chocolate chips, nuts, and cinnamon sugar. Swap margarine for more applesauce to make it lighter. A 9x13 crowd-pleaser in under an hour.

These banana fritters stay crispy thanks to a flour-dusted coating under a light egg-and-milk batter. Deep-fried golden in minutes and served hot for a crunchy, sweet snack or dessert.

Black bottom cupcakes drop a sweet cream cheese filling studded with chocolate chips into chocolate cake mix batter, baking into a self-frosting cupcake. Travel-friendly picnic dessert with no icing to melt.

Savory garlic pancakes with a creamy ham and sage butter sauce. Three whole heads of boiled garlic turn sweet and nutty in the batter. Silver dollar-sized for brunch, lunch, or light supper.

Starlight double-delight cake, the retro Pillsbury bake-off winner where a chocolate-peppermint cream cheese frosting doubles as part of the batter. Two moist mint-chocolate layers, frosted in the same blend.

Mocha pudding cake: a self-saucing chocolate coffee cake that bakes its own rich fudge sauce underneath the crackled top. Pour boiling water over the batter and let the oven do the magic.

Hot fudge pudding cake that creates its own chocolate sauce as it bakes. A cocoa and honey batter topped with brown sugar and cocoa, then doused with hot water. Magic happens in the oven.

Spiced pound cake with mace, vanilla, and almond extract baked in a Bundt pan until golden and dense. Powdered sugar in the batter creates an ultra-fine, velvety crumb that melts on your tongue.