28 homemade cake recipes

Mom's Black Forest cake stacks devils food cake layers soaked in cherry liqueur syrup, layered with kirsch whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and mini chocolate chips. A semi-homemade German classic.

Chocolate cherry cake from a doctored devils food box mix with cherry pie filling and almond extract. Topped with a poured chocolate icing for a moist sheet cake that beats homemade.

Pennsylvania Dutch cake-and-custard pie: a soft cake batter and a spiced applesauce-molasses custard poured into one crust bake into two distinct layers, finished with a coffee glaze. A clever heritage dessert.

Citrus poppy seed cake with orange and lemon zest topped with vanilla cream cheese icing. Made from a homemade cake mix that stores for months.

German chocolate layered apple cake with sliced apples and cinnamon-nut batter in alternating layers, topped with cream cheese frosting. A semi-homemade cake that tastes fully from scratch.

Brandy-fermented friendship cake made with a homemade fruit starter of pineapple, peaches, and maraschino cherries. A beloved sharing tradition where each batch creates starters for friends.

Golden chocolate Bundt cake doctors a yellow cake mix with sour cream, milk chocolate bars, chocolate chips, pecans and coconut. Semi-homemade with bakery-style results.

Applesauce snack cake starts with a box cake mix boosted with applesauce, warm spices, raisins, and nuts for a moist, spiced sheet cake. A semi-homemade shortcut that tastes fully from scratch.

Layered banana yogurt cake with toasted coconut, banana syrup, creamy pecan filling, and white snow frosting. A showpiece layer cake with three homemade components.

Applesauce spice cake baked in canning jars and sealed hot for shelf-stable storage. A spiced cake with cinnamon, cloves, and nuts that makes a unique homemade gift.

Dad's Saxon yeast is a heritage homemade yeast cake recipe from Transylvanian Saxon tradition, made by boiling hops, fermenting with rye flour, then drying into preserved cakes for bread baking. Old-world sourdough-adjacent craft.

Flourless chocolate cake with espresso and a shard of homemade chocolate almond brittle on top. Dense, fudgy, and gluten-free, the kind of cake you serve warm with a fork.

Florida Keys bread pudding made with homemade coconut milk, day-old sponge cake, crushed pineapple, and a silky dark rum sauce. Tropical Caribbean comfort dessert.

An upside-down apple cake baked in a skillet over a layer of homemade caramel with golden apples, almond extract, and a splash of amaretto. Flip it out and watch jaws drop.

Spiced pumpkin layer cake built on yellow cake mix with pumpkin, walnuts, orange zest, and pumpkin pie spice, finished with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. A semi-homemade fall dessert with bakery-level results.

Cherry dream squares with an oat-and-cake-mix crust, cherry pie filling center, and a brown sugar crumb topping with nuts. A semi-homemade bar cookie that's part crumble, part pie.