Dessert, Cake Recipes

Old-fashioned blueberry cake topped with hard sauce and a hot lemon-blueberry compote that melts the butter into the warm cake. A classic New England dessert with bright berry flavor.

Bailey's fudge cake is a dense, boozy single-layer chocolate cake spiked with Irish cream and chocolate syrup, finished with a sour cream Bailey's glaze and chocolate-dipped pecan halves. Showpiece dessert, low effort.

Mandarin orange cheesecake wrapped in crackling phyllo pastry, filled with cream cheese and ricotta, then soaked in orange blossom syrup for a Middle Eastern twist on a classic.

Chocolate chip pumpkin cheesecake: silky pumpkin-spice cream cheese filling studded with mini chocolate chips over a chocolate cookie crust, garnished with real chocolate leaves. A showstopping fall dessert.

New Zealand rock cakes with butter, raisins, and orange marmalade, baked rough and craggy on purpose. A rustic teatime scone that comes together in 30 minutes with no special equipment.

Chocolate mayonnaise cake is an old-fashioned secret for incredibly moist chocolate cake. A full cup of mayo replaces butter and adds richness without any greasy taste.

Banana ginger cake with 2 teaspoons of ground ginger baked in a 9-inch square pan, topped with spiced whipped cream. A lighter snack cake using margarine and skim milk.

Easy amaretto cake built on a doctored yellow cake mix with vanilla pudding, toasted almonds, and a buttery amaretto-soaked glaze. The bundt that fooled every dinner party into thinking you spent all day.

Chocolate red beet cake: deep cocoa cake with mashed beets baked into a moist, tender crumb you'd never guess was hiding a vegetable. An old-school secret-ingredient cake.

Old-fashioned ginger cupcakes made with molasses, cinnamon, sour milk, and cake flour. Dark, spicy, and tender with a warm gingerbread flavor.

Alice's white cake is a tender vanilla and almond-scented layer cake leavened with whipped egg whites for an airy, snowy crumb. The kind of from-scratch white cake that makes box mixes look amateur.

Apple custard cake layered on a buttery lemon shortcrust, with rum-soaked raisins and tart apples under a baked vanilla custard that sets soft and creamy. A bakery-style dessert with a boozy backbone.

Irish Porter Cake is a dense, dark fruit cake made with Guinness, currants, raisins, mixed peel, and warm spices. Bakes for up to 3 hours, then rests a full week before cutting.

Friendship cake starter made with pineapple, cherries, and peaches layered with sugar and brandy over six weeks. A fermented fruit base for holiday fruitcakes.

Joy's carrot cake folds crushed pineapple, pecans, and cinnamon into a tender crumb, finished with cream cheese icing loaded with coconut, raisins, and toasted nuts. A bakery-style classic.

Layered apple cake with a buttery crust, tangy cream cheese filling, sliced apples, and silky custard topping crowned with pecans. A showstopper baked in a springform pan.