Let our recipes inspire you with ideas for chocolate cake, red velvet cake, pumpkin cake, coconut cake, carrot cake and other delicious homemade treats.
01of 39
Black Forest Cake with Cloud Frosting
This simplified version of the German classic gets its fruit flavor from cherry jam and cherry juice. Beating heavy cream with cream cheese creates a beautifully light frosting that is lighter than cream cheese frosting but more stable than whipped cream.
View Recipe
02of 39
Peach Upside-Down Cake
This moist cake from Rendleman Orchards in Alto Pass, Illinois, is ideal for a cookout or summer potluck.
Upside-Down Cake Recipes You'll Flip Over
View Recipe
03of 39
Peppermint Patty Cake
This dazzling cake boasts dark rich layers and silky Swiss meringue buttercream. That frosting is where you get the peppermint flavor, so baker Kristine Moberg of Queen City Bakery says to use a high-quality extract like Nielsen-Massey.
View Recipe
04of 39
Raspberry-Lemon Cakelets
Tender from cake flour and bright with citrus, this pretty butter cake will surprise you. Pair it with tea or a glass of bubbly.
Sparkling Spring Desserts
View Recipe
05of 39
Vanilla Crepe Cake
This cake by chef Gavin Kaysen of Bellecour Bakery in the Twin Cities will wow people with its many layers, luscious creaminess and subtle vanilla flavor.
View Recipe
06of 39
Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
Angela Garbacz, owner of Goldenrod Pastries in Lincoln, Nebraska, features recipes that adapt to gluten- and dairy-free needs in her cookbook, Perfectly Golden. This simple, sweet cake reminds her of her time in Poland.
Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes to Satisfy Any Sweet Tooth
View Recipe
07of 39
German Chocolate Cake
This celebration cake is a staple at Bake Chicago. It has a wonderfully fudgy, old-fashioned, homemade texture. The frosting has an unusual method that may feel initially like it's failing, but stick with it. Laced with sour cream, it's creamy and utterly delicious.
Meet Five Midwest Cake Creators (and Try Their Recipes)
View Recipe
08of 39
Cocoa Gingerbread with Heaven Frosting
A humble snack dresses up for company. With its nutty flavor and tiny flecks of toasted milk solids, browned butter elevates a simple cream cheese frosting to saintly levels.
View Recipe
09of 39
Chocolate Chai Bundt with Candied Oranges and Rum Buttah
Reine Keis of SweetArt Cafe in St. Louis says that the secret to vegan baking is not assuming that one plant-based alternative fits all recipes. Coconut yogurt is her power play in this recipe.
Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes
10of 39
Apple Sour Cream Kuchen
This German-style, not-too-sweet, yeast-raised cake begs for a cup of coffee. For an extra tang, you can serve it with a dollop of lightly sweetened sour cream.
Irresistible Apple Dessert Recipes
View Recipe
11of 39
Gingerbread Latte Cake
Rebekah Stuber of Bay Laurel Baking Company in Des Moines says her flavor-packed spice cakes always earn the most raves. Her secret to airy cream cheese frosting on this gingerbread cake? Folding in whipped cream.
View Recipe
12of 39
Seven-or-So Layer Cake
This striking (and gluten-free!) cake is inspired by the Jewish bakery classic, Seven-Layer Cake. Our simplified sheet-pan method sandwiches rich mocha glaze with almond cake.
View Recipe
13of 39
Doughnut Bundt
Nutmeg is the secret ingredient that makes this playful Bundt taste just like a cake doughnut. (Be sure to use freshly grated nutmeg—you'll really notice the difference in flavor.)
View Recipe
14of 39
Carrot-Spice Cake with Coconut-Pecan Filling
Tender layers of carrot-tinted spice cake are sandwiched with a luscious coconut-pecan filling—and it's all covered in swirls of classic cream cheese frosting.
View Recipe
15of 39
Neapolitan Party Cake
This crowd-pleaser is easier than it looks. (You only make one batter.) Garnish the strawberry-frosted cake with double-dipped berries to hint at the festive stripes hiding inside.
View Recipe
16of 39
Modern Fruit Cakes
These super-moist cakes eat like elegant patisserie and are worth every minute of the process. Whipping up a batch to gift? Learn how to make these pretty fruit cake gift boxes for extra sparkle.
View Recipe
17of 39
Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Elderflower Cream
To "bring the smell of the field" into this dessert, chef James Bloomfield of Traverse City, Michigan, infuses whipping cream with fresh elderflowers. Get the same effect with a splash of St-Germain.
View Recipe
18of 39
Cafe Latte's Turtle Cake
Sheer three-layered audacity put this creation from a Saint Paul bakery in our hall of fame: buttermilk-cocoa cake, candylike chocolate frosting and creamy caramel sauce.
View Recipe
19of 39
Three-Tiered Fudgy Chocolate Cake
Buttermilk and sour cream lend moistness and tang to our old-fashioned chocolate cake. All that's missing are the birthday candles.
View Recipe
20of 39
Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
Like the chocolate-and-vanilla retro classic, this gingery icebox cake requires some make-ahead assembly—but no baking. And it's absolutely drool-worthy.
Pumpkin Recipes We Absolutely Love
View Recipe
21of 39
Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
This utterly unforgettable cake layers moist chocolate-pumpkin cake, luscious milk chocolate ganache and fluffy pumpkin-spice whipped cream. The recipe comes from Minnesota blogger Amanda Rettke iambaker.net.
View Recipe
22of 39
Whoopie Pie Cake
Karen Cope of Minneapolis won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair for this stunning chocolate-and-marshmallow cake, based on whoopie pie cookies.
View Recipe
23of 39
Prettier by the Pound
St. Louis pastry chef Nathaniel Reid gives pound cake a chic, patisserie-style makeover. Your trusty loaf pan never had it so good. Try Double Chocolate Pound Cake, Candied Lemon Pound Cake, Yogurt Pound Cake with Apricots and Coconut, or Hazelnut and Milk Chocolate Pound Cake.
24of 39
Chocolate Gift Cakes
These 6-inch gifting cakes are topped with a swoop of silky frosting. The recipe (which makes three cakes) comes from Minneapolis blogger Sarah Kieffer's cookbook Baking for the Holidays.
View Recipe
25of 39
Coconut Cake
This three-layer wonder stays extra moist thanks to butter and buttermilk. The blue-ribbon recipe is from Teresa Reese of Osceola, Nebraska.
View Recipe
26of 39
Cutie-Pie Carrot Cake
Book club meeting. Mother's Day brunch. A well-deserved raise. Cream cheese frosting is always the answer, especially when it's on a 6-inch cake that's perfectly sized for life's everyday celebrations.
View Recipe
27of 39
Tres Leches Cake
A Mexican standard and guaranteed backyard crowd-pleaser, our brown-sugar sheet cake is soaked in milky syrup, chilled, then topped with whipped cream and berries.
View Recipe
28of 39
Chocolanutty Banana Cake
Dessert or coffee cake? It's up to you. A hint of orange rounds out the flavors.
Rise and Shine Breakfast Breads
View Recipe
29of 39
Coffee Nut Torte
Cocoa and rum flavor the soft butter frosting that crowns this airy three-layer cake from Elizabeth Varga of Barberton, Ohio. The recipe came from her Hungarian grandmother.
View Recipe
30of 39
Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Drizzle
With its subtle mix of warm spices, vanilla, maple and citrus (and tangy white icing), this is no ordinary zucchini cake. The recipe comes from The Vegetable Butcher cookbook, by Cara Mangini.
View Recipe
31of 39
Lemonade Cake
Lemon Butter Frosting tops a summer-perfect cake flavored with thawed lemonade concentrate.
View Recipe
32of 39
Fabulous Red Velvet Cake
We gussied up chocolate cake mix with sour cream and red food coloring, then crowned this cake with a white chocolate-cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut.
View Recipe
33of 39
Toasted Fennel-Lemon Cake
This moist beauty begs for a mug of afternoon tea. Fennel seeds add the faintest hint of licorice flavor, just enough to make the cake stand out from the other Bundts in the room. We like the sweeter flavor of Meyer lemons in this cake. Look for them sold in bags at large supermarkets. If you substitute regular lemons, reduce the zest to 2 tablespoons.
View Recipe
34of 39
Carrot Pineapple Cake
No one will believe you baked this beautiful, moist cake in your slow cooker! The homemade cream cheese frosting is lusciously delicious, but you can substitute canned frosting in a pinch.
Divine Slow-Cooker Desserts
View Recipe
35of 39
Poppy Seed Torte
The recipe for this four-layer cake-with a puddinglike filling, unmistakable poppy seed flavor and soft whipped cream frosting-comes from Wisconsin's White Gull Inn.
View Recipe
36of 39
Raspberry Swirl Angel Food Cake
A subtle swirl of fresh raspberries infuses this homemade angel food cake with light fruit flavor. Like all angel food cakes, it has no fat or cholesterol.
View Recipe
37of 39
Peach Cordial Mini Bundt Cakes
The memory of a childhood orchard trip inspired Melinsa Murphey of Olathe, Kansas, to create this recipe. The cakes are moist and sweet and quite generously proportioned, so you may want to serve a half-cake to each person (or bake them in muffin cups instead).
View Recipe
38of 39
Country Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting
Begging for a crown of birthday candles, this layer cake has two kitchen tricks working in its favor. Mayonnaise yields a moist crumb; sour cream keeps sugary buttercream in tangy check. (Note: This recipe makes enough frosting to fill and frost the entire cake [top and sides]. To leave the sides unfrosted as we did in our photograph, just make a half batch.
View Recipe
39of 39
Pumpkin-Praline Layer Cake
This nutty layer cake is a favorite dessert with Midwest Living® readers. Whipped cream tops a moist filling of pumpkin, brown sugar, pecans, butter and more whipping cream.
Pumpkin Recipes We Absolutely Love
View Recipe