Now considered a classic Hawaiian dessert, guava cake was created at Dee Lite Bakery in Honolulu, where it became widely popular. This version is adapted from blogger Alana Kysar's "Aloha Kitchen: Recipes...
Author: Kiera Wright-Ruiz
This delicate cake is inspired by fraisier, a French cake made from layers of sponge, strawberries and cream. Fraisier cakes are elaborately constructed and typically combine several components to make...
Author: Claire Saffitz
The recipe for this cake, adapted from "Sweet" by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, first appeared in an article written about Ms. Goh when she ran her cafe, the Mortar & Pestle, in Melbourne, Australia....
Author: Yotam Ottolenghi
Apricot halves, baked in a faux caramel of melted butter, brown sugar and spices, burst with punchy flavor in every bite of this cake. The sticky topping complements the almost-tart, fleshy stone fruit,...
Author: Vallery Lomas
This recipe for bibingka, the celebratory rice cake traditionally eaten around Christmastime in the Philippines, comes from the New York restaurateur Nicole Ponseca. It's a savory side dish with an edge...
Author: Tejal Rao
The streamlined mixing technique for this versatile cake, which is leavened with only eggs, borrows from génoise, chiffon cake and a style of roll cakes popular in Asian bakeries. The result is an airy,...
Author: Claire Saffitz
Bundt cakes are classic showstoppers - big, lofty and usually dressed in elegant drizzles and drips of glaze. Here, a dense, moist cake full of warm fall spices and pumpkin purée is encased in a layer...
Author: Yossy Arefi
This is a rich, special-occasion cake that takes the traditional Southern coconut cake to another level, with ground toasted pecans in the batter and an easy-to-make Chantilly cream for frosting. It has...
Author: Kim Severson
One of my favorite pie alternatives is bundt cake. A hearty spice-filled bundt cake made from grated apples and toasted nuts, then soaked in whiskey syrup, defies the cliché of Thanksgiving dessert, yet...
Author: Melissa Clark
This simple, lemon-scented olive oil cake is an elegant treat all by itself or topped with whipped cream, fruit or ice cream. The olive oil contributes a pleasant fruity flavor while keeping the cake moister...
Author: Samantha Seneviratne
This exquisite recipe came to The Times in a 2001 article by Amanda Hesser about the first meal her now mother-in-law, Elizabeth Friend, prepared for her. The meal ended with this simple almond cake. Ms....
Author: Amanda Hesser
Black forest cake, which originated in the Black Forest region of Germany, is typically made with a light chocolate sponge cake, soaked with cherry syrup and cherry brandy (Kirsch), then layered with whipped...
Author: Samantha Seneviratne
Maida Heatter, the legendary dessert-cookbook author, tested this recipe 20 times before deeming it good enough for publication in The Times in May 1972. Her toil was worth the trouble: Eight months later,...
Author: Margaux Laskey
Tender and chewy, this big-batch dessert - as comforting as cake and as fun as bar cookies - is always a hit at parties. Mochiko, sweet rice flour, not only gives it its distinctive marshmallow-like softness,...
Author: Genevieve Ko
Topped with a pompadour of airy whipped cream frosting - which tastes comfortingly of hot cocoa - this cake is reminiscent of Black Forest gâteau but with more chocolaty depth. The cake's dark chocolate...
Author: Eric Kim
This recipe came to The Times from Marti Buckley Kilpatrick, who adapted it from Dol Miles, the pastry chef at Frank Stitt's Bottega restaurant in Birmingham, Ala. Ms. Kilpatrick describes the cake as...
Author: Melissa Clark
This simple sheet cake is packed with three kinds of spicy ginger: fresh, ground and crystallized. The cake is delicious on its own, but cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of crystallized ginger push...
Author: Yossy Arefi
Softer and more fruit-filled than a coffeecake, but with a higher percentage of buttery batter than a cobbler, buckles are harder to classify than they are to make. This one is tender, moist and filled...
Author: Melissa Clark
David Lebovitz's headily spiced cake, which Amanda Hesser wrote about in The Times in 1999, calls for a quarter-pound of fresh ginger. Mr. Lebovitz, who was a pastry chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.,...
Author: Amanda Hesser
This classic rum cake recipe, built around a yellow cake mix, is a favorite of mushers and snowmobilers passing through the village of Tanana, Alaska, in the wintertime. It's hard to mess up, comes together...
Author: Julia O'Malley
This tender, golden cake, adapted from Lindsey Shere's "Chez Panisse Desserts," walks the line between dense and light, with a fine, moist crumb and deep marzipan flavor that comes from a combination of...
Author: Melissa Clark
This traditional Southern caramel cake is perfect for when you want layer cake, and you'd like it fast. It's light and fluffy under the sweet caramel glaze, which hardens at room temperature and shatters...
Author: Millie Peartree
This traditional British layer cake is made up of two buttery, tender spongecake rounds that sandwich a thick layer of jam and, often, a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. It's a simple, homey confection...
Author: Melissa Clark
Dutch-process cocoa and a bit of espresso powder give this simple one-bowl cake deep chocolate flavor without much effort. The generous swoop of fluffy peppermint buttercream frosting makes it a festive...
Author: Yossy Arefi
With their pleasant tang and gorgeous color, cranberries take this brunch staple to the next level. Here, they're nestled in a sour cream cake batter that's topped with a butter crumb, and cook down to...
Author: Samantha Seneviratne
The key to making this exquisite, gravity-defying cake, which comes from Michelle Polzine of 20th Century Cafe in San Francisco, is patience. This cake takes a lot of time! Set some aside to do it right....
Author: Samin Nosrat
This absurdly rich chocolate cake came to The Times in a 1991 article by Molly O'Neill about Ebinger's, the legendary chain of Brooklyn bakeries that closed its doors in 1972 after 74 years in business....
Author: The New York Times
In this version of the classic Viennese Sacher torte, from Luisa Weiss's cookbook "Classic German Baking," two dense chocolate cake layers are filled and topped with rum-scented apricot jam, then coated...
Author: Melissa Clark
This pleasantly zesty lemon cake is baked in a standard 9-by-13-inch pan, no layering or trimming required, and is easy enough to bake on a weekday. Cover the cake with casual swoops of fluffy lemon buttercream...
Author: Yossy Arefi
This dark chocolate cake relies on stout beer to add malted notes. Coffee helps enhance the chocolate flavor, and sour cream keeps the cake moist for days. A spiked coffee glaze studded with cacao nibs...
Author: Laurie Ellen Pellicano
Alice's Tea Cup, which is owned by the sisters Haley Fox and Lauren Fox, is known for its scones, but the chainlet of teahouses in New York also makes pastries, cakes and other treats. This recipe is an...
Author: Alex Witchel
Buttermilk makes this stir-together cake super tender, but you can use any milk you have in its place. Same goes for the fruit: Use your favorite frozen berries, or a combination, but frozen cherries,...
Author: Dawn Perry
Expansive yet barely an inch tall, this chocolate-on-chocolate special of the Lone Star State starts with a cake that's even lighter than devil's food. A hot cocoa icing sheens its surface and soaks into...
Author: Genevieve Ko
Warmly spiced pumpkin cake and toasty caramel are a natural pair in this fall showstopper. The cake is light and fluffy with just enough spice to highlight the pumpkin flavor, while a generous pour of...
Author: Yossy Arefi
This recipe proves that the perfect summer pound cake takes no special equipment or skill to pull off. Once you've prepared the peaches, this is essentially a dump-and-whisk cake. Puréed peaches (plus...
Author: Jerrelle Guy
Most lemon cakes rely on zest and juice for flavor. This one uses the whole fruit, pith and all, for an intense citrus flavor. There's also almond flour in the batter, which gives the cake a dense richness....
Author: Melissa Clark
One of the beauties of layer cake is that you can do much of the work in advance. The cake layers can be baked one day ahead, wrapped tightly and kept at room temperature. The frosting can be made up to...
Author: Alison Roman
This cake recipe was adapted from the chef Larry Forgione, who served his grandmother's cake recipe at his restaurant An American Place. The dessert proved so popular that every time he tried to take it...
Author: Melissa Clark
This stacked shortcake gives a classic summer dessert the large-format (think sheet cake and slab pies) treatment with big tender biscuits layered with juicy berries, and tangy yogurt whipped cream. Use...
Author: Yossy Arefi
This Turkish yogurt cake, adapted from the cookbook "Claudia Roden's Mediterranean," is similar to a lemon-scented cheesecake, but it's lighter and has a fresher, tangier flavor. It's good both warm and...
Author: Melissa Clark
This dense and deeply figgy cake, adapted from Eli's Table in Manhattan, gets its complex flavor from a combination of fresh figs and fig jam, seasoned generously with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger. It's...
Author: Melissa Clark
Upside-down cakes are easy, adaptable and beautiful no matter what kind of fruit you use. This one calls for any kind of summer stone fruit - peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums - whatever looks ripe...
Author: Melissa Clark
Now, I love cheesecake and I love mangoes, the mangoes best eaten in their natural state, and preferably in the bath. But the two together make a dessert that manages to be both comforting and elegant....
Author: Nigella Lawson
With its soft, buttery crumb, this classic French cake is similar to a giant shortbread, though moister and more tender. Its hidden prune filling is traditional, although you can use other dried fruit,...
Author: Melissa Clark
The tangy, rich cream cheese topping on this cake can travel - even on a hot day. Silky with sour cream, it bakes right over the batter and develops a caramelized flavor reminiscent of Basque cheesecake....
Author: Genevieve Ko
This recipe requires a little extra effort - you have to whip the egg whites separately and then fold them into the batter - but the reward is a light, ethereal cake topped with glistening, caramelized...
Author: R. W. Apple Jr.
Loose Earl Grey tea stirred into buttery cake batter adds a sweet, floral essence that's subtle but lovely. A little dark chocolate and orange zest makes this cake extra special. While you could use chocolate...
Author: Samantha Seneviratne
The ridicule that most fruitcakes face has everything to do with bad recipes, which skimp on fruit and load on the batter. In a good fruitcake the batter should barely be perceptible, acting merely as...
Author: Amanda Hesser
Amanda Saab, a social worker and home cook who lives near Detroit, riffs on her Lebanese grandmother's recipe for namoura, a cake made from semolina flour, soaked in syrup while it's still warm. When she...
Author: Tejal Rao
An American classic, Boston cream pie isn't a pie at all. Its base is an old-fashioned hot milk cake, a downy-soft, buttery yellow cake. How you whip the eggs and the sugar is critical, as the tiny air...
Author: Samantha Seneviratne