Sprinkles always bring joy to a cake, but add Pop Rocks and you have a celebration, complete with a mini fireworks show. This recipe from the chef Sheldon Simeon and Garrett Snyder's 2021 book, "Cook Real...
Author: Sara Bonisteel
Chunks of juicy, caramelized pineapple are strewn throughout this sour cream coffee cake, adding bright, fruity notes to the tender crumb. The streusel topping is suffused with ginger - both candied and...
Author: Melissa Clark
Like carrot cake, parsnip cake is lightly spiced, exceedingly moist and slathered with cream cheese frosting. This version, adapted from Susan Spungen's cookbook, "Open Kitchen," is less sweet than most....
Author: Melissa Clark
Don't mistake this impressive layer cake for a modest banana bread. It's a billowing, head-turning dessert covered in white swirls of coconut frosting. Roasting the bananas before mashing them into the...
Author: Melissa Clark
From the outside, this looks like your standard, run-of-the mill poundcake. But slice into it, and you'll discover a ruby-red row of raspberries nestled into the sour cream-lemon cake. It's light yet moist,...
Author: Molly O'Neill
Making this cake, which is adapted from "Sweet," by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, is a labor of love, but that's only appropriate, for a cake adorned with rose petals. If you want to save time, however,...
Author: Yotam Ottolenghi
Created as a first birthday treat for a little girl, these are a sweet example of something that is simple but memorable. The look is adorable: a cake sized for a baby's hand, covered in a soft white-chocolate...
Author: Dorie Greenspan
You can use any kind of berries - fresh or frozen - for this jammy twist on the classic pineapple upside-down cake. Just note that adding all or mostly blueberries and strawberries will create a sweeter...
Author: Melissa Clark
The exquisite combination of raspberries and cream is made even more so by the addition of this light, finely textured sponge cake. The cake should be chilled before serving to ensure it holds its shape....
Author: Claire Saffitz
Rice flour makes this poundcake melt-in-your-mouth tender, and gives it a mild and delicate flavor that's spiced with a touch of black pepper. It keeps well, so feel free to bake it a day or two ahead...
Author: Melissa Clark
This is a big, bold lemony cake that uses the zest, juice and flesh of lemons for an extrapuckery bite. A thin layer of crackly lemon glaze coats the whole cake for a beautiful and delicious finish. Serve...
Author: Yossy Arefi
This prune apple cardamom cake by the chef Genevieve Gergis was inspired by sticky toffee pudding, a dish that her husband and business partner, the chef Ori Menashe, loves. It's on the menu at their restaurant...
Author: Joan Nathan
In this country, ingestion of the pineapple upside-down cake has often been used as proof of citizenship - unless you had some as a child, you simply weren't an American. I've had plenty of bad ones --...
Author: Jonathan Reynolds
The flavor of this ultrabuttery layer cake, adapted from Odette Williams's "Simple Cake" (Ten Speed Press, 2019), can be as mild or pronounced as you like, depending on the variety of honey you use. Clover...
Author: Melissa Clark
The name of this cake is somewhat deceiving, since most apple cakes are easier than pie (which is actually never that easy if you're making it from scratch). In any case, it's a simple, excellent cake...
Author: Melissa Clark
There is very little that needs to be said about a chocolate mousse cake. This one lives up to its name. It is gloriously intense. But the whisked egg whites ensure that it has a balancing lightness. A...
Author: Nigella Lawson
Clafoutis is a classic French dessert most often made with cherries. But since clafoutis is little more than a rich, sweet pancake batter poured over fruit and baked, substitutions are easy. If you're...
Author: Mark Bittman
This rich and decadent spiced pumpkin cake is just the thing to serve for an autumn celebration, Thanksgiving or otherwise. Chocolate chips and chopped pecans are added to the pumpkin batter for extra...
Author: Florence Fabricant
Soaking a cake in liquor or syrup is an old concept. Bake a standard cake, like this golden one, and when it's done, pour enough sweetened, butter-laden alcohol over the top to really saturate it. The...
Author: Mark Bittman
More coffeecake than dessert, this moist apple cake is pure comfort, with candied ginger, a touch of honey in the batter and a honey glaze. New crop autumn apples are wonderful to use in season, but you...
Author: David Tanis
This simple, warmly spiced pumpkin cake is enough to feed a crowd, making it a perfect holiday treat. It's also relatively versatile: You can serve it in the pan for an easy presentation, or transfer it...
Author: Yossy Arefi
This lovely cake was inspired by the colors and flavors of pink lemonade. Don't be tempted to skip the first step of this recipe, which asks you to rub lemon zest into granulated sugar: The sugar granules...
Author: Erin Jeanne McDowell
This simple cake is studded with large pieces of fruit, so that each slice has its own piece of tender baked apple. Press the apples gently into the batter and be aware that the pound cake-style batter...
Author: Erin Jeanne McDowell
Layer cakes are always festive, particularly when they are four-layered, fluffy and cloudlike. This one, based on the flavors of an Indian dessert called ras malai, combines rose water, ricotta cheese...
Author: Melissa Clark
Layered with whipped cream, raspberry purée, saltines and fresh fruit, this easy icebox cake balances bright, fresh flavors with tangy cream cheese. The saltines add a nice saltiness, but you can substitute...
Author: Erin Jeanne McDowell
Without much prompting, Maria Luca Caudullo, whose in-laws founded the Bronte pistachio company Antonino Caudullo, will reel off any number of pistachio recipes. Filet of beef with a pistachio crust, "olives"...
Author: Florence Fabricant
This cake, at its best when warm, is full of dark molasses flavor and three kinds of ginger (fresh, ground and crystallized). It can be served with powdered sugar, whipped cream or even ice cream - a drizzle...
Author: Erin Jeanne McDowell
Ground pistachios give this loaf cake a lovely nutty flavor, green hue and tender crumb. It's adapted from the cookbook "Sweeter Off the Vine," by Yossy Arefi, which often incorporates Middle Eastern ingredients...
Author: Emily Weinstein
This is the birthday cake I've made for my son since he was about 11. After boxed cakes, ice-cream cakes, a cake in a Darth Vader mold (that year, the party's theme was "May the Fours Be With You), this...
Author: Dorie Greenspan
Tres leches, which means "three milks" in Spanish, refers to the whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk that make up a creamy soaking sauce for the baked cake. Over time, it saturates the cake,...
Author: Samantha Seneviratne
This cake elicits awe on sight, and it's a delightfully easy stir-and-bake dessert created by Margarita Manzke, the pastry chef and an owner at République, a restaurant and bakery in Los Angeles. Dense...
Author: Alexa Weibel
The South has about as many poundcake recipes as there are grandmothers. This one produces a higher, lighter cake than many recipes. It came from Dora Charles's aunt Laura Daniels, who got it from a nursing-home...
Author: Kim Severson
In her new book, "My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life," Ruth Reichl calls this the cake that cures everything. The recipe produces a large stacked rectangular layer cake with whipped cream...
Author: Kim Severson
This dessert is somewhere between a sponge cake and a clafoutis: light and airy, yet rich from the addition of dark chocolate and rum. Make sure you use really ripe, in-season figs, as they make all the...
Author: Yotam Ottolenghi
This cake, which was developed by the British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi, may not look perfect. You may end up with cracked layers, roughly cut edges and a white-chocolate ganache spread willy-nilly....
Author: Sam Sifton
Joe Trivelli, the head chef of the River Café in London, has a recipe for an apple cake in his 2018 cookbook, "The Modern Italian Cook." It's simple to prepare but complex in flavor, because its batter...
Author: Charlotte Druckman
This orange cranberry cake is a gift to the holiday baker. It can be made ahead. It travels well. And it can be brought out any time of day - with coffee or tea in the morning or afternoon, or with Cognac...
Author: Joan Nathan
Though there are many versions of king cake - the pastry eaten from Twelfth Night through Mardi Gras - many New Orleanians trace their best memories back to their local bakery. Such is the case for the...
Author: Kayla Stewart
The classic Sicilian cassata is a spongecake layered with creamy sweetened ricotta, a heavenly combination. Though usually topped with colorful candied fruits, this summery version is covered with ripe...
Author: David Tanis
When my Paris friend, Bernard Collet, told me about this cake, a favorite for over 60 years in his family, I was expecting something tall, soft, frosted and fit for candles. I expected a gâteau but got...
Author: Dorie Greenspan
Here's a cake that comes together with the push of a button - butter, sugar, eggs and cocoa as well as dark chocolate, almonds and amaretti cookies are blended in a food processor. Although it looks like...
Author: Dorie Greenspan
This crunchy, spicy carrot cake is much lighter and less cloying than most I've tasted. It's important to grate the carrots on the fine holes of your grater, or else they'll remain too crunchy. For best...
Author: Martha Rose Shulman
A dulce de leche swirl adds caramel sweetness to this light, moist pound cake, adapted from Margarita Manzke of République in Los Angeles. Although Ms. Manzke makes her own dulce de leche, the jarred...
Author: Melissa Clark
I discovered that candied fruit likes getting soused with currants or dates, and that it isn't fussy about the medium: sherry, rum or Cognac all make it happy. And the trick to baking with it is simple:...
Author: Kay Rentschler
This is the kind of dessert worth dreaming about: a buttery yellow cake topped with a chocolate-sour cream frosting, made doubly rich with cocoa powder and melted chocolate. The batter may seem thin when...
Author: Erin Jeanne McDowell
This coconut cake was adapted from a recipe by Simone (Simca) Beck, best known as Julia Child's co-author on "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She called it "Gâteau d'Hélène: a white cake filled...
Author: Dorie Greenspan
Even though this cake is packed full of dates, bananas and tahini (also known as tahini paste in Britain), it's surprisingly soft and light. You can serve it warm, if you like, with the tahini cream cheese...
Author: Yotam Ottolenghi
A version of this golden, tart-sweet confection was served at the 76th birthday of the legendary Southern chef, Edna Lewis. It is a true labor of love, so be sure to set aside a full afternoon to make...
Author: The New York Times
This layer cake is affectionately referred to as "Grandma's Cake" by many Southerners. Using jelly as the filling and the frosting is a wonderful way to add fruity flavor to a cake year-round. The jelly...
Author: Vallery Lomas
This beautiful tea cake from the San Francisco chef Elisabeth Prueitt has all the fall flavors of pumpkin spice channeled into a moist, spicy loaf with a base of sweet potato purée. It also has a delicious...
Author: Tejal Rao