Layer Cake

This Smith Island Cake recipe boasts eight layers of yellow cake covered in a blanket of chocolate ganache.

This tender chocolate cake has a secret ingredient, and its name is Guinness.

Our favorite carrot cake is moist, full of shredded carrot and fragrant spices, and topped with an extra-tangy cream cheese frosting.

Bananas, pineapples, pecans—this Hummingbird cake has a little something for everyone.

There’s something so playful about a lemon poppy seed cake—the lemon brings a zingy flavor, and the poppy seeds bring that delicate crunch.

Strawberries and cream, but make it fancy (and in a cake).

This impressive pastry, sometimes spelled Dobos torte, is among the most famous cakes from the Austro-­Hungarian Empire.

One of the most famous cakes in Sweden, Prinsesstårta is known for its showstopping layers of sponge cake, pastry cream, and raspberry jam.

A classic Southern cake, after winning first prize at the county fair in Columbus, Georgia, Lane Cake also earned the name “Prize Cake.” 

Karpatka cake is like a cloud of rich milky frosting trapped between two layers of pâte à choux.

This light and fluffy coffee and walnut cake recipe is inspired by the classic British cake—but the mocha frosting takes it over the top.

Victoria sponge cake’s simple filling of whipped cream, jam, and fruit makes it the perfect dessert for a celebration.

This old-fashioned chocolate cake made our staff swoon! Chef Ed Kasky uses Callebaut semisweet chocolate for the cake and Guittard French-vanilla chocolate for the frosting, but any fine-quality semisweet chocolate will produce a wonderful result.

Carrot cake, but with beets—and the dreamiest frosting of all.

This incredibly dark, extra-moist cake is meant for serious chocolate lovers. Dutch-process cocoa powder and baking soda give it a deep color. Top with light, fluffy meringue or your favorite frosting.

This cake is a tie-dyed composition of textures and flavors that starts with a tahini-enriched blondie base and continues with vanilla ice cream layered with seedy maple syrup and bands of cooked plums.

Roasting the strawberries is a real game-changer and brings out such an intense, sweet flavor in this cake, which gets added fragrance from elderflower cordial.

This tiramisu is moist but not wet, extra-fluffy, and made with real coffee and the perfect amount of dark rum.

Sandwich layers of crisp chocolate pastry with an oozing chocolate-caramel sauce for a stunning-but-easy celebratory dessert.