Three velvety layers sandwiched with thick dark chocolate icing make a decadent, crowd-pleasing dessert. Get the recipe for Very Moist Chocolate Layer Cake »See the RecipeChris GrangerOno Coconut Cake with Coconut Frosting
The Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards, featured in the 2002 edition of our SAVEUR 100, celebrates people who produce cookbooks that benefit local communities and charities. This recipe is an adaptation of one from Tabasco Award winner The Tastes and Tales of Moiliili, a 1997 collection of recipes and stories from Honolulu’s Moiliili Community Center. See this RecipeRick Lew
A traditional Southern confection, this regal dessert gained popularity through writer Owen Wister’s 1906 romance novel, Lady Baltimore. Three dreamy white layers of cake are infused with rose water and slathered with an Italian meringue frosting studded with pecans, raisins, dried figs, and candied orange peel.
Smith Island Cake
This version of the Smith Island cake comes from island resident Mary Ada Marshall. Each layer contains a sprinkling of powdered peanut butter cups, and the top is garnished with chunks of the same. See this RecipeAndré Baranowski
This classic New York-style cheesecake is brightened with orange and lemon zest. Get the recipe for Lindy’s Cheesecake »Dulce de Leche Cake
Luxuriant moistness is this dessert’s calling card. The secret to achieving the cake’s decadent texture is to poke it all over with a knife while it’s still warm, before dousing it with a rich milk mixture so that it penetrates every part of the cake’s interior. See this RecipeAndré BaranowskiRed Velvet Cake
According to legend red velvet cake was invented in the 1950s at Oscar’s in New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. However, Raven Dennis of Cake Man Raven Confectionary (whose recipe we adapted) claims red velvet cake originated during the Civil War, and that southern ladies made it “to keep their husbands home.” See this RecipeAndré Baranowski
This recipe comes from the chief of the Arcata Fire Department in Humboldt County, California, and is considered an all-time favorite among the firemen. Get the recipe for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake »
Honoring the legacy of the Southern cook Edna Lewis, this luscious, fruit-and-nut-studded layer cake is served in Atlanta’s Watershed restaurant. We included the recipe online to accompany Christiane Lauterbach’s feature about the restaurant, which ran in our April 2009 issue.
Heaven and Hell Cake
Dallas chef Stephan Pyles’s rich, multilayered dessert of angel food and devil’s food cake, peanut butter mousse, and milk chocolate ganache should be frozen before icing is added and refrigerated before it’s sliced. See this RecipeAndré Baranowski
This decadent triple-layer dessert takes its name from German’s Sweet Chocolate, a product that’s not German at all: the versatile baking chocolate was created by an American baker named Samuel German in 1852. Get the recipe for German Chocolate Cake »
This version of the cake is a potluck and bake sale favorite; the addition of crushed pineapple helps to keep it sweet and moist. Get the recipe for Classic Carrot Cake »
This pineapple sponge cake, developed by chef Judy Haubert as a Mother’s Day gift for her mom, swaps coconut flour for the standard all-purpose. It makes for a moister crumb—as well as emphasizing pineapple’s tropical flavor—and has the added bonus of making the cake naturally gluten-free.
Lemon infuses this layered masterpiece in three ways: zested into the batter, in a tart syrup that get drizzled over the cakes, and in a thick lemon curd frosting.
This coconut cheesecake with a thick whipped cream topping looks typical enough, but it’s perfumed with musky, flowery aromas and flavored with notes of caramel and smoke. Get the recipe for Smoked Coconut Cheesecake »
There’s an unwavering appeal to two layers of golden sponge cake sandwiching thick custard, all topped with a glossy layer of chocolate.
Named for its light, fluffy texture and ethereal, pale crumb, angel food cake is the perfect base for a whipped cream and syrupy fruit topping.
