25 Easy Cake Recipes That Every Home Baker Should Master

By Jennifer Anderson
January 16, 2011
Con Poulos
Classics for a reason, these easy cake recipes are just that good. We recommend you give them all a try.
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Often the easiest desserts—simple, no-fuss recipes—are the biggest crowd-pleasers. With so many varieties of cake—pound cake, angel food cake, sheet cake, bundt cake, just to name a few—and so many different recipes, you could easily make a new cake every day of the year and still not exhaust the possibilities.

To help navigate the wonderful world of cake baking, we've rounded up 25 classic cakes that you'll want to eat year-round. Start with an all-purpose Simple Layer Cake, seen here, which is perfect for birthdays, dinner parties, or just because. Once you feel confident with this recipe, it's time to try something new. Let your senses be invigorated by the the fresh flavors of a Lemon-Ginger Bundt Cake in spring; a Strawberry Cake, which utilizes several pints of the sweet fruit, or a Cherry Sheet Cake are just the thing for summer parties.

As you head into fall, fresh apples and swirling scents of cinnamon and ginger will have you gravitating towards this Spiced Carrot Cake, which stays extra moist thanks to plain yogurt. You'll also like our impressive Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake and Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake. While these flavors combinations are creative twists on classic recipes, moist pound cake recipes like Cinnamon-Raisin Pound Cake with Basic Glaze, Vanilla Pound Cake, and Blueberry-Sour Cream Pound Cake with Lemon Cream, which gets a blue and yellow marble effect from the syrupy berry juices, are also essentials. We had to include a few cake recipes for all you chocolate lovers, too. Everyone will ask for seconds of our devilishly good Chocolate Bundt Cake or our Easy Chocolate Cake. For date night, you can't go wrong with our Chocolate Pudding Cake.

No matter the time of year, these 25 easy cake recipes offer something new for every occasion. 

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Chocolate Bundt Cake

Credit: Con Poulos
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This bundt cake's elegant appearance belies its simple make-ahead preparation.

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Lemon-Olive Oil Cake

Credit: Paola + Murray
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Extra-virgin olive oil adds moistness and a fruity flavor to this basic yellow cake. Take advantage of an abundance of mixed summer berries as a colorful topping when paired with freshly made whipped mascarpone cream.

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Plum Cake

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This moist, lemony plum cake needs little more than a dusting of confectioners' sugar to top it. If you like, though, a dollop of sour cream is a delicious accompaniment.

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Vanilla Pound Cake

Credit: Reed Davis
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Classic pound cake made from scratch with just six ingredients and three simple steps—is there anything better? The result is a cake that hits the sweet spot.

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Strawberry Cake

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The ultimate cake for strawberry lovers, this easy, buttery treat contains a whole pound of berries—and smells as good as it tastes.

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Gingerbread Snacking Cake

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If you love ginger but worry that making gingerbread seems complicated, try this simpler alternative.

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Coconut-Pineapple Loaf Cake

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Simple yes, but this tropical cake is also exciting and totally delicious. Toasted coconut balances the tart sweetness of pineapple and provides a delectably crunchy topping.

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Chocolate Pudding Cake

Credit: José Manuel Picayo Rivera
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Made with just six ingredients, this delicate flourless cake has a decadent, pudding-like center.

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Banana-Pecan Cake

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Another one-layer cake that's as easy to make as it is lovely to look at.

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Warm Almond-Cherry Cake

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Frozen cherries are juicy and intense when baked into this tender cake, and they're easy enough to find at your local supermarket no matter what time of year.

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Applesauce Cake

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What makes this favorite cake so delightful? It's full of apple flavor and super moist, thanks to the applesauce and honey. Plus it's tall and good looking and doesn't need filling or frosting.

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Blueberry-Sour Cream Pound Cake with Lemon Cream

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Blueberries, sour cream, and a lemon-cream topping. These few extra ingredients and flavors make this cake all the more varied and exciting. Your guests will never guess you simply jazzed up a classic pound cake recipe.

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Cinnamon-Raisin Pound Cake with Basic Glaze

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Add cinnamon and raisins to our classic pound cake recipe and you've got yourself a treat worth bragging about.

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Spiced Carrot Cake

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If you can shred carrots (you can!), you can make a carrot cake. Trust us. The only thing missing from this light dessert is a guilty conscience.

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Cinnamon Coffee Cake

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Meaning "something strewn" in Old German, streusel is easy to put together—and then to throw on top of this sour-cream coffee cake.

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Walnut Honey Cake

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There's nothing fancy to prepare here—just one layer of cake—but the fragrant toasted walnuts and sweet honey make it extra sophisticated.

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Cherry Sheet Cake

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Feed a crowd with this easy sheet cake. We used frozen cherries to make a fruit-studded cake that you can throw together even when fresh cherries aren't in season. Spruce it up with a bit of simple whipped cream, and you're set.

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Upside-Down Pecan Cake

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If you like, once you zest the orange for the batter, you can cut the fruit into sections to serve alongside the moist and crunchy cake. How's that for an easy garnish?

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Orange Cornmeal Cake

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Easy to make but sophisticated too, this is just the type of cake you'd enjoy after lunch in Italy.

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Blueberry Crumb Cake

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Since the blueberries are distributed throughout the cake and the crumbs are simply scattered atop it, you don't have to worry about being a perfectionist with this recipe.

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Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake

Credit: John Kernick
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Take a few minutes to arrange the apple slices in neat circles on the bottom of the pan—when the cake is baked and inverted, you'll find them decorating the top. It's as simple and pretty as that!

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Easy Chocolate Cake

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It's all in the title. You don't have to be a master baker to deliver a high-quality chocolate cake for your next celebration.

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Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake

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Show off this seasonally-appropriate and deliciously spicy pumpkin bundt cake at your next fall gathering. Once again, the bundt pan is a baker's friend, it will help you make things look perfect and symmetrical.

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Chocolate Marble Pound Cake

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When chocolate meets vanilla the result is a cake with twice the appeal. And the marble effect is so easy to make. All it takes is a simple swirl of the batters with a knife.

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By Jennifer Anderson