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Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
I am a healthy eater most of the time, but this apple spice cake is worth the splurge! Every year, I treasure the opportunity to make my own birthday cake, and I choose this. You can add a cup of raisins to the batter before baking if you'd like. —Jennifer Owen, Louisville, Kentucky 2 / 30
Three-Layer Chocolate Ganache Cake
This decadent triple-layer beauty is pure chocolate indulgence. The cake layers can be frozen prior to final assembly; in fact, they're easier to work with when frozen. —Kathleen Smith, Overland, Missouri 3 / 30
Pumpkin Cake with Whipped Cinnamon Frosting
My mom made this for me, and one bite can completely take me back to my childhood. You can easily convert it into a great carrot cake recipe: just use grated carrots in place of pumpkin and add raisins. —Melissa Pelkey Hass, Waleska, Georgia 4 / 30
Black Walnut Layer Cake
My sister gave me the recipe for this beautiful cake years ago. The thin layer of frosting spread on the outside gives it a chic modern look. —Lynn Glaze, Warren, Ohio 5 / 30
Cranberry-Almond Pound Cake
When you want an extra-special dessert for the holidays, it’s hard to beat a seasonal homemade cake. I like to drizzle mine with a simple but elegant glaze flavored with amaretto. —Jackie Howell, Tucson, Arizona 6 / 30
Butter Pecan Layer Cake
Pecans and butter give this cake the same irresistible flavor as the popular butter pecan ice cream flavor. —Becky Miller, Tallahassee, Florida 7 / 30
Peanut Butter Bundt Cake
This peanut butter bundt cake with frosting is heavenly to me. I use smooth peanut butter, but crunchy would work, too. —Karen Holt, Rock Hill, South Carolina 8 / 30
Chocolate Spice Layer Cake with Caramel Icing
Mariann James of Ferguson, Missouri created a sweet and salty favorite with her original recipe for chocolate spice cake with caramel icing. The spicy chocolate cinnamon cane sugar was a perfect addition to her unique cake. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen 9 / 30
Special-Occasion Chocolate Cake
This cake won Grand Champion at the 2000 Alaska State Fair, and you will see why once you taste it. This decadent chocolate cake boasts a luscious ganache filling and fudge buttercream frosting. —Cindi DeClue, Anchorage, Alaska 10 / 30
Best Vanilla Cake
There's a reason this vanilla cake recipe is the best. Adding creamy vanilla bean paste into the moist, rich cake batter creates a power-packed vanilla flavor that can't be bought in stores. Try spreading vanilla buttercream frosting on top to finish it off. —Margaret Knoebel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 11 / 30
Double Butterscotch Coconut Cake
I got this recipe for coconut cake from a co-worker years ago, then I changed it up a bit by adding a family favorite: butterscotch. It's super easy to throw together and it makes a perfect accompaniment to coffee or tea. —Marina Castle Kelley, Canyon Country, California 12 / 30
Maple Walnut Cake
This maple-flavored cake with candied walnuts honors my grandpa, who made maple syrup. —Lori Fee, Middlesex, New York 13 / 30
Pumpkin Pie Cake
No one will guess this showstopper dessert with luscious cinnamon frosting starts with a mix! It's a year-round favorite. —Linda Murray, Allenstown, New Hampshire 14 / 30
Sparkling Cider Pound Cake
This pound cake is incredible and completely reminds me of fall with every bite. Using sparkling apple cider in the batter and the glaze gives it a delicious and unique flavor. I love everything about it! —Nikki Barton, Providence, Utah 15 / 30
Double Chocolate Espresso Pound Cake
Two of my biggest loves in life—chocolate and coffee—come together in this velvety pound cake. Grate some extra chocolate on top and thank me later. —Rachel Bernhard Seis, Taste of Home Senior Editor 16 / 30
Contest-Winning Chocolate Potato Cake
I won grand champion honors in a potato festival baking contest with this moist chocolate cake. The icing recipe can be doubled for real sweet tooths. A great-grandma, I've spent over 85 years on the farm. 17 / 30
Cranberry Layer Cake
I adapted a Bundt cake recipe to create this layer cake. Cranberries, walnuts and homemade frosting make it taste so delicious that you'd never guess it starts with a convenient cake mix. —Sandy Burkett, Galena, Ohio 18 / 30
Italian Cream Cheese Cake
Buttermilk makes every bite of this awesome Italian cream cheese cake recipe moist and flavorful. I rely on this recipe year-round.—Joyce Lutz, Centerview, Missouri 19 / 30
Mocha Hazelnut Torte
I make this cake on birthdays and other special occasions because it looks and tastes so amazing. The combination of mild hazelnut and coffee flavors is impossible to resist. —Christina Pope, Speedway, Indiana 20 / 30
Rustic Honey Cake
When my boys were young, they couldn’t drink milk but they could have yogurt. This was a cake they could eat. And it’s one dessert that doesn’t taste overly sweet, which is always a nice change of pace. —Linda Leuer, Hamel, Minnesota 21 / 30
Mama's Spice Cake
Whenever I get a craving for a tasty old-fashioned treat, I make this cake. Great cooks in my family have been baking it for generations, and their families have been enjoying the wonderful spice flavor and rich frosting. —Nancy Duty, Jacksonville, Florida 22 / 30
Majestic Pecan Cake
This recipe truly lives up to its name. The pecan-dotted cake is stacked in three layers, and made-from-scratch frosting is the crowning touch.—Karen R. Jones, Claypool, Indiana 23 / 30
Ginger-Walnut Tube Cake
My husband, Ken, loves this tube cake with its bits of crystallized ginger. Feel free to drizzle it with a lemony glaze. —Nancy Zimmerman, Cape May Court House, NJ 24 / 30
Ganache-Topped Pumpkin Layer Cake
My dreamy pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling and rich homemade chocolate ganache is perfect for any autumnal gathering. —Michelle Sorensen, Bountiful, Utah 25 / 30
Pecan Cake with Cookie Butter Frosting
My mom and I bought a jar of cookie butter to try it out, and we fell in love with it. I knew the flavor would go well with maple syrup and pecans, so I came up with this cake. I like to make a pretty design on the top of the cake with pecan halves. —Natalie Larsen, Columbia, Maryland 26 / 30
Aunt Murna's Jam Cake
I remember Aunt Murna telling me that she created her jam cake recipe as a young girl. She made improvements over the years, such as soaking the raisins in crushed pineapple. This cake is a favorite at our annual family reunions. —Mrs. Eddie Robinson, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky 27 / 30
Sour Cream Pumpkin Cake
The nicely spiced streusel in the center of this cake is a marvelous surprise and complement to the cinnamony pumpkin cake. It's delicious for breakfast or dessert. —Elaine Holmberg, Norfolk, Nebraska 28 / 30
Spiced Devil's Food Cake
One of my mom's friends gave her this recipe when I was a child, and it has been a family favorite ever since. When your chocolate sweet tooth acts up, this really hits the spot! —Linda Yeamans, Ashland, Oregon 29 / 30
Orange Cornmeal Cake
This cake bakes up tender and light with a subtle orange taste. It tastes rich but is comparatively low in saturated fat. Serve the cake as is, or dress it up with a dollop of whipped cream and strawberries or raspberries. It is wonderful warm, but the flavor improves as it sits, so make it a day or two before you plan to serve it. Store the cake at room temperature. —Leigh Rys, Herndon, Virginia 30 / 30
Brown Sugar Pound Cake
This tender pound cake is the first one I mastered. You'll want to eat the browned butter icing by the spoonful. It tastes like pralines. —Shawn Barto, Winter Garden, Florida Originally Published: August 26, 2020