Baking is a science. It's about ratios and chemical reactions and, over the years, I have learned where variations can be made and how best to modify a recipe to achieve my ideal. But I've also learned that sometimes a recipe is just too good to modify. There is a lot to be said for exercising restraint and knowing when a recipe wouldn't be improved with your fingerprints all over it. Rose Levy Beranbaum's Downy Butter Yellow Cake and White Velvet Cake are two such recipes. They are the foundations for the two most iconic works of art in this book, and I am happy to admit that I couldn't have invented a better recipe to use in these desserts.
Wayne Thiebaud's painted cakes are classic, nostalgic, and all-American. They're not challenging in flavor—they're just simple cakes, like the type your mother might've made for your birthday. Rose's Downy Yellow Butter cake is the perfect recipe with which to create cakes commemorating Wayne Thiebaud.
This layer cake was a standard in our house. This recipe is a very old one that people could keep in their heads because of the utter simplicity of the formula that gave the cake its name—1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 4 eggs. The juice mixture will give the cake a lovely, fresh, fruity flavor and it is not rich like an icing.
A smidge of almond extract delivers a boost of flavor to our best vanilla cake recipe, and the cream cheese buttercream frosting takes it over the top.
The base recipe for our chocolate cake is the easiest cake recipe I know. It’s an oil-based (as opposed to butter-based) recipe, so, just like boxed cake mixes, it can be mixed by hand in one bowl. For that reason, it is a favorite of mine to make at a vacation home or anywhere that I’m not sure about what mixers or baking equipment will be available. Once baked, this batter results in an airy, spongy cake with a rich chocolate flavor. It tends to rise a lot in the oven, especially in the center, so the cake layers will always have to be trimmed to make the layers flat before they are iced. Accordingly, be careful not to overfill the cake pans or cupcake wrappers.
However you look at boxed cake mix—a desperate measure for desperate times or a jumping-off point for an infinite number of delicious desserts—here are our best strategies to make it taste better than you ever imagined.
Join Food Editor Shilpa Uskokovic as she makes her raspberry cake with whipped cream filling, a recipe that proved so challenging to develop she almost couldn't finish it.
See the full recipe here: https://slim-weight.today/recipe/raspberry-cream-cake%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="StackedRatingsCardWrapper-RIFgn jsPKbl SummaryCollectionGridSummaryItem-ilztYA cpHIzM search_result_item-6a96ad7db3a5fd8cc8758fdb">
Pastry chef Caroline Schiff joins Bon Appétit to make her perfect chocolate cake: an ultra-moist, four-layer showstopper with silky chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream and a glossy chocolate sauce soak. From using oil and sour cream for a soft, tender crumb to balancing dark and milk chocolate with flaky sea salt, Caroline shares her best baking tricks for creating a rich yet surprisingly light chocolate cake from scratch.
For more recipes like this one, preorder Caroline’s cookbook Daily Dessert, out 10/13/26: https://www.pastryschiff.com/cookbook/
Join Zaynab Issa as she makes a simple preserved-lemon tea cake in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen, a recipe that put her on the path to joining the BA staff.
See the full recipe here: https://slim-weight.today/recipe/preserved-lemon-tea-cake%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="AdWrapper-fGiLaV icsvgw SummaryCollectionGridSummaryItem-ilztYA heRZco ad ad--read-more">
Sugar artist Ana Parzych joins Bon Appétit for this episode of Handcrafted to demonstrate every step of filling, stacking, and decorating a 5-tier wedding cake in her impeccable style. From building layers of buttercream and applying fondant, to crafting intricate decorative molding and realistic sugar flowers, take an up-close look at the craftsmanship behind the world’s most luxurious wedding cakes.
Join Chris Morocco in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as he makes easy chocolate cake. If you've got a bowl, a cheap hand mixer, and a couple of measuring cups, you can make this rich, chocolatey cake. You can pre-mix batches of the dry ingredients together, store them in airtight containers for up to three months, and be ready to celebrate at a moments notice with your own DIY cake mix.
Check out the recipe here: https://slim-weight.today/recipe/easiest-chocolate-birthday-cake%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="StackedRatingsCardWrapper-RIFgn jsPKbl SummaryCollectionGridSummaryItem-ilztYA cpHIzM search_result_item-5a997ec80376601d804f4f9e">
Cake made with applesauce is good. Cake made with apple butter—which is basically just super-concentrated applesauce—is so, so much better. Moist and tender, with huge apple-y flavor, this simple spice cake is the ultimate bring-to-your-friend's-house baked good. If you really want your mind blown, serve the slices topped with more apple butter, a dollop of yogurt, and a dusting of cinnamon sugar.
