Pin It!

20 Mouthwatering Homemade Cake Recipes

This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please see my full disclosure policy for details

Find your new favorite from these 20 Mouthwatering Homemade Cake Recipes! You’ll love these decadent and easy cakes to make from scratch. From layer cakes to poke cakes, birthdays to holidays, there’s a cake for every occasion.

Luscious Homemade Cake Ideas

I’ve shared dozens upon dozens of cake recipes over the years. This time, I’ve hand-picked 20 of my all-time most popular cakes that I’m sure you’ll love just as much as I do! These cake ideas are easy to make, yet totally impressive, and always SO mouthwateringly delicious. 

This collection includes classics like chocolate layer cakes, moist vanilla cakes, and even a retro yellow cake. You’ll also find some fun, fab cake flavors from blueberry to lemon and coconut. Plus, I’ve included a few baking tips and tricks below to ensure that these cakes come out absolutely perfect!

Whether you’re new to baking or a seasoned home baker, these are seriously the best cake recipes that everyone can bake and enjoy.

Why You’ll Love These Recipes

So, what makes these my best-ever cake recipes? Let’s dive in:

  • Easy recipes. You don’t need to be a professional cake-maker to bake up the dessert recipes below. These are tasty, eyecatching cakes that come together with easy ingredients and straightforward directions. 
  • Suited for any occasion. Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, or holiday, or simply craving cake (we’ve all been there, honestly), you’re bound to find a perfect cake recipe for the occasion!
  • The best flavors. From peanut butter to chocolate, vanilla to Oreo, plus lemon, strawberry, and more – these cakes are brimming with the best flavor combinations around.

Cake Baking Tips

Before we get into some delicious cake recipes, here are some helpful hints and baking tips for homemade cakes:

  • Use room temperature ingredients. Ingredients such as eggs, butter, and cream cheese will mix more easily and bake more evenly when they’re not chilled from the fridge. Unless a recipe specifies otherwise, it’s almost always a good idea to take your ingredients out of the fridge ahead of time, to let them warm to room temperature.
  • Measure ingredients correctly. This is especially true when it comes to ingredients like flour. For best results, measure using the spoon and sweep method: spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Never scoop the flour directly from the bag using the measuring cup, as this is a surefire way to add too much flour to your cakes!
  • Don’t overmix the batter. If your cakes come out dense and tough, instead of moist and fluffy, there’s a good chance that overly mixed batter is the culprit. Make sure to gently fold the ingredients together until evenly combined, and avoid excessive mixing or beating.
  • Follow the recipe! This may seem like a given, but it’s true! We bloggers have gone to great lengths to test, trial, and get the very best results from our cake recipes. We’ve done the work, so you don’t have to! Follow the recipes exactly as directed and you’ll be smooth sailing.

20 Easy Cake Recipes to Try

Without further adieu, let’s get into these perfect homemade cakes!

A chocolate cake with ganache

Easy Chocolate Drip Cake

You need to try my best-ever chocolate cake recipe! This cake is a triple threat made with three moist and tender chocolate cake layers, chocolate buttercream frosting, and a fudgy chocolate ganache drip. It’s honestly a chocolate lover’s dream wrapped up in a homemade cake!

A giant slice of cake on a white rimmed plate. The cake is loaded with crushed Oreos and there's a big dollop of Oreo frosting on top

Oreo Cookies and Cream Cake

It’s an Oreo overload! This cookies-and-cream cake is made from moist vanilla cake layers brimming with crushed Oreo cookies, separated by a rich and fudgy chocolate filling. But why stop there? This cake is finished with Oreo buttercream frosting and a chocolate glaze, too – you’re welcome!

A close up of a slice of a 3 layer vanilla cake on a white plate

Moist Vanilla Layer Cake

Everyone needs a favorite vanilla cake recipe, and this one is mine. This perfect vanilla cake is oil-based and frosted with a simple, homemade vanilla frosting. The crumb is so insanely moist and fluffy!

A gold cake server holding a slice of sweet potato cake with frosting

Sweet Potato Cake

A spiced sweet potato cake with bourbon salted caramel frosting. If you love carrot cake, try this recipe. It’s moist with a tender crumb filled with chunks of sweet potato and walnuts. You’ll love every bite!

An overhead view of a slice of dark chocolate cake with a strawberry filling and a silky buttercream frosting, there are a few strawberries scattered around and two gold forks blurred out in the background.

Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Aren’t chocolate and strawberries just the most romantic combination? This dessert brings the two together in an easy chocolate cake layered with zesty strawberry filling and fluffy chocolate buttercream.

Two slices of yellow birthday cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles

Classic Yellow Cake

This classic yellow birthday cake with chocolate frosting is the best way to skip the boxed cake mix! With the option to make this recipe as a cake or as cupcakes, your next birthday celebration is sorted.

A Slice of Blueberry Lemon Mascarpone Cake on a Blue Plate

Lemon Blueberry Cake

This lemon blueberry cake is the ultimate summertime dessert! Fresh blueberries dot the light and fluffy lemon cake layers, separated by zesty lemon curd and homemade whipped cream. Topped with lemon mascarpone frosting, the whole thing just melts in your mouth.

A slice of Fruity Pebble Cake with Whipped Cream on a white plate

Fruity Pebbles Poke Cake

If you love Fruity Pebbles, this poke cake recipe is for you! A Fruity Pebble Cake is a delicious vanilla cake, soaked in sweetened condensed milk and topped with a homemade Fruity Pebble Whipped Cream! There’s Fruity Pebble cereal in every layer.

A 3 layer chocolate cake covered in a mocha buttercream is laying sideways on a white rimmed plate and the larger cake is blurred out in the background

Chocolate Mocha Cake

Delicious flavors of, coffee, and chocolate combine in this surprisingly easy but oh-so-impressive mocha layer cake! I love everything about this recipe, from the to the espresso buttercream, right down to the fudgy coffee-infused cake layers.

A Slice of Strawberry Mascarpone Cake on a Light Pink Plate

Strawberry Mascarpone Layer Cake

If you love strawberries and cream, you’re going to LOVE my strawberry mascarpone cake! This dessert is made from simple homemade vanilla cake layers filled with fresh strawberries and mascarpone whipped cream.

A slice of Cherry Almond Bundt Cake filled with cherry pie filling and topped with a cream cheese glaze on a plate.

Cherry Almond Bundt Cake

Take your traditional pound cake to a whole new level with this easy bundt cake recipe bursting with sweet-tart cherry pie filling! This cherry almond cake is perfect for special occasions and easy enough to make for everyday indulgence.

a white plate with a slice of 3 layers chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and Reese's peanut butter cups

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Chocolate and peanut butter lovers are almost guaranteed to be blown away by this fudgy chocolate layer cake with creamy peanut butter frosting. The flavor combination is a little sweet, and a little salty, finished off with chocolate ganache and peanut butter cups!

A slice of vanilla cake with frosting and sprinkles on a dark teal plate. The gold fork has a piece of cake on it, and there's a bite missing from the cake.

Moist Vanilla Cake

Nothing beats a forkful of this moist and easy vanilla cake, topped with simple and delicious vanilla buttercream. Whether you’re planning a celebration or craving something sweet, this classic cake recipe has you covered.

A piece of better than sex cake on a dessert plate

Better Than Sex Cake

Talk about a cake recipe that lives up to its name! This homemade better-than-sex cake is the ultimate combination: chocolate cake, caramel filling, fluffy whipped cream, and a generous drizzle of caramel to top it all off.

A slice of rainbow cake with one piece on a fork

Rainbow Cake

Have you ever seen such a colorful cake? This homemade rainbow cake is fun (and easy!) to make for birthdays and celebrations, filled with bright hues and decorated with dyed vanilla buttercream.

A 3 layer chocolate cake with Oreo frosting laying on a large white cake plate. The top of the slice of cake has Oreo rosettes and more cookies

Chocolate Oreo Cake

Another Oreo cake to fall totally in love with! This is an easy homemade chocolate cake recipe, layered with Oreo frosting and decorated with loads of Oreo cookies and even more chocolate.

A side view of a slice of marble cake with chocolate frosting

Marble Cake

This isn’t your retro boxed marble cake, this homemade version is SO MUCH better! If you’ve never tried your hand at making a marble cake from scratch, you need to give this recipe a try. It’s made from moist chocolate and vanilla cake swirled beneath whipped chocolate buttercream.

A close up shot showing the layers of the chocolate mousse cake. A layer of chocolate cake and a thick chocolate mousse is covered with ganahce.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Who else loves a chocolate overload? This chocolate cake is topped with a layer of fluffy chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, and chocolate whipped cream. You’ll knock your family’s socks off with how impressive yet easy this cake is!

A close up of a slice of Funfetti ice cream cake on a pink plate

Homemade Funfetti Ice Cream Cake

This homemade ice cream cake was made for birthday parties! A double-layer funfetti cake is filled with creamy cake batter ice cream and frosted with airy whipped cream in this fun cake recipe.

a slice of Oreo ice cream cake on a white plate- a layer of chocolate cake and a layer of oreo ice cream

Oreo Ice Cream Cake

This easy Oreo Ice Cream Cake is made with layers of chocolate cake and no-churn Oreo ice cream with chocolate ganache on top. It’s simple to customize this with your own favorite flavors

 

Leave a Comment

5 BAKE FROM SCRATCH SECRETS!
Subscribe to my newsletter and get my fav tips to take your cakes & cupcakes to the next level.