35 Classic Cake Recipes For Every Occasion
Easy Chocolate Cake
Sometimes the best recipes are the ones that keep things simple. These classic cakes cover every event, from birthdays to everyday desserts and late-night cravings. From our take on a deep and delicious chocolate cake (watch how to make it below), to an airy angel food cake, an Insta-worthy vanilla layer cake and a crumbly coffee cake, these are the recipes we come back to again and again.
Easy Chocolate Cake
This riff on McCain’s Deep n’ Delicious cake is one to keep in your back pocket at all times. Get this easy chocolate cake recipe.
Orange Cream Cake
Originally developed as a two-layer snacking cake, this dessert would have been a rare treat for cash-strapped bakers in the 1930s. Our orange cream cake recipe will win you over instantly.
Chocolate Cake With Mocha Frosting
Forget the card—say it with cake. Nothing beats a decadent dessert (especially chocolate) when it comes to making someone feel special. Get our chocolate cake with mocha frosting recipe.
Classic Cheesecake
A classic you can dress up as much (or as little) as you like. You can enjoy it with with a blueberry sauce, but a drizzle of fruit coulis or chocolate ganache works too. Get this classic cheesecake recipe.
Baked Alaska
As impressive to serve at a party today as it was in the 1950s, this retro dessert is deceptively easy to pull off. Our Baked Alaska cake recipe is irresistible.
Mocha Ice Cream Cake
It takes just five ingredients and 25 minutes to whip up this unforgettable no-bake ice cream cake. Laced with espresso and topped with candy-shop chocolates, it’s the ultimate treat! Get our mocha ice cream cake recipe.
Creme Chatelaine
This frosty take on zabaglione cake was developed for the magazine in the 1960s by Graham Kerr, whose cooking show, The Galloping Gourmet, was a global hit at the time. Our Creme Chatelaine cake recipe is bound to become your new favorite.
Classic Vanilla Layer Cake
One of the only cakes we make over and over again. It’s easy, fast and spectacular. It looks best in two 8-inch cake pans; for 9-inch pans, decrease the baking time to 30 min. Get this classic vanilla cake recipe.
Chocolate Cake With Pink Vanilla Frosting
Need to woo a crowd? This minimalist, multi-tiered cake is three times as impressive and not much more work than a single-layer dessert. Get our chocolate cake with pink vanilla frosting recipe here.
Grand Marnier Chocolate Torte
Readers requested this citrusy layered cake recipe from the 1970s so often that we reprinted it in 2000. Now we’re doing so again—with a little ’70s swagger in the decoration. You'll be smitten with our Grand Marnier chocolate torte recipe.
Chocolate Guinness Layer Cake
Believe it or not, beer does amazing things for cake. Our St. Patrick's Day special is dense and rich, with the slightest undertone of stout. Get our chocolate Guinness layer cake recipe
Colleen Angel Cake
This fluffy confection was the first cake recipe we ever published in the 1920s, as part of a St. Patrick’s Day menu. We added balled fruit to brighten it up. You will love our Colleen Angel cake recipe.
Double-Chocolate Espresso Cake
Double the chocolate, double the fun! This espresso-flavoured cake—pink peonies optional—will delight all chocolate lovers. Get this double-chocolate espresso cake recipe.
Decadent Nanaimo Cake
The beloved bar becomes a sheet cake! We take the recipe—first published in the 1980s—up a notch with decadent adornment. You're in for a treat with our Decadent Nanaimo cake recipe.
Pistachio Cake With Orange Blossom Icing
If a spring blossom were a cake, it would be this gorgeous, moist and fresh flavoured delight. Get this pistachio cake with orange blossom icing recipe.
Raspberry Trifle
Bust out your best novelty glassware: This no-bake trifle recipe from the 1990s remains unchanged and as delicious as ever. Prepare to be delighted by our Raspberry trifle recipe.
Gluten-Free Chocolate-Fudge Cake
No one should miss out on a slice of this gluten-free dessert topped with chocolate ganache. Get this gluten-free chocolate fudge cake recipe.
Lemon Blast Bombe
Sliced jelly rolls make this refrigerator cake from the 2000s truly whimsical. Get our lemon blast bombe recipe here.
Lemon Poppyseed Layer Cake
Camilla Wynne developed this recipe, published in 2022, as a go-to when making wedding cakes for friends. Here, she’s gone all out with piped frosting for an extra-celebratory effect. You're going to adore our lemon poppyseed layer cake recipe.
Strawberry-Chocolate Sheet Cake
Strawberries and chocolate are a match made in heaven, so why not marry the flavours in this decadent, delicious cake? Get this strawberry chocolate cake recipe.
No-Bake Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecake
This sunshine-yellow cheesecake is topped with lemon curd and rosy raspberries. (This heavenly mascarpone cake disappears fast, so be sure to steal a slice for yourself first.)Get our no-bake lemon mascarpone cheesecake recipe.
Vanilla Cake In Pink Ombre
Happy birthday to us! To kick off our anniversary festivities we transformed our four best-ever cakes into stunning (but easy) works of art. Warning: You might start making up reasons to celebrate! Get our vanilla cake in pink ombre recipe here.
Vanilla Cake With Summer Fruit
Beautiful and summery, this cake is loaded with berries and drizzled with icing for a stunning effect. Get our vanilla cake with summer fruit recipe.
Angel Food Cake
Airy and light, vanilla-tinged angel food is a perfectly dreamy dessert. Get this angel food cake recipe.
Raspberry And Streusel Coffee Cake
This raspberry-and-streusel cake can go high or low: Serve it with afternoon tea and coffee or after a dinner party. Everyone will want a second slice. Get this Raspberry and Streusel Coffee Cake recipe
.
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
With layers of lusciousness, from the easy cookie crust to scrumptious chocolate curls, this cheesecake is nirvana for devoted chocoholics. Get this chocolate cheesecake recipe.
Upside-Down Rhubarb Cake
A slice of pie is a classic ending to a summery meal, but why hide fresh fruit under piles of pastry? With this upside-down cake, the tangy rhubarb shines. Get this rhubarb upside-down cake recipe.
Upside-Down Cake
Topped with fresh peaches, this cake’s crisp outer crumb and moist centre makes every bite one to savour. Get this upside-down cake recipe.
Carrot Cake With Fluffy White-Chocolate Icing
Topped with decadent cream-cheese icing, this cake works for any occasion. Get this carrot cake recipe.
Coconut Cake
Coated with crisp coconut flakes, each forkful is light, airy and unbelievably delicious—everything you want in a cake. Get this coconut cake recipe.
Victoria Sponge Cake With Mascarpone-Vanilla Cream
Layered with mascarpone-vanilla cream and homemade strawberry jam, Victoria sponge cake is a delightful addition to any tea time. Get our Victoria sponge cake with mascarpone-vanilla cream recipe.
Berry Pudding Cake
Raspberries add a dose of antioxidants and give this dessert its sweet-tart taste. Drizzle with whisky-butter sauce and top with whipped cream. Get this berry pudding cake recipe.
Lemon Pudding Cake
If citrus is more your speed, then be swept away with this zesty and comforting cake. Get this lemon pudding cake recipe.
No-Bake Mocha Biscuit Cake
Short on time—or baking know-how? This mocha biscuit cake, rumoured to be a favourite of Prince William’s, is the perfect, eye-pleasing treat. Plus, you don’t even have to turn on the oven. Get this no-bake mocha biscuit cake recipe.
Cherry Cake With Marzipan Roses
This dense, nutty cake—created in the 2010s—has remained a staff favourite. This cherry cake with marzipan roses recipe is bound to be your favourite too.
GET CHATELAINE IN YOUR INBOX!
Subscribe to our newsletters for our very best stories, recipes, style and shopping tips, horoscopes and special offers.
Chatelaine celebrates, inspires, informs and empowers. We know that Canadian women contain multitudes, and we cover all of the issues—big and small—that matter to them, from climate change to caregiving, Canadian fashion and what to cook now.