:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Black-Forest-Cake-FT-RECIPE0623-29bb291902e845bab17a7fc1d65e4ebb.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,1024&ssl=1 "21 Layer Cake Recipes for an Extra-Special Celebration")
From major milestones to everyday wins, life is full of moments big and small that are worthy of celebrating — and a gorgeous layer cake is just the thing to commemorate the occasion. This collection of showstopping cakes is here to help you usher in all sorts of festivities; we’ve got tried-and-true classics like carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, seasonal delights such as strawberry-loaded Frasier Cake, and creative takes on familiar flavors — try Mashama Bailey’s terrific red velvet-coconut cake hybrid. These are our best layer cake ideas to make any occasion extra special.
Vanilla Sheet Cake with Lemon Frosting
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Made with a buttery lemon frosting, this easy one-bowl sheet cake from Anna Theoktisto is the perfect canvas for simple yet maximalist decorations like edible flowers and dramatic swirls of frosting.
The Ultimate Chocolate Cake
If it’s an impressive, decadent chocolate cake you’re after, go for this three-layer masterpiece. Hot brewed coffee in the batter adds depth to the rich chocolate flavor, and the no-fail chocolate cream cheese frosting is a breeze to artfully swirl around the cake’s top and perimeter.
Chantilly Cream Cake
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless
Light, tender, and not too sweet, chantilly cake is an elegant way to celebrate all sorts of occasions. Our version is filled with berry-tinged whipped cream; the chantilly frosting is made extra creamy with the addition of mascarpone cheese.
Red Velvet Cake with Coconut
Chris Simpson / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Thom Driver
A Southern mashup of red velvet and coconut cake, this crimson beauty includes virgin coconut oil in both the batter and cream cheese icing, then gets decorated with lacy toasted coconut flakes.
Black Forest Cake
Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Gabriel Greco
For festivities that coincide with cherry season, this gorgeous Black Forest Cake is the way to go. Frozen cherries are used in the filling, while fresh dark sweet cherries are piled on top for a dramatic aesthetic that matches the chocolate shards adorning the sides.
Fraisier Cake
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling
Show off summer strawberries with this classic French cake. Our version is composed of two pillowy, amaretto-brushed genoise sponge layers, vanilla-flecked mousseline cream, and fresh ruby-red berries.
‘The Bear’ Chocolate Cake
Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Three layers of moist, fudgy chocolate cake are filled with ethereal chocolate mousse and cloaked in rich, cocoa-forward frosting for this famous dessert from the television show The Bear.
Julia Child’s Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne
Four layers of poppy seed-studded vanilla cake are brushed with rum syrup, stacked together with tangy lemon curd, and swirled with sweet-tart lemon buttercream for this sunny dessert from Julia Child.
Classic Carrot Cake with Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting
Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell
Pastry chef Jodi Elliot prepares the ultimate version of classic layered carrot cake. It’s moist, balanced, and generously swathed in tangy cream cheese frosting. Plus, the batter can also be baked up into cupcakes.
Ukrainian Honey Cake (Medovyk)
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Anna Voloshyna stacks six layers of moist, mildly sweet honey cake with tangy sour cream frosting studded with pleasantly jammy chopped prunes. To finish, she presses a pulverized combo of cake crumbs, toasted hazelnuts, and cinnamon onto the top and into the sides of the cake for even more flavor.
Celebration Cake
Brie Goldman / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Addelyn Evans
Pastry chef Emily Luchetti’s creative take on German chocolate cake features three layers of velvety yellow cake with a butterscotch-tinged coconut-pecan filling and iced with buttered chocolate ganache.
Tarte Tropézienne (Brioche Cake with Pastry Cream)
Christopher Testani / FOOD STYLING by CHELSEA ZIMMER / PROP STYLING by CLAIRE SPOLLEN
Seek out high-fat European-style butter to make both the tender brioche and the vanilla pastry cream in this classic Provençal cake topped with crunchy pearl sugar.
Pandan and Coconut Cake
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
This aromatic layer cake from chef Lara Lee gets its vibrant green color from pandan, a tropical plant that grows throughout Southeast Asia and has a distinctive vanilla- and coconut-like fragrance. The sweet coconut-pandan cake layers are balanced by tangy mascarpone cheese swirled with raspberry jam.
Sour Cream–Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate-Orange Frosting
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Sour cream gives baker Ruby Tandoh’s vanilla-scented cake its moist, tender crumb, while a touch of orange zest in the fudgy frosting adds a little fragrant sophistication. Don’t wait for a birthday to make it.
Lane Cake
Rachel Marek / Food Styling by Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling by Gabriel Greco
Bring on the Southern charm with three layers of fluffy butter chiffon cake topped with a nutty, boozy, custardy filling made from finely chopped pecans and raisins, freshly grated coconut, and a generous amount of bourbon.
Blackberry and Mascarpone Crêpe Cake
Layered with rich mascarpone whipped cream, tart berries, and a little lemon zest, this sensational no-bake crêpe cake from Gail Simmons will have you savoring summer bite by bite. Plus, it lends itself well to being prepared in advance.
Apple-Rum Spice Cake
Enveloped in billowy cream cheese frosting flavored with fresh-pressed ginger juice, this autumnal centerpiece dessert features layers of gently spiced chiffon cake and cinnamon-tinged apple compote spiked with gold rum.
Chocolate Truffle Layer Cake
This super-fudgy cake is layered with dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache, then covered in dark chocolate frosting.
Six-Layer Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Filling
© Con Poulos
Let the combination of coconut and passion fruit whisk you away into warm, tropical air. Pastry chef Cynthia Wong splits three coconut milk-enriched cakes in half to form six layers, which are sandwiched together with bright, tangy passion fruit curd, dressed in lightly sweetened whipped cream, and covered in toasted coconut flakes.
Cinnamon Cake with Chile-Chocolate Buttercream
Quentin Bacon
Inspired by Mexican hot chocolate, baker Lisa Ritter’s inventive dessert pairs two layers of cinnamon sponge cake bound together by subtly spicy chocolate buttercream frosting tinged with ancho chile powder and cayenne pepper.
Crunchy Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layer Cake
Tina Rupp
Shrouded in milk chocolate ganache, this easy cake is all about its delightfully crunchy filling made from sliced almonds, salted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, chocolate, and Rice Krispies.
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