Cake

Chocolate Cake with fluffy Marshmallow Frosting is a fabulous birthday treat for children and adults alike. To make a layer cake, simply double the recipe below and use two cake pans.

There's a special place in the lexicon of American layer cakes for the classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It's practically the standard for birthdays and anniversaries, so it was my top choice when creating a cake to celebrate the first year of publication of Gourmet Live. And if ever there was a version that will elicit either a string of excited OMG's or the low-humming purr of rapturous mmmm's, this is it. Tender, buttery cake layers sandwich a creamy frosting so light and airy it's as if you're nibbling a chocolate cloud. (No offense to dense, fudgy ganache-style icings—of which I'm also very fond—but they don't lend themselves to the kind of exuberant flourishes and swirls of frosting that convey the excitement of a first birthday.) Even a strong-willed soul won't be able to resist a second slice.

Classic baked Alaska is turned on its head with these individual desserts from Elizabeth Falkner of San Francisco's Citizen Cake. Coconut, pineapple, passion fruit, and a rum-soaked sorbet lend a tropical twist. To save time, use store-bought pineapple sorbet.

It's best to make and assemble this stunning layer cake at least one day in advance to let the chocolate, nut, and brandy flavors meld.

Don't turn up your nose at this strange-sounding combination—carrots, cocoa, and white chocolate is actually a brilliant union.

Make the decorations the day before baking This cupcake is inspired by a scene from the movie 28 Days Later, where a crow sits overhead with a piece of zombie corpse in his mouth. We've chosen a deathly pale skin color, but you can vary the color of the fondant to create different flesh tones. The jam and fondant topping contrasts with the subtle flavor of the white velvet cupcake. If you use toothpicks to secure the crows, remember to tell your guests.

Take a close look at the graveyard, and you might see a zombie rising from the dead—if you see a rotting hand reaching out from underground, you can be sure the rest of the zombie will soon follow. They're coming to get you… This delectable mud cupcake gives you a taste of the grave from the zombie's perspective. Remember to warn your guests that the hand is secured using a toothpick.

Supposedly whoopie pies get their name from the fact that Amish women would occasionally pack these treats in the farmer's lunchboxes and when discovered the men would yell "Whoopie!" Traditionally whoopie pies are two round mounds of chocolate cake with a creamy frosting sandwiched in between. For a twist on tradition, I love to make Red Velvet Whoopie pies.

With its velvety chocolate glaze and snowy flakes of sea salt, this dressed-up honey cake is perfect for Rosh Hashanah. It's equally ideal for any other occasion or celebration, whether it's a dinner party, an impromptu gathering of friends, or a school bake sale. It's that simple—and that good. Don't be surprised if people start pestering you for the recipe after their first bite.

West's friend Valerie Gordon, of Valerie Confections, created this cakelike dessert using both fresh and preserved peaches.

Buttermilk keeps this moist cake light and flavorful. Dust it with powdered sugar as it cools for a sweet, decorative finish.

At sunset throughout Palestine during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan you will find vendors with hot plates lining the streets preparing these flat cakes. They are made in many different ways; this version is filled with cheese and nuts and then fried. Instead of the syrup, you can also top the cakes with cinnamon sugar.

Tarta de Santiago—Galicia This is a splendid cake. I have eaten almond cakes in other parts of Spain, but this one is special. Pilgrims and tourists who visit the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the relics of the apostle Saint James are believed to be buried, see the cake in the windows of every pastry shop and restaurant. It is usually marked with the shape of the cross of the Order of Santiago. I have watched the cake being made in many sizes, big and small, thin and thick, over a pastry tart base at a bakery called Capri in Pontevedra. This deliciously moist and fragrant homey version is without a base. There is sometimes a little cinnamon added, but I find that masks the delicate flavor of orange and almonds and prefer it without it. When I suggested to a man associated with the tourist office in Galicia that the tarta was a Jewish Passover cake, I was dragged to a television studio to tell it to all. The hosts thought the idea made sense. The Galician city of Coruña is on the Jewish tourist route, because of its synagogue and old Jewish quarter. Jews from Andalusia, who fled from the Berber Almohads' attempts to convert them in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries came to Galicia, where they planted grapevines and made wine. The cake is normally made in a wide cake or tart pan and so comes out low, but it is equally good as a thicker cake.

I have to give Sabrina, my business partner at BabyCakes NYC, 100 percent of the credit for creating this incredible cake. Normally, pineapple upside-down cake just isn’t my thing, but the texture, spice, and fluffiness of this recipe really won me over. If you’re a beginner, this is a good cake to start with because it’s a snap, it can be ready to eat in just about an hour, and it looks gorgeous. Feeling adventurous? Make some Vanilla Sugar Glaze (page 127) and drizzle it all over.

Dark, milk, and white chocolate chips are sprinkled throughout this rich chocolate cupcake. For a more sophisticated version, use only dark chocolate chips. Guaranteed to fulfill your daily chocolate craving.

My younger son loves these cupcakes and calls them Strawberry Spongecakes. These pink-flecked pleasers are best made at the height of strawberry season.

Pudding cakes are little culinary marvels. Take what is basically a thin cake batter, fold in whipped egg whites, put the batter into a baking dish (or several ramekins as I do here), and voilà! As it bakes, the batter separates and forms a sponge cake on the top with a thick, kind of custardy pudding on the bottom. Lemon pudding cakes are common in the South, but I've swapped lemon for Key lime juice. To coat the insides of the ramekins with sugar, grease them with nonstick cooking spray or butter, put 1 tablespoon sugar in one, and then tilt and turn it around, tapping to coat all the inside surfaces. Tap the excess sugar into the next ramekin and repeat the process until all are dusted, adding more sugar as needed.

Chef David Schmidt whips up this moist chocolate confection for 70 people at a time, but we've cut it down to sheet-pan size. Serve with lowfat vanilla ice cream.

A mild or fruity olive oil works best in this cardamom-scented cake. Just try not to eat all of the candied orange slices before the cake cools.

The recipe for red velvet cake has been around since the 1920s, when the cake was the signature dessert at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The cake captured my heart-and it plays hard to get. It took me forever to come up with a magical adaptation that would capture the richness of its namesake. These bars get their health benefits, velvety texture, and deep red color from a paste made of beets, red beans, cocoa powder, and red food coloring. I took a slight departure from the traditional red velvet cake flavor by adding a touch of almond extract, and that, my friends, is where the magic happened.