Food and Recipes Desserts Cakes Our Editors' Favorite Southern Living Cake Recipes By Mary Shannon Wells Mary Shannon Wells Mary Shannon is a Digital Associate Editor and has been on the Southern Living team since 2017. She helps run the brand's social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok, where she's happily behind the scenes. When she's not ruffling feathers with an etiquette poll via Instagram Stories, she's writing content for the website and assisting in various print projects like gift guides and home stories.She grew up in Mobile, Alabama, which she insists is home to the country's first Mardi Gras (not New Orleans) and now lives in Birmingham with her husband and rescue pup Rocky, whose name is unrelated to The University of Tennessee (Roll Tide). Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on January 6, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox When the editors of Southern Living started a cooking club on Facebook, we weren't quite sure what to expect. Would the group become popular? Would it be a positive space on the Internet? Would readers share their favorite Southern Living recipes and give us insight into what they're making at home? Yes, yes, and YES. One major takeaway we've gotten from this happy corner of Facebook is that not only do our readers cook all the time, but they're in love with baking. Gorgeous confections I will never attempt myself pepper the Facebook page. Legendary white cakes of years-old December covers, displayed just as beautifully as they were in the magazine. Fluffy meringue pie toppings, so perfectly browned. Cobblers, cobblers, and more cobblers. We always knew the Southern Living readers liked to bake, but they're true experts. Readers, we wish we were your lucky neighbors who get a slice of what you're baking. To provide some baking-project inspiration, we're sharing some of our editors' favorite cake recipes of all time. From old-school cake recipes like Hummingbird Cake and Dr Pepper Texas Sheet Cake to newer favorites like Chocolate-Zucchini Cake and Key Lime Pound Cake, there's a cake recipe here for every taste and skill level. Bake your way through these tried-and-true cake recipes, and they'll quickly become tradition in your home, too. 01 of 13 Dr Pepper Texas Sheet Cake Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner Recipe: Dr Pepper Texas Sheet Cake "My favorite Southern Living cake is the Dr Pepper Sheet Cake. It's the ultimate treat for when you're feeling down and the only thing that will cure it is an inordinate amount of chocolate. It's super simple to make, and I love that I don't need to dig out my real cake pan. Plus, it will feed so many!" Katie Akin, Copy Assistant 02 of 13 Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake "Pineapple Upside Down Cake is a sentimental favorite in my family. My grandmother, Miriam Baer, always made this cake and it's my dad's favorite. I remember her teaching me how to make it on a warm day over summer break when I was a teenager. I remember feeling so proud she was teaching me this special treat. She also taught me her secret—instead of water, she uses the juice in the pineapple can for extra sweetness. We make it now for family events in her memory." Rebecca Angel Baer, Digital News Editor 03 of 13 Chocolate-Zucchini Cake Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Chocolate-Zucchini Cake "Yes, there's a vegetable in this cake. But don't worry, no part of this rich, fudgy dessert tastes 'healthy' at all. You'll love the chunks of chocolate throughout and the salty-sweet browned butter frosting. And the zucchini (they'll never know) makes the texture tender and moist." Lisa Cericola, Senior Food Editor 04 of 13 White Cake with Cranberry Filling and Orange Buttercream Hector Sanchez Recipe: White Cake with Cranberry Filling and Orange Buttercream "My sister made this cake during the holiday season and our entire family couldn't stop raving about the unique flavor combination!" Brennan Long, Social Media Editor 05 of 13 Hummingbird Cake Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Hummingbird Cake "My favorite Southern Living cake has to be Mrs. L. H. Wiggins' Hummingbird Cake. While I absolutely love the flavor profile, I was also able to finally unravel the mystery of the person behind our most requested recipe for the 40th anniversary of this iconic and beloved cake." Nellah Bailey McGough, Office Manager 06 of 13 Rudolph's Chocolate Truffle Cake Photo: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Mindi Shapiro Recipe: Rudolph's Chocolate Truffle Cake "This triple-layer chocolate cake is so incredible that it ruins you for any other chocolate cake. Anything else just pales in comparison. It has a chocolate truffle filling and a chocolate ganache icing. My husband asks for it for his birthday, our anniversary, and Father's Day. I think he would be perfectly content if I didn't give him any other gift but this cake." Libby Monteith Minor, Copy Chief 07 of 13 Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Caramel Buttercream Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Caramel Buttercream "By far…The Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Caramel Buttercream. The frosting is so sweet and delicious. It's a little involved, but I've made it several times. It's so good that if I start to think about it, I start to crave it. If I mention it to my wife, she starts to crave it. I've brought it into the office and people can't believe how good it is. You make your own caramel, and I like to cook it just a little longer to give it a bit of a burnt/smoky flavor. When mixed into the frosting….Yum!" Robert Perino, Executive Creative Director 08 of 13 Snowy Vanilla Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Snowy Vanilla Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream "This vanilla layer cake is a terrific base for all sorts of buttercream decorations. When it's not the holiday season, I get creative with the frosting to decorate these light layers for birthdays and springtime celebrations." Katie Strasberg Rousso, Digital Editor 09 of 13 Strawberries-and-Cream Sheet Cake Recipe: Strawberries-and-Cream Sheet Cake "My favorite Southern Living cake is our Strawberries-and-Cream Sheet Cake. It's a definite go-to for birthdays and special occasions, and rakes in the compliments without requiring too much work on my end." Patricia Weigel Shannon, Senior Beauty and Digital Editor 10 of 13 7UP Bundt Cake Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner Recipe: 7UP Bundt Cake "Equally as delicious with or without frosting, using a lemon-lime soft drink ensures that this Bundt cake doesn't dry out and adds an extra layer of flavor." Jenna Sims, Associate Digital Editor 11 of 13 Italian Cream Cake Recipe: Italian Cream Cake "My mom and I bake this cake every Christmas. My grandmother is Italian, and my mom grew up in Alabama, so it's only fitting that we got our Italian Cream Cake recipe from Southern Living. There's truly no other cake like it. Even when we've omitted the nuts for my brother's allergy, it still tastes amazing." Mary Shannon Wells, Digital Assistant Editor 12 of 13 Key Lime Pound Cake Jen Causey Recipe: Key Lime Pound Cake "I never thought I would find a pound cake that rivals my mother's glazed lemon pound cake, but this Key Lime Pound Cake is a slice a citrusy heaven. I make it every time I'm dreaming of a tropical vacation." Kaitlyn Yarborough, Digital Assistant Editor 13 of 13 Million Dollar Pound Cake Beth Dreiling Hontzas Recipe: Million Dollar Pound Cake "I have made this fabulous pound cake recipe so many times for so many different occasions—family reunions, Sunday dinners, or just because I want to bake. I trust it and know that it will always be good (barring any mistakes on my part, that is). If you are worried that it makes more cake than you will need, just slice and freeze individual portions, and you will always have a dessert on hand. And if you happen to get an unfortunate sad streak or the top crust splits from the rest of the cake, simply cut it into cubes and make a trifle." Patricia S. York, Assistant Food Editor Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit