Food and Recipes Desserts Cakes What's The South's Favorite Cake? New Study Takes A Crack At The Answer You won't believe which Southern favorite got the shaft. By Tara Massouleh McCay Tara Massouleh McCay Tara Massouleh McCay is the Travel and Culture Editor for Southern Living. A writer and editor with nearly 10 years of experience in producing lifestyle content for local, regional, and national publications, she joined the Southern Living team in 2021. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on April 19, 2023 Medically reviewed by Jerlyn Jones, MS, MPA, RDN, LD, CLT Fact checked by Elizabeth Berry Fact checked by Elizabeth Berry Elizabeth Berry is a fact checker and writer with over three years of professional experience in the field. She has fact checked lifestyle topics ranging from destination wedding venues to gift guide round-ups for a variety of publications including Brides, The Spruce, and TripSavvy. In addition to her fact checking background, she also has over six years experience of reporting, writing, and copy editing articles for digital magazines including Woman's Day and The Knot. Elizabeth also has a strong background in e-commerce content as both a fact checker and writer. brand's fact checking process Share Tweet Pin Email Southerners know a thing or two about cake. From buttery pound cake and Mississippi mud cake to cult-classic Coca-Cola cake, fudgy Texas sheet cake, and Bayou-born king cake, we've never met a cake we didn't love. The best thing about cake? It's synonymous with celebrations. At Easter, we're almost always slicing up moist hummingbird or coconut cake. And at Christmas, nothing but a festive yule log will do. Jewelry company Shane Co. had life's celebratory moments in mind when they conducted a study to determine the most popular cake flavors across the country. They analyzed Google search trends over an entire year to find out which cake flavors people searched most often. The study found 21 favorites across all 50 states, and you may be surprised by which flavor took the South's top spot. Getty Images / ra3rn Strawberry cake was declared the South's big winner with five Southern states (Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee) searching it most often. While we can't argue with the appeal of luscious cake made with juicy, home-grown berries in the summertime, we have to admit we're a bit surprised by the outcome. Its popularity across the South, as well as in New Hampshire and Kansas, landed strawberry cake second place in the country's most popular cake contest. It was edged out by ice cream cake, which was most popular in eight states (none Southern). Molten lava cake took home bronze with the seal of approval from Southern states Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia, in addition to Iowa and Minnesota. So, which Southern cakes didn't fare quite as well? Pound cake came out right in the middle, tying several other flavors for fifth place thanks to Mississippi and South Carolina ranking it highest. Red velvet cake, arguably one of the South's most iconic cakes, sadly got the shaft with only Alabama residents naming it as their most popular variety. We still love you, red velvet cake! Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit