Spring Cakes in Bloom

By Story by Mary Allen Perry
Photo: Jennifer Davick

Spring party season is the perfect excuse to whip up one, or more, of these sweet treats.

Spring is the season when flowers bud, and these cake recipes capture the sweetness of the new season. These spring cake recipes feature the fresh flavors of strawberries, lemons, and Key limes. For truly Southern takes on spring, enjoy the recipe for our Sweet-Tea-and-Lemonade Cake, try the Strawberry-Lemonade Layer Cake, or taste our 35th Anniversary Hummingbird Cake. Few aromas say spring quite like honeysuckle, and you can find it here too, in a recipe that pairs it with green tea. If you prefer a bite-size spring cake, bake the Heavenly Angel Food Cake, or slice into the Lemon-Yogurt Crumb Cake. Let your love for your favorite cakes bloom, and let these delicious spring cake recipes blossom.

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Strawberry Dream Cake

Photo: Greg Dupree

Recipe: Strawberry Dream Cake

You'll fall in love with this too-good-to-be-true strawberry cake. Fluffy whipped frosting made with marscapone cheese, sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla and almond extracts is the perfect finishing touch. We love the presentation of cake slices with upright strawberries between the layers. When it comes down to the details, this sweet confection takes the cake. 

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Fresh Strawberry Meringue Cake

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Fresh Strawberry Meringue Cake

Securing parchment paper with masking tape (it won’t melt at the low temp) makes it easy to spread picture-perfect layers of meringue.

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Coconut Cream Cake

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Coconut Cream Cake

Look for packaged coconut shavings in your grocer's natural foods section.

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Key Lime Icebox Cake

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Key Lime Icebox Cake

Layers of tangy-sweet Key lime custard and graham crackers stack up to make one quick and easy layer cake with just enough pucker to take the heat off summer. Add the lime juice once you've fully cooked the custard to let the cornstarch thicken the mixture properly.

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Lemon-Orange Chiffon Cake

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Lemon-Orange Chiffon Cake

Serve this decadent spring dessert at your next ladies' luncheon and wow the crowd with edible flowers.

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Lemon-Lime Pound Cake

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Lemon-Lime Pound Cake

This recipe is based on a classic Southern favorite called 7UP Pound Cake, which was created in the 1950s when the soda company suggested using its soft drink instead of other liquid in pound cake recipes. The result: one of the best, and simplest, cakes you'll ever make.

Watch: Lemon-Lime Pound Cake

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Heavenly Angel Food Cake

Recipe: Heavenly Angel Food Cake

The rich, moist texture of this divine angel food cake is unlike any other. Made from scratch in minutes, it's baked in a 13- x 9-inch pan and spread with frosting that's a lemon lover's dream.

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Strawberries and Cream Cake

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck

Recipe: Strawberries and Cream Cake 

We used 6 (8-inch) disposable aluminum foil cake pans, so we could fill all the pans at once. This way, if you bake the layers in batches, the second batch is ready to go in the oven as soon as the first is done.

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Lemon-Yogurt Crumb Cake

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Lemon-Yogurt Crumb Cake

We love the swirls of lemon curd in this cake, but it's also delicious without it.

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Strawberries-and-Cream Sheet Cake

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Strawberries-and-Cream Sheet Cake

Trust us: This simple and swoon-worthy sheet cake will be a keeper in your recipe box. File it under "Springtime Crowd-pleaser."

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35th Anniversary Hummingbird Cake

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck

Recipe: 35th Anniversary Hummingbird Cake

Over-ripe bananas (yellow peels splotched with brown flecks) are best for baking. You won't get the same depth of flavor or moistness without them.

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Strawberry Mousse Cake

Photo: Iain Bagwell

Recipe: Strawberry Mousse Cake

Pretty in pink, this mousse cake recipe is perfect for a shower, family get-together, or party.

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Chocolate Zucchini Cakes

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck

Recipe: Chocolate Zucchini Cakes

Spiked with a triple hit of chocolate (we're talking intensely rich sour cream-fudge frosting here), these are definitely not your garden-variety zucchini cakes.

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Green Tea-Honeysuckle Cake

Photo by Iain Bagwell; Styling by Heather Chadduck

Recipe: Green Tea-Honeysuckle Cake

Spring-green ribbons of matcha-flavored batter and a homemade honeysuckle glaze elevate a basic vanilla butter cake to gourmet status. Bonus: It tumbles from the pan perfectly fluted and party ready.

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Pound Cake Cupcakes

Photo by Iain Bagwell; Styling by Heather Chadduck

Recipe: Pound Cake Cupcakes

A Thumbelina version of the tube-pan classic, these Pound Cake Cupcakes are pretty enough for a fairy-tale princess—and only a muffin tin away.

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Strawberry-Lemonade Layer Cake

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Strawberry-Lemonade Layer Cake

You can assemble Strawberry-Lemonade Layer Cake up to two days ahead; store at room temp. Also, you can freeze cooled layers up to a month in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.

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Sweet Tea-and-Lemonade Cake

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Sweet Tea-and-Lemonade Cake

Feeling rowdy? Spin this into a tipsy cake by substituting up to 2 Tbsp. vodka or bourbon for the lemon juice in the frosting.

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The Lemon Cheese Layer Cake

Hector Sanchez

Recipe: The Lemon Cheese Layer Cake

Expecting a twist on cheesecake? You’re in for an even sweeter surprise. These layers are filled with a buttery rich lemon curd instead. Recipes dating back to the early 1800s called for acidulating cream with lemon juice, then separating the curds and whey. Over the years, the original recipe for lemon cheese evolved into one using butter and eggs. By the 1940s almost every good cook south of the Mason-Dixon Line had a recipe for lemon cheese layer cake in her repertoire. And if you’ve ever lived anywhere near Hartford in southeast Alabama you know of the local ladies still famous for their 14-layer lemon cheese cakes. Numerous versions of this nostalgic classic pay homage to Robert E. Lee, who allegedly fancied sponge cakes filled with a sugary mix of finely grated lemons and oranges. Until now, a lemon cheese riff on Robert E. Lee Cake from the Southern Living 1990 Five-Star Recipe Collection used to be our favorite. But this one trumps them all.

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Lemon-Rosemary Coffee Cake

Photo: Iain Bagwell

Recipe: Lemon-Rosemary Coffee Cake  

Fresh Rosemary complements the lemony flavor in this moist coffee cake. Garnish with lemon slices and fresh rosemary sprigs for a showstopping presentation.

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Key Lime Pound Cake

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Key Lime Pound Cake

We've all tasted Key lime pie, but a Key Lime Pound Cake? Why not! The lime zest adds a nice tartness to any pie or cake.

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Luscious Lemon Cake

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Luscious Lemon Cake

Create an impressive stack of zesty lemon layers that's perfect for any casual gathering. Or frost the entire cake for a more elegant presentation.

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Triple-Decker Strawberry Cake

Recipe: Triple-Decker Strawberry Cake

Layers of moist strawberry cake and Strawberry Buttercream Frosting make this three-layer cake a must for strawberry lovers.

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Triple-Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake

Alison Miksch

Recipe: Triple-Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake

We took the traditional pound cake recipe and raised it a stunning, triple-chocolate twist. This cake means business. A duo of glazes—one creamy chocolate, the other subtle buttermilk—comes together atop this dreamy confection. It’s indulgent and, we admit, so much fun to eat and serve. Chocolate enthusiasts will be over the moon for this recipe, but it has enough unexpected flavor—thanks to the addition of the buttermilk glaze—that you’ll also win over the harder-to-please dessert eaters at the table. Warning: You—and they—won’t be able to resist a second slice. Go for it. We won’t tell.

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Buttermilk Pound Cake with Custard Sauce

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Buttermilk Pound Cake with Custard Sauce

We sampled this traditional pairing several different ways and loved them all, but our favorite was a warm pound cake with chilled custard.

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Lemon Coconut Pound Cake

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Lemon-Coconut Pound Cake

This pound cake recipe starts from scratch and is as good as it looks. Pair it with a sparkling wine, like a Prosecco, to complete your dessert.

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Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

There are a few things to note about this recipe before you start baking. First, the cream cheese is added after beating the butter and sugar. And, yes, you read the cooking instructions correctly—the cake bakes at a slightly higher temperature than usual.

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