14 recipes
A featherlight buttery sponge steamed over simmering water until it domes tall and tender, then turned out under a glossy slick of lemon-spiked golden syrup. It's the warmest, most old-fashioned dessert you can make without ever turning on the oven.
A tall, tender sour cream cake with a cinnamon-pecan ribbon running through the middle and a thick, craggy brown sugar streusel on top. It bakes in one 9x13 pan and tastes even better the next morning.
A featherlight vanilla sponge rolled around mascarpone whipped cream, strawberry jam, and fresh sliced berries. It looks like a pastry-case showpiece but bakes in about eleven minutes.
A dense, buttery almond-scented cake with three cups of berries sunk into the top, where they collapse into jammy pockets as it bakes. One bowl, one springform pan, and it looks like you fussed.
Graham crackers, jam-glossed strawberries, and mascarpone whipped cream chill overnight into something that slices like cake but never sees an oven. It's the easiest impressive dessert in the summer repertoire.
A towering, snow-white cake leavened by nothing but whipped egg whites, with a springy crumb and a thin chewy crust. It uses no butter, no oil, and no baking powder — just air, sugar, and patience.
Soft, buttery vanilla cupcakes with a tight, tender crumb and a flat-enough top to hold a generous swirl of buttercream. One bowl of dry, one bowl of wet, and twenty minutes of actual work.
A dense, truffle-textured chocolate cake that gets its structure from whipped eggs instead of flour, finished with a glossy ganache glaze. It comes together in one saucepan and bakes in about half an hour.
A buttery sour cream cake baked over a dark brown sugar caramel and golden pineapple rings, then flipped while warm so the glaze soaks down into the crumb. It's the retro showstopper that takes about fifteen minutes of real work.
A tall, dense, velvety cheesecake with a deeply buttery graham crust and just enough lemon to keep all that richness bright. Bake it low and slow in a water bath, chill it overnight, and it slices like something from a bakery case.
A thin, ultra-moist chocolate cake baked in a half sheet pan and flooded with hot fudge frosting the second it leaves the oven. It feeds a crowd, comes together in one saucepan and a bowl, and tastes even better the next day.
A dense, golden loaf with a buttery crumb and a crackled top, built on the old four-ingredient formula with just enough sugar and milk to keep it moist. It slices clean, keeps for days, and tastes like it came from a very good bakery.
A tall, fudgy chocolate Bundt with a tender, close crumb, melted chocolate pockets, and a glossy ganache that slides down the ridges. It's a one-bowl-ish cake that looks like you fussed far more than you did.
A deeply dark, permanently moist chocolate cake with two tall 9-inch layers and a swoop of silky chocolate buttercream. The batter is thin enough to pour and takes one bowl and a whisk.