Cake

For a moist cake, be sure to use finely ground polenta labeled “quick-cooking” or “instant”; cooking times listed on the package will be five minutes or less.

Beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy is essential to this pound cake’s moist, tender crumb and the Grand-Marnier Poached Apricots add a boozy yet sweet kick.

This hazelnut butter cake is covered in a decadent sea salt caramel that will fit in a small saucepan, but make sure you use something larger—the molten sauce bubbles up quite a lot.

Poach the figs in Calvados until just softened: Overcooking or intense boiling will render them a tough instead of lush addition to this chocolate torte.

Mayonnaise in the batter isn’t as weird as it sounds—it’s just eggs and oil, after all. It’s also why this cake is so moist.

In the most important debate of the 21st century—which is better, Cake or Pie?—Bon Appétit readers made their choice known, loudly

How FoodBeast.com's Becky McKay transformed the Uh-Oh! kiddie dinner into a bizarrely compelling dessert

At the Southern Foodways Alliance symposium, the storied desserts faced off—via the NYT's Kim Severson and CNN's Kat Kinsman. For whom was victory sweet?

A coffee cake with chocolate and hazelnuts that you could eat for both breakfast and dessert

Forget the boxed version you grew up with. This yellow cake recipe gets a rich dark-chocolate frosting with a touch of tang thanks to sour cream. For the best presentation, it’s important to cut the cake layers evenly. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

This cake is perfect for beginners—it’s moist, forgiving, and easy. Jif creamy peanut butter is our favorite for the decadent frosting.

If you like, serve this chocolate-cinnamon recipe with whipped cream or an extra dollop of yogurt—or, of course, a cup of coffee.

In this gâteau breton aux pommes, or apple cake, apples are caramelized before being baked in buttery batter. Why stop there? Salted caramel sauce lets guests indulge even further.

It may look like a giant lunch-box treat, but an ultra-smooth ganache and a final flourish of crunchy sea salt make this one elegant cake.

It's this Buttermilk Cake with Sour Milk Jam and Gin-Poached Cherries, from Alma, the Best New Restaurant in America

The late Richard Sax, celebrated cookbook author and champion of home cooks the world over, inspired this flourless chocolate cake—a riff on his iconic chocolate cloud cake.

This simple, moist banana bread recipe can also be baked in three small (5¾x3¼”) loaf pans, which is how you’ll find them at Julia’s stand; cooking time will be 40–50 minutes. For the deepest flavor, use ripe bananas with lots of freckles.

Part of what gives this cake its light texture is beating the butter and sugar well, so don't rush this step.

This is one of those sleeper recipes that’s more complex-tasting than it sounds. Each element is supereasy to prepare and can be made days in advance, but the finished dessert is a stunner.

We can't decide if we like ice cream pie or ice cream cake better, so we'll just eat both.

This tangy, crustless cheesecake feels light and airy thanks to the addition of beaten egg whites.

As summer progresses and apricots go out of season, try these desserts with ripe plums instead.