For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration The chocolate Guinness cake here is simple but deeply pleasurable, and has earned its place as a stand-alone treat.

Amanda Saab, a social worker and home cook who lives near Detroit, riffs on her Lebanese grandmother's recipe for namoura, a cake made from semolina flour, soaked in syrup while it's still warm When she serves it at iftar dinners during Ramadan, Ms Saab often doses the syrup with a little bit of lavender extract

It may strike you as curious, but adding an entire orange to this easy snacking cake, rind and all, imparts a wonderful flavor reminiscent of orange marmalade, pleasantly bitter and sweet A high-speed blender is the best way to process the orange, but a food processor works too You want the purée to be as smooth as possible

For a no-bake dessert that pays tribute to classic Black Forest cake, layer kirsch-soaked chocolate cookies with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, and cherry compote.

The hot milk cake is a tender, airy, exceedingly delicious cake that’s almost as delicate as a chiffon cake or genoise, but with just enough heft to feel like a lighter version of a vanilla butter cake.

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake is a delicate, dense pound cake with added lemon flavor, loaded with fresh blueberries, topped with a lemon glaze.

Loose Earl Grey tea stirred into buttery cake batter adds a sweet, floral essence that’s subtle but lovely A little dark chocolate and orange zest makes this cake extra special While you could use chocolate chips, using chocolate chopped from a bar produces the best result: The varying sizes of chopped chocolate blend in nicely without overpowering the delicate tea flavor.

This classic carrot cake recipe is not overly spiced, and it has texture from the grated carrots, shredded coconut, chopped nuts and raisins If your dried fruit feels dry, plump it either by steaming the fruit for a couple of minutes; pouring boiling water over the fruit then draining it; or even just running it under hot tap water Pat the fruit dry before using it

With bright notes of citrus and richness from ricotta, this subtly sweet cake is what we want to eat for breakfast every day.

Flavored with bittersweet cocoa and tangy buttermilk, then stacked with tart cream cheese frosting, this red velvet cake will keep you coming back for more.

With layers of mocha whipped cream and homemade chocolate chip cookies, this summertime icebox cake is bittersweet, creamy, and crunchy all at once.