Win a Pillivuyt Patisserie Footed Cake Platter!

The best cake I’ve ever had is a magical, old school carrot cake. It’s absolutely delicious. Friends and family all ask me to make it. I’ve told them I can make other things—they just tell me, don’t mess with perfection. A list of ingredients and 350 until done is all the recipe says!

The best cake I’ve ever had was a birthday cake. My birthday cake. It was banana, lovingly made from scratch, by my mom. For my entire childhood, mom always baked this favorite cake of mine - banana - for each of my birthdays. When I was really little, she’d wrap coins in foil and stir them into the batter. Surprises for everyone! The cakes were always moist, light and artistically swirled with her tried and true buttercream frosting. Looking back, no other food stands out so much during my childhood as those banana cakes. Baked only on my birthday. Only by my mom.

My mom died years ago, but she spent her last year living with us. That year on my birthday, mom baked my favorite cake, swirled in buttercream. And that cake was the best cake I’ve ever had.

The best cake I ever had is a lemon and "maria" cookie cake made by my dad. I remember my dad making this cake for us at night and having the scent of lemons filling the room. He would then store the cake in the freezer to taste in the morning, best cake ever.

The best cake I ever had was baked by my mother. Once a year for my brothers birthday she would make, a layered caked, commonly known as the next best thing to Robert Redford. It’s absolutely scrumptious.

A 6 layer coconut cake that I made!!

For my 70th birthday last October 2021 my family had a lemon cake with raspberry filling with sugared strawberries with not too sweet buttercream. It came from a bakery in Hudson, Mass. and if I could choose a last dessert that delicious cake would be it. Sweet memories!

The best cake I have ever had was a Marzipan cake from a Scandinavian bakery in Salt Lake City, Utah.

My husband’s pistachio cake that he makes for my birthday every year. It has just the right combination of crunch and pillowy fresh whipped crème. No cherries in this cake. The freshly chopped roasted pistachios and unsweetened coconut flakes in the batter make this the best cake ever.

The best cake I ever had was a wedding cake - really! It was a tiered cheesecake with whipped cream frosting. I’ve not had one like it since.

The best cake I ever had was one that I made during the pandemic. I was practicing my layer cake baking (without a pedestal, I might add!) and made a chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse and raspberry filling with a chocolate buttercream frosting. I still have dreams of that cake! It would be fabulous on a pedestal!

The BEST cake I ever had was a Lamb Easter Cake (https://www.prouditaliancook.com/2014/04/making-easter-lamb-cake.html) that my boss made for me for my bday and brought it into work for all of our co-workers to enjoy! My birthday is around Easter and I am a HUGE animal fan, so it was perfect and showed how much she appreciated me.

The best cake I ever had was a Devil's Food Cake. So much chocolate!!

The best cake I ever had - don't remember the actual cake, but I do remember going to eat cake with my Mom and my Oma when we went to Germany to visit. Cake has never tasted better than in the company of my German Grandmother!

i once made a vanilla bundt and soaked it with whiskey!

My husband used to get me this fancy white pear cake for my birthday every year; pears in it and and decorating it. Not only was it beautiful, it was delicious! And then we moved away, so I haven't had it in years, but I sure remember it fondly!

My heart was so incredibly full while I watched my then 5 year old son measure, pour and use our mixer (with my help!) to make a birthday cake for his Dad...he was so happy to be a part of creating his cake! We made a homemade yellow cake with cream cheese frosting...NOTHING BETTER! Cooking with kids is the best!!!

The best cake I ever ate was my wedding cake. It was a white cake with buttercream frosting but had a fresh raspberry cream filling. It was so delicious. I have never had a cake that good again.

A lovely chocolate raspberry torte... Amazing!

The best cake ever.. Hands down the birthday cakes my father made for me every year. German Chocolate with the coconut pecan frosting. Both came from a box/mix. I though it was so adult and fancy. Then I would make "Birthday Cake Soup". My dad would serve me my cake and ice cream in a bowl... You smash the cake together with the melty ice cream till combined. Then enjoy! To this day I make a German chocolate cake for my birthday every year. Now from scratch of course ;).

Chocolate fudge cake is my favorite. It's been the cake that every family member requests for their birthday. My mom used to always make it and now I share the cake making with her!

Flour Bakery's triple chocolate mousse cake, especially when it's been sitting in the fridge.

It was a chocolate cake, the first I ever baked from scratch. It was a dark, moist, Devils-Foody kind of cake with milk chocolate buttercream frosting whipped fluffy and swirled on top with a spoon. A cake: two layers, thick slices, melt in your mouth delicious birthday treat igniting my love of baking.

I love cake, but I got excited about it when I was a kid in a way I never have as an adult. My favorite then was my mom's strawberry shortcake-style cake, which she would make for my birthday.

The best cake I ever had was a German chocolate cake with an extra decadent coconut filling - basically all of my favorite ingredients in one place. I can't even remember the restaurant but I still remember the taste of the cake!

Guinness chocolate cake!!! I really picky about cakes, and this cake was THE best chocolate cake on earth. I found the recipe online before St.Patrick's Day one year while searching for new recipes to make for my family. Now I make it every year!

Easy, my wife asked me what kind of wedding cake I wanted. When I said "caramel cake" and she had never heard of it, I figured I didn't have a chance. She surprised me with a 7 layer caramel cake from Caroline's Cakes. We eat one every year now. Best cake ever.

It was a the Creamy Tres Leches cake my husband and I had on our Wedding Day!

A rich white chocolate three tier cake with a vanilla bean filling and white ganache frosting served with fresh strawberries tops my list because of the pristine appearance, simple delicious taste, without being sugary. I will probably dream about this cake now.....

It was a three layer coconut cake with meringue frosting that a friend made for my birthday. Dense yet fluffy, moist, perfect balance between the cake and frosting. Can one love a cake as much as a person? Um, YES!

The best cake ever is my mom's recipe for chocolate cake with butter filling/icing. unusual and decadent.

To be completely honest, I think it was a three-day-old, fridge-cold dense chocolate cake with cream cheese chocolate frosting, eaten while standing in front of said fridge

The best cake that I ever had is one that I made. It is a luscious pineapple coconut triple layer cake. The super moist cake has a coconut pineapple custard filling, and a buttercream coconut frosting. In addition, each layer is baked with a sponge comprising of both coconut and pineapple inside the cake

The best cake I've ever had was a carrot cake I made from a recipe a friend gave me from Southern Living. The three decadent layers of carrot cake were coated with a glaze and complimented with a sour cream frosting. The most time consuming cake I've ever made but so worth the effort!

I love cake, all cake. Cheesecake, Carrot cake, red velvet, I love them all. I've been known to eat an entire chocolate cake in one sitting. g. But the best cake I've ever had was the one directly after my first weight cut. I walk around at 125 and fight at 105. The 6 weeks of a fight camp sees me eating a whole lot of chicken, fish, spinach, and kale, but no sugar or alcohol. After getting my hand raised, I stuffed my face with chocolate stout cupcakes with bourbon frosting. Heaven.

I am a complete citrus fanatic and have been all my life, so when my mum first made a lemon drizzle cake when I was that high (*indicates impossibly small height*) I tried it and it transformed my life forever. I am a complete cake fanatic and I bake for a living but I've never yet met another cake (although pound cake comes ridiculously close) to rival the glorious lemon cake in all its glory. It tastes like sunshine on a plate, and how can that ever be wrong?

Hershey's black magic cake with a simple chocolate ganache topping. Truly delish!!!

It is called Aunt Tom's Italian Cream Cake (Epicurious). Dense, buttery buttermilk vanilla cake with pecans and a sweet cream cheese frosting.

The best cake I ever had was a celebration of CELERY. Yes, a vegetable in a cake other than carrot. I was sat in NYC's Dirt Candy with the love of my life when this heaven on a plate arrived. A spectacular scroll of vivid green sponge and white cream, I breathed in with anticipation. As soon as my fork pressed into the soft sponge, I knew I was in for a treat. The first mouthful was creamy, sweet and nutty. Peanutty. And then the celery swept over my palette, the heightened form of a sensation usually created by holding a jar, reaching into the crisper, and sloppily scooping nut butter to my mouth. The Celery Cheesecake Roll is something I'll never be able to recreate, nor ever forget.

The best cake was chocolate with chocolate frosting that is found on the back of Hershey Cocoa. Absolutely perfect!

The bestest cake is my family recipe for Icelandic Vinatarta - 12 layers, cardamom abound and whisper light luscious buttercream

A layered, light and fluffy almond cake with raspberry jam in between each delicious later!

The best cake I ever had is my grandmother's chocolate torte recipe from Germany, made with ground walnuts.

100-Year-Old Jam Cake. I was surprised when it didn't taste like the blackberry jam I used, but it was still delicious.

Black Sesame Tahini Cake with Matcha Buttercream. Not too sweet, so satisfying though. Everyone that I have try it literally can't stop eating it. It's so balanced for a dessert!

Made a vanilla cake with light lemon buttercream for my nieces 5th birthday, it was decorated with buttercream roses that were vanilla flavored as well. The cake was dense and moist with a sensible vanilla flavor. The light lemon buttercream coating gave it a smooth finish in taste and appearance.

My best cake ever was the Italian cream cake from the bakery I used to work at in Charlottesville, VA! Fluffy layers studded with coconut and pecans, and the creamiest, dreamiest cream cheese frosting... incredible!

Most unforgettable cake I ever made - from scratch yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It was beautiful, perfectly frosted. BUT - I did something wrong! It tasted like chocolate frosted cornbread! My family will never forget the "chocolate corn cake" Dillon got for his birthday!

Bananas foster, yum!

Lemon with raspberry filling!

LOL! Every cake is the best cake I have ever had and should not be saved for last because in life you a should always start with the best! Honestly, love all cakes and will never miss a wedding because the cakes and mints! If I had to pick one it would be recently, the Italian Creme cake. Still trying variations from pumpkin to lemon from the organical. And FYI. No woman can have too many cake pans or pedistals! ;)

Best cake I ever had (and made many times) is an outrageously delicious homemade banana cake with the perfect, not too sweet cream cheese frosting. Everyone that tastes it swoons!

The best cake - lemon cake from a local bakery. SO GOOD.

the best cake Ive had was an italian wedding cake ..amaaaazzing.

Hands down the best cake I have made and devoured is from this web site! The flourless almond and coconut cake. I put slivered almonds and fresh coconut on top. Very lovely!

I was lucky enough to be the daughter of - and also the niece of two of the best bakers in the universe, so choosing my all-time best cake is very difficult. I have to go with our traditional birthday cake. Mom called it a Red Devil's Food - and she always frosted it with Seven-Minute Frosting. Usually there was a thick coating of strawberry jam in between the two layers. In my memory it always arrived at the birthday table very majestic with candles ablaze. For some unknown reason, that cake recipe has not survived, but it will live forever in my brain and my heart.

The fabulous Orange Cake recipe, written in her relaxed hand on a three by five, yellowed card, conjures afternoons in my Mother's pink Minneapolis kitchen, waiting for the first slice of this divine cake served on a Melmac plate. The scent of fresh orange juice, grated citrus rind, and vanilla combined with the buttery pecan 50's beige frosting was sweet comfort. We sat at the pine picnic table that was kitchen central and looked out at her favorite pink balsams in the garden. Tender orangey crumb, textured but not too sweet frosting, a cake to sigh about.

The best cake I ever had was a chocolate one. It was light and moist, not dense, and not gooey like it was underbaked.

Too sentimental to say my wedding cake? But true. From the original Patisserie Lanciani on W. 4th Street - hazelnut cake with rich chocolate mousse filling, covered in a thick flurry of white chocolate curls, and scattered candied violets. Gorgeous and delicious. (The other end of the spectrum - my mother's simple yellow butter cake. Indescribably delicious, needed no embellishment besides a light sprinkling of confectioners' sugar. Iconic in my family!))

While certainly not as elaborate as some of the cakes that other have mentioned, the ice cream cakes of my childhood birthdays are probably my favorite. It always came from Emack and Bolios. The top layer was vanilla chip, with a foundation of peppermint patty. It was nothing fancy or pretentious, but it was perfect all the same.

A waffle ice cream cake! Yes, two of my favourite things put together to make the third! Crisp waffles smothered with chocolate, caramel and coffee ice cream sandwiched like a cake with whipped cream. Dream come true!

Gateau Basque (if cake & pie had a baby-this is their perfect offspring!) Delicious pastry wrapped around luscious custard and a cherry bourbon compote. The best part is sharing--I gave it to my friend!?

My favorite cake to make is your Food 52 Butter Cake. It is moist and delicious and my little grandson's most requested cake from his Gwama!

German chocolate cake with toasted coconut and pecan filling and chocolate frosting. I have made it for friends who really like it. The recipe is from browneyedbaker.com

The Chocolate Maven in Santa Fe NM has some of the best cakes!! The richness of their chocolate torte with some cream cheese frosting is the best! Simple, decadent, delicious!! I really want cake for now!

The best cake I've had is a hummingbird cake that I have written down from years ago - not sure where it's from but it's what I make when I want to impress!

The best cake I've eaten in recent memory must be David Lebovitz's German Chocolate cake, one I baked for my mother's birthday this year. Her favorite -- and now mine too. ♡

The best cake I ever had was the soft yet coarse white cake with buttercreme icing at the bakery at Walmart. Priced to sale at $12.98 for a 43 oz, I could not simply pass it up. The buttercreme sat there on the shelf triggering my inner sweet demons tormenting me with the desire to be eaten right then and there. I quickly packed it in my cart and waited in the express line...so quick it's sickening. Once arriving at home I opened up the plastic cover and unveiled the delectable white cake. The cake was patterned with perennials and lime color vines, unprecedented artistry. I then grabbed a plastic fork to avoid extra dishes and after a couple of broken forks I was on my way. The texture was that of a dry sponge...perfect. The icing was as sweet as a carrot...sugar rush. I could not help but think that cake was meant for me. A reminder that greatness can be found in the unlikeliest places. A reminder to us on how cake should be made. A reminder that the bakery of Walmart is "Making Cake Great Again."

Coconut buttercream frosted coconut cake. 5 layers. It was 6" tall!

Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake made by my mom. The best.

The best cake that I ever had was a red velvet cake that my old boss brought in to work once. It was the richest, most dense red velvet cake I've ever tasted, and was topped with the fluffiest cream cheese frosting. She was practically a professional baker and made all sorts of tasty treats, but her red velvet truly took the cake, pun intended!

That is such a hard question! I did once make my husband a homemade chocolate pecan cake for his birthday and it was SO good! I could really go for some of that!

My mom's dark chocolate birthday cake made with fresh brewed coffee... mmm ?

The best cake ever was the brownie cake that I pulled out of my friend Joan's Suzy Bake oven when I was 8 years old. It was amazing simply because we made all by ourselves.

The Momofuku banana layer cake was such an insane, delicious labor of love :)

The best cake recipe I've ever made is a classic called "Miriam's Chocolate Cake" from my dear mother, Dottie, who used to make it for all of my birthdays. It was always special with the drippy buttercream frosting;she rarely made a cake from "scratch". I now proudly make Miriam's with the finest cocoa. I am smacking my lips just thinking about it!
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The best cake I've ever had is the New York Times coconut layer cake recipe but with a coconut buttercream substituting the cream cheese in the original recipe..

yellow and chocolate marbled cake with some cinnamon mixed in

Best cake I have ever had is the passion fruit cake at Masse's Bakery in Berkeley, CA.

best cake ever was black forest cake with real dark dark red cherries. yum!

Cream Cheese Stuffed King Cake is the best and one of the many reasons I love living in New Orleans

The best cake I ever had was one I made for my brother's birthday. It's from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook- the Banana Chocolate Hazelnut layer cake. It's the perfect bite of intensely flavored banana cake layered with a luscious banana cream along with hazelnut crunch , feuilletine, and chocolate fudge. Delicious and stunning when presented on a white cake pedestal.

The best cake I have ever had is a flourless chocolate and hazelnut torte that I made. It was delicious with a raspberry sauce drizzled on top!

What a timely contest!! The best cake I've had in recent memory is the one I baked a few days ago, Oh Sweet Day's Banana Chocolate Espresso Cake!! The layers are actually banana bread, sealed together with thick dark chocolate ganache and a light espresso buttercream. It was so delectable and simple to make that I whipped together a second one the very next day to share with my coworkers!!

My dear friend was reading a Martha Stewart magazine and came across a photo of a magnificent Independence Day cake, complete with layers, imperfect white frosting, and tiny pennant banners on BBQ skewers. She became a woman possessed and thought of nothing but the cake. She drove 35 miles one-wayto get the ingredients to make it from scratch (our small-town grocer didn't carry the necessary items) and spent hours perfecting it for our 4th of July BBQ. It was so beautiful when she unveiled her masterpiece that no one would cut it. The cake sat there on the picnic table all day until night fell and the lights above attracted bugs, which got stuck in the icing. My poor friend was devastated that no one had enjoyed her hard work- so one by one we picked the struggling bugs off of the cake and ate a slice. And you know what?

It was wonderful.

The best cake I ever had is usually the last one I made. I love baking and eating cake, and am rarely disappointed (with some fairly stunning exceptions!) But I really do think the last one I made, James McNair's ginger cake with macadamia frosting. I was pretty skeptical--I thought the recipe had a typo, and that the buttercream frosting would be too heavy--but no, it really does take one cup of fresh grated ginger, and the buttercream is the perfect balance.

Heaven and hell cake. Absolutely the best. I had it at a fine restaurant then made it myself. It was even better. Angel food, Devils food layers with peanut butter mousse filling covered with chocolate ganache

Carrot cake from the Beat This cookbook. It has a great cooked pecan filling and doesn't include unnecessary raisins and pineapple, just carrots and toasted pecans. I made it for a friend's wedding and one of her relatives asked for the recipe as s last request before she died.

My best cake is a classic, Red Velvet Layer Cake. I start with my one and only shortcut -- Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix, doctored up with some sour cream and a little extra vanilla and food coloring. I bake it, torte and split the layers to create four level layers in total. Then, the buttercream -- my own recipe, created from weeks of painstaking experimentation (delicious, yes, though "painstaking" in the waistband). I layer on the frosting, then do a crumb coat. Chill in the fridge a bit, then I pipe on roses of varying size to conpletely cover the cake. Garnish with fresh mint leaves around the perimeter base, and a couple of raspberries and mint leaves dot the center in the top. Classic on all fronts!

German chocolate made by my sister for a friend's wedding. So moist, so perfect. Absolutely delightful and rich.

My best cake would have to be the cake I made my mom when I was 9 years old. Right before my mom's birthday I saved my money so I could go to the store with my dad. Together we picked out the perfect cake ingredients. Then, when we got home, we made my mom a chocolate cake topped vanilla icing and sprinkles. Today, I still have that picture hanging up in my room- my mom's perfect birthday!

The best cake I've ever eaten is a chocolate pound cake one of my husband's customers gave him as a thank you gift.

It had a simple sugar glaze, was incredibly moist, and is a generational family recipe. She said it also has a secret ingredient which we suspect may be mayonnaise or cream cheese, but she would not tell us obviously.

It was such a delicious but simple cake. I hope to replicate soon.

Carrot cake after watching an episode of 'Best Thing I Ever Made' on Food Network.

The best cake I think is Elinor Klivans Chocolate Chip Fudge Cake. It has wonderful flavor.

The best cake I ever had was and Angel food cake that had blackberries baked into it and lemon curd drizzled over the top with whipped cream. So light and tart and delicious!

So many delicious cakes to choose from! I think one of the best cakes I've ever eaten is carrot cakery from Gayle's Bakery in Capitola, California. My grandmother loved this bakery, and would make special trips to pick out birthday cakes and special-occasion cakes for us throughout the year. Last year my mom followed the tradition when my now-husband and I got engaged, and picked out a delicious carrot cake for an impromptu engagement party. This cake's got lots of shredded carrots, a few raisins, and perfectly tangy cream cheese frosting. It's a real winner!

Shirley's pound cake =)

SK's 'I want chocolate cake' cake is hard to beat. Rich, moist, and delicious. Yum.

Triple Meringue Pavolva, always gone in less than five minutes!

vegan peanut butter bomb cake by vegan treats in bethlehem!

The best cake I've ever tried is a Chocolate Depression Cake, also known as a Wacky Cake or Crazy Cake

Miette's bumble bee cake made at home. Aged for three days on the counter, the yellow cake becomes superbly buttery. The dark chocolate ganache isn't too sweet, but just right. Mmm all that work and flavor justifies this cake to be a true celebratory cake.

Cardamom pistachio cake with white chocolate buttercream. Yummmmmm.

Our wedding cake was one tier of chocolate chiffon with toffee, chocolate ganache and caramel buttercream. The second tier was tiramisu. Both were delicious but I loved the chocolate the best.

Best cake I've ever eaten is my family carrot cake recipe! It's chunky, full of walnuts, pineapple, NO raisins, and topped with a classic cream cheese. It's the only recipe I don't share outside the family - it's nothing magical, but it's ours and it's perfect.

Best cake I ever ate? My own chocolate roulade with whipped-cream frosting. But the second-best is the German Chocolate cake from Magnolia.

One of my all time favorite desserts is a huge slice of devil's food layer cake and ice cold milk!

Nordstrom's Paradise Cake with English toffee between layers of chocolate cake and served with a pool of caramel sauce. It is a wonderfully decadent dessert.

When I first discovered I had Celiac disease, I was crushed. I had baked endlessly for years in the hopes of one day becoming a professional baker. My mom surprised me one day by bringing home a blend of gluten free flours. She told me to give it a chance and attempt to recreate my famous pineapple upside down cake. If it didn't work, we could try again until we got it right. I had given up on sweets at that point, but I tried, running through the familiar motions with little hope. When that cake came out of the oven and was flipped over, the golden brown pineapple and cherries glistening in the light(they probably weren't. I just really missed cake), I knew this was about to be the best cake I had ever had. It was and I still use that recipe today.

Best cake I ever had was pepper fig jam layered between 3 rounds of pounds cake covered in goat cheese swiss buttercream.

In late elementary school I was invited to a birthday party for a friend. Her mother made a banana layer cake with fresh bananas and a vanilla cream that I still dream about!

For my daughter's first birthday, I baked a vanilla bean triple layer cake and frosted it with fresh strawberry buttercream... it was my favorite cake ever!

I´ve had this amazing chocolate cake, the frosting was a bit bitter but sweet at the same time. The balance between the moisture of the cake and the smoothness of the frosting was just to die for. I always look for that same taste in every chocolate cake I taste. I´ve done my chocolate cake and it is almost close to the one i´ve had and on this lovely stand will look AMAZING!!!

The best cake I ever had was the Humming Bird cake that my neighbor made for my birthday. She knew my husband and kids would pick up a grocery store cake so she took it upon herself to make my favorite cake for my birthday. It tasted every morsel of special that her gesture was to me.

Red Velvet is my favorite cake, for my birthday this year by best friend made me her - famous - in our circle of friends. It was so moist and the right balance of flavors, the frosting was perfect, not to thick, light and creamy at the same time. She has yet to give me the recipe but I think that If I win this lovely cake stand that will be the very first cake that will grace it!

I dream about a white chocolate layer cake with a thick raspberry filling and white chocolate frosting covered with fresh raspberries and white chocolate shavings. I made it for my husband's birthday party and there wasn't a crumb left!

My grandmothers butter pound cake was always the best! I don't know how much butter was in there, but no one ever left a crumb!

Teddie's Apple Cake (without raisins or nuts) has long been a family favorite and fall tradition. I love Jewish oil cakes of all kinds, and this one never disappoints.

Lemon cake filled with raspberries and topped with matcha buttercream from Pattycake Bakery in Columbus, OH.

A piece of coconut cream cake from Violet Cakes' Saturday stall at Broadway Market in East London...eaten with friends and fizz on a rare sunny day on the lock of Regent's Canal at the foot of the market. I've made this cake so many times since moving to LA from London and each time it brings me back to this moment.

The best cake I ever has was my grandmas pineapple cake. My grandma was a maid and cooked and cleaned after the families she cared for. When I was younger I spend tons of time at my grandparents house and never once did I see her ever use a box to make a cake. Every year for my birthday (before she passed) she would make me a pineapple cake. It was a white cake that was light and fluffy. It wasn't to sweet. It was just right and left you wanting more. The icing was white with small bits of pineapple in it that left you wanting to "slap yo mama" (dont worry i never did because I'd get in trouble) haha. The middle of the cake wasnt icing but was more of the pineapple bits, however it was in some sort of jelly (but wasnt jelly). It was a beautifully delicious cake made with love. We never thought to ask her for the recipe because we thought she would be around longer than she was, so till this day my family tries to replicate this cake, but is never quite like grandmas cake. There have been times where I eat at "whole in the wall" restaurants only to find bits and pieces of nostalgia that remind me of her cake. So, my hope is to one day make her pineapple cake and place it on this pedestal as a tribute to my grandmas cake that would make you wanna "slap yo mama".

I recently made a chai-spiced ricotta cake that was the stuff of dreams. Light and fluffy, not too sweet so seconds are welcomed, comforting aroma, and could be enjoyed for breakfast.

The best cake I ever had I made for my 32nd birthday. Dark chocolate layer cake with hints of coffee, filled and frosted with a coconut pecan icing.

The best cake I ever had was a birthday cake made for me by my friend Jade, an incredible baker. I wore a straw garden hat with a black grosgrain ribbon, and she replicated the hat perfectly, even to the same size. She made a yellow cake with a peach and whipped cream filling, and the icing was a gorgeous and silky smooth buttercream.

The best cake I've ever had was this delicious coconut layer cake with what was probably a mascarpone filling between the layers served in a little pool of cream with fresh raspberries - definitely won't forget that anytime soon!

Triple Decker chocolate fudge cake (family name) that I had each birthday baked by my father.

My mom's Coca Cola cake. The cake is so moist and chocolatey! The frosting is my favorite part though; it's like fudge. I used to beg my mom to make only the frosting and let us eat it like fudge, which she would never do, but she did finally cave and double the the frosting recipe eventually. Now she always makes it with double the frosting and it's amazing!!

The best cake I ever had was a moist chocolate cake with nuts and cherries. It was so delicious.

A Fraisier cake I made adapting Mary Berry's recipe (on the BBC site) inspired by one of her GBBO technical challenges . . . . I stirred some crushed almond praline - the same I use in Paris-Brest -- into the creme pat, and made enough to sprinkle generously on top as well. Outstanding, if I may say so. The added texture and almond flavor boost from the praline put it over the top. ;o)

Our family's go to favorite is from bon appetite - a citrus olive oil cake. Everyone loves it. Very adaptable to ice cream or strawberries on top.

The best cake I've ever had is the amazing Flourless Chocolate Cake baked only on special occasions by my grandma, best cake ever!

The best cake I've ever had and recreated was a four layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and crumbled dacquoise inbetween the layers. Tender spiced cake, the lovely compliment of sour notes in the frosting and the light crunchy texture of the dacquoise was perfection in every bite. Would love to adorn this beautiful stand with one!

The best cake I've ever had is my mother's recipe. Dark chocolate with brewed coffee as the secret ingredient. Add to that a penuche frosting. Need I say that it would look beautiful on this gorgeous cake stand?

The one that comes to mind immediately was yellow cake with butterscotch pudding between the layers and a whipped cream frosting. Add bananas for good measure. ;) Also anything with a legit cream cheese frosting!

My grandmother was a fantastic scratch baker--won blue ribbons at the fair, the whole deal. She had one recipe she would not give up, for her Strawberry Cake, which was pure pink heaven and only made when strawberries were in season. A white cake turned pink with strawberry juice, studded with strawberries, frosted with strawberry buttercream, topped with fresh strawberries. I loved it because she protected it so, and I begged and begged for the recipe. She mailed it to me shortly before she passed, with "TOP SECRET!!" on the envelope. Imagine my shock to find that it used a white box cake and frozen strawberries, with fresh only as the garnish! Still love it. And her.

Best cake I ever had was my wedding cake. Dark chocolate with raspberry filling between the layers, covered in buttercream with shaved white chocolate all over it. Yum!

It was probably mine that I baked! Chocolate cake with salted caramel. It's a Martha Stewart recipe. Amazing!! And might I add that either that cake or my coconut layer cake with lemon curd would look amazeballs on the platter!

The Pioneer Woman's Coffee Cake (Literally) is, hands down, THE best cake I've ever had!

The best cake I've had is the Caramel cake my great grandmother would make all the time. She'd actually send me care packages with individual slices in sandwich bags when I was in college. Miss her and that cake!

Gosh, it's so hard to pick the best one.. I'd have to say it would be the no-bake cheesecake I learned from my mom. Graham cracker crust and fruit topping it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser and I've made it many times over the years.

My grandmother used to make a banana cake with meringue icing for my Uncles birthday. It was heavenly. She made it once a year for him until she passed...she took along her recipe sadly.

Best i've had yet, chocolate genoise with caramel mousse, hazelnut praline, and ghanache. I am drooling over it to this day. Always open to trying more. hint hint.

Homemade funfetti cake with lemon curd filling! The curd was the best part!!

Cappuccino chocolate layer cake, Bon Appetit recipe, that I've been perfecting over the past five years! Best cake ever. Four layers of chocolate cake soaked in an espresso simple syrup, covered in a cinnamon fudge frosting. Pure decadence.

The best cake I've ever had was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting made for me by my two daughters when they were little girls. Thinking of their sweet gesture still makes me smile many years later....and how we took three forks to it. :)

There's this cake called Black Magic and it truly is magical! By far the best, most decadent cake I've ever had! It's a rich, semi sweet chocolate cake made with fresh brewed coffee with the most creamy chocolate ganache ever. So goooood!

I've eaten quite a lot of cake, but I think the best I have ever had was one I made a few years ago for a friend's birthday- 3 layer almond cake with raspberry preserves between each layer and a Swiss buttercream covering. Yum!!

The best cake is a deep rich chocolate cake. My daughter and I love to see who can find the latest best recipe! I would love to present my next chocolate cake to her on this beautiful cake stand - pretty please ?!?!

I'm a teacher. It was a snow day. I stumbled upon a recipe for a three layer chocolate cake with mocha frosting. I made it. I ate it...all! It was so moist, so flavorful, and so pleasant to eat on a snow day.

A dear friend of mine makes the best 3-layer coconut cake I've ever eaten. The recipe is kept secret, but I've requested it be left to me in her will.

The best cake I've ever had was a tall chocolate cake with layers of espresso buttercream and salted caramel, topped with malted milk balls, mini chocolate chip cookies, pretzels, and brownies brittle. The best part is that I made it myself.

The best cake I've ever had was my wedding cake: lemon cake with raspberry cream filling. My husband fought his way in to the kitchen at our wedding to get us each a second piece. And, a year later, the top tier was just as delicious as we remembered....

The best cake I've ever had was a cake I made for my best friend's birthday by cobbling together a few recipes. It was a chocolate hazelnut cake with 2 different chocolate mousse fillings and a chocolate ganache. That was a few years ago and i can't seem to find the recipes!

The best cake I've ever had, is my mother's sponge cake recipe topped with fresh in-season strawberries and a tiny bit of all natural vanilla ice cream! Perfect for the summer!

The best cake I've ever had is the S'More Layer Cake from the smittenkitchen cookbook!

Have a recipe for carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting. Super moist and delicious!

I once made a Chocolate Coffee Whiskey cake and put in three times the amount of whiskey called for, by accident. It was the best cake I've ever had!

The best cake I've ever had, is the one my Mom makes every year for my birthday. It is a Lemon cake with Lemon Cream Cheese frosting, topped with her Strawberry jam. The cake and frosting has lemon peel in it. It is the most delicious/fresh combo. I would love to do her cake justice with this beautiful cake stand.

I would have to say a cake I made for a dear friend's birthday. It was Italian Coconut Cream with fresh lemon curd filling. So worth every hour invested.?

without a doubt, the chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and chocolate ganache from smittenkitchen. beautiful, incredibly rich, and a surprisingly peanut buttery icing.

My birthday cake is always dark devil's food with white buttercream frosting and a bittersweet shadow icing.

The best cake I ever had (not to toot my own horn) was probably the first cake I'd ever baked! I usually have good beginner's luck and decided that to make a birthday cake inspired by Molly Yeh - vanilla rosemary cake with layers of berry preserves and vanilla mascarpone buttercream. I did not have a cake stand, so it was placed, kind of sadly, on a plate.

By far, the best cake I ever had was my wedding cake. I baked it and my best friend decorated it. 4 tiers, including lemon with lemon curd, red velvet with cream cheese, and chocolate with chocolate buttercream.

This dark chocolate mousse wonder of a cake paired with red wine - first time wine and food was paired well for me. Had in Alexandria, VA at Emma's Espresso and Wine Bar. #cakeplatterplz

Rich, dark chocolate cake with buttercream frosting! Mmmm!

The best cake I've ever had was in Paris: delicate layers of vanilla sponge cake filled with alternating layers of pistachio cream and tart apricot jam, and poured with white chocolate ganache. Très bien!

Smitten Kitchen's brown butter hazelnut cake with chocolate ganache... Hubby now requests it for every birthday!

My momma's homemade carrot cake with decadent cream cheese frosting. Nothing beats it!

The best cake I have ever eaten was made by my mother in law, who was a fabulous cook (Sam's Grandma). It was a chocolate praline cake. I think it was a bake-off winner years ago, Pillsbury I think. I tried making it once and didn't turn out too well. It was moist, plenty of praline topping with nuts, and she frosted it with whipped cream. YUM!

A marble cake with chocolate chips in it from Susiecakes.

My grandma's chocolate bundt cake with homemade chocolate glaze. Because she only made it for my dad's birthday each year, it's almost magical!

My mom always made these adorable rainbow cakes for our birthdays growing up. She'd careful dye 4 equal bowls of batter red, yellow, green, and blue, then enlist our help to pour two into one round cake pan, then the other two into the other (so they took up half the pan and met in the middle). Mark the midpoint line with a bit of foil, then cut them down the middle and assemble them standing up. It was like magic when she made that first slice and all four layers were a different color. It was just a boxed cake mix, but it's still my favorite cake ever.

Best chocolate I've ever had was a chocolate flan bunt cake I made in a baking class, creamy and fluffy at th same time silky and just so tasty

Banana cake with cream cheese frosting

The Silver Palate's Decadent Chocolate Cake! My mom makes it every year for my dad's birthday in July and it's the perfect chocolate cake. All chocolate, not too sweet, with a thin layer of fudgy icing that you want to eat with a spoon. For a while, it was the only worthwhile thing I knew how to cook (thank goodness for Food52!).

The best cake I ever made was a deep rich chocolate cake (from the fabulous Joy the Baker) with a fluffy marshmallow marscapone frosting layered between and a rich sour cream chocolate frosting lightly covering the outside. It was a perfect balance of light and rich.

THE best cake my tongue, and everyone else's, has ever had the pleasure of tasting: Chocolate Raspberry Mascarpone Cake from Mon Petit Four. 3-layered ever so decedent cake made with 1.5 cups of coffee (I mixed hazelnut and vanilla), milk chocolate chips, and a sweet raspberry filling. This cake is a winner everytime I make it. Converting it to cupcakes this weekend for a party! Greatest cake ever.

The best cake I ever had was a carrot cake my mom made last Christmas. It was the most moist cake full of carrots, pineapple, raisins, walnuts, and spices. Covered with the creamiest cream cheese frosting.

The best cake I ever had was a German chocolate cake with pecan,coconut, caramel frosting in a diner in New Jersey. Totally unexpected and totally fabulous.

The best cake I ever had was the chocolate cake I made from a Barefoot Contessa recipe. I made it for my daughter's birthday last year and it has become her favorite too.

The best cake I had was a plain vanilla bean cake, with a creamy buttercream frosting. I was testing out different combinations of cake flour, butter and vanilla bean pastes when I made it. I had forgotten to write down the ingredient ratios, and my husband and I took a bite, and he turned to me and said, 'Now that's cake...'. I have been trying to duplicate it ever since! We've come so close, I hope to figure it out soon... we tend to have a surplus of cake around the home.

The best cake I've ever had in adulthood is LA's famous Sweet Lady Jane multi-layer triple berry cake. It is truly to die for, as one may float to sugary clouds above dreaming of riding unicorns and sliding down rainbows. Seriously, the best.

My dad always spoke of a particular cake his southern mother would make him. For his birthday one year, I tracked down her recipe for "butternut cake" - and ohhhhh my was that an amazing (and incredibly sweet!) cake!! The cake was extremely moist, and the icing was a buttery, nutty sugary dream. Come to think of it, I need to make it again!!

The best cake I had was this gingerbread cake with sweet cream cheese frosting. It was light, but tasted just like a gingerbread cookie. Not too sweet, but would definitely satisfy a sweet tooth!

The best cake I've ever had was the tiny cutting cake made for our wedding. We only had a few bites but it was just perfect white cake with buttercream. Someday I hope to duplicate it.

A chocolate red wine cake. The best alternative to a traditional red velvet cake you could imagine.

Hands down, the best cake was a carrot cake I had a couple years back on my birthday. My sister surprised me with this layered beauty packed with so much love, carrots, nuts, and raisins. It was also topped with this incredible candied carrot situation.

The best cake I've ever had was from a little cake shop in Seattle called Just Desserts. It had white chocolate Swiss buttercream over moist dark chocolate cake with shavings of chocolate on top. I've tried recreating it, but can't even get close.

Lady M green tea crepe cake in New York!

The best cake I ever had...was a tiramisu! I had it as a house-warming present. Instead of drinking my regular cup of joe in the morning, I had my coffee in the form of a sweet, delicate and creamy tiramisu with lady fingers soaked in coffee (a deconstructed latte, if you will). It wasn't too sweet for a breakfast treat!

The best cake I've ever had is a peanut butter chocolate cake I made for my boyfriend's birthday last year. It had a very moist chocolate cake, a peanut butter cream cheese frosting, and a decadent chocolate ganache topping.

The best cake I've had was Amanda Hesser's Chocolate Dump-it cake! I stumbled across the recipe in Cooking for Mr. Latte, made it for a friend's birthday and have loved it ever since.

The moist, light, chocolate cake from Preston"s Steakhouse in Naples, Florida. The owners wife would bake only one cake each night (some years ago).

the best and prettiest cake I've ever made was the Very Vanilla Sprinkle Cake from the Baked Occasions cookbook! it was so fun and colorful! everyone loved it! ?

The best was a test for a wedding cake - it was a white cake with wine in it plus raspberry frosting! Just thinking about it makes me salivate...

Believe it or not, the best cake i had was a birthday cake I made for myself when I was probably 14. It was a hello cake with whipped cream frosting and sprinkles. It was a hit!

Last summer all my family flew home in July to visit our parents and enjoy family together. We celebrated my sisters birthday with a 8 layer yellow cake with chocolate buttercream- a F52 recipe! We decorated with Lily's from Mom's garden and pulled the table outside to enjoy the weather. 5 generations celebrating a birthday together with homemade cake--- priceless memories!

I love a properly made carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

The best cake I've ever had wouldn't be necessarily be a great tasting cake, but the day was filled with fishing, swimming, and playing outdoor games with family. Ending with a angel food cake with strawberries.

Mine would have to be a chocolate cake that has been in my family for generations. It's known as "Aunt Maes Chocolate Cake" The espresso, cinnamon and chocolate make for the most divine thing you will ever eat!

Salted caramel popcorn cake. Dark chocolate cake covered in salted caramel buttercream and piled high with caramel popcorn and salted caramel drizzle. I made it for my sisters birthday. Best cake ever!

the best cake I've ever had is a white chocolate butter cake from the Cake Bible... Absolutely delicious!

The King's Cake from Laduree is absolutely incredible

The best cake I've ever had if from the bakery in my hometown. The same woman has owned and operated the bakery for as long as I remember. The bakery is only opened a few hours a day, and she only takes so many orders a week. She is called the cake lady, and her chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream has been present at all the big events in my life like important graduations and birthdays. I'm not sure if it's the cake or the memories, but the cake lady's cakes are truly the best cakes I've ever had.

The best cake I ever had was the cake my boyfriend made me to ask me to be his girlfriend.

For my 30th birthday, I got in my head that smores would taste yummy in cake form, so, I baked myself a smores cake! I made a graham cacker cake, with homemade marshmallow fluff and chocolate ganache. Yum!

a chocolate coffee cake i make at least once a year! so dense, rich, and smooth!

I'm not much of a cake eater. I'd much rather have pie! Although, I do have quite a weakness for carrot cake. The best I've had is from the local co-op just a quick walk away from my office. Oh so good!

The best cake I've ever had is a tough decision to make against all the amazing confections I've tasted! But, if I must narrow it down, it would have to be the pineapple coconut tres leches cake the first pastry chef I worked with used to make. Three layers of moist, soaked yellow cake, layered with a pineapple coconut mascarpone pastry cream, frosted with Chantilly, then coated with some beautiful freshly toasted coconut. AH-MAZING.

The best cake I've ever had was a chocolate hazelnut layered macaroon torte. I found the recipe from a friend who is obsessed with smitten kitchen. Hands down the best cake/dessert I've ever eaten.

Classic butterscotch pecan sponge cake.

A strawberry lemonade cake! Made it for my 30th birthday party. Mmmmmm

I made a carrot cake for my best friend's birthday that I ate for breakfast the next day. It was so dense and spicy and the cream cheese frosting set the bar. Maybe I should make it again soon :)

I recently made a browned butter pecan cake with a caramel praline frosting and candied pecans. I've had many cakes in my life but this was the best ever. My 80 year old mother in law who is brutally honest called to tell me it was the best cake she had also ever eaten in her life. She asked for more so she could share the love.

It is a "beginner's" cake recipe, but it has "expert" quality in reproducibility and flavor. Oh, yes, and the recipe is on the back of a box: "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake. I still love this cake!

The best cake I've ever had is a chocolate cake in one of Ina Gartens cookbooks. I was skeptical while making it because the batter was so thin, but the result was so delightfully chocolatey and fluffy I was shocked!

salted caramel brown butter cake..just yummmm

Red velvet cake with four layers of white chocolate mousse frosting... it was for my birthday!

Veneiro's Pasticeria in New York City makes a lovely Fruit sponge (atleast I think that is what its called) vanilla sponge, buttercream topped with fresh fruits. But maybe its my bias since that was the very first cake I had when I first moved to New York from Cape Town 20 years ago.!

I made for my husband's birthday an olive oil basil cake filled with chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries. Tied for best cake is my Margarita cake with lime and tequila frosting.

I just went to a delightful little Italian restaurant in a neighboring town, owned and operated by a lovely little old Italian lady who comes out to talk to the diners at the beginning of the night in her thick accent. She made a tiramisu cake that was to die for.

A fairly simple pink champagne cake from Beaverton Bakery in Oregon. It had the perfect ratio of frosting to cake.

Toni Patisserie outside Chicago makes a white chocolate mousse cake with a raspberry sauce on the side. It's sublime.

my grandmother's marble bundt butter cake. dense, moist and perfect with a cup of tea. sadly i haven't been able to replicate it successfully yet :( (not for lack of trying!)

Our wedding theme is tea party around the world (basically afternoon tea with teas and Hors d'oeuvres from different place around the world; which came from many ethnic shops we love to go on our date). We'd love to have our wedding cake to have green tea, French style, with Asian nod as respect to our background. We were able to find a pattisiere that can do our dream cake and more.
She make a unique layered cake, made of soaked ladyfingers, sweet adzuki bean paste, chewy coconut meringue, light green tea mousse and candied grapefruit peel. It is totally different, eclectic, and totally us. I may be cheesy, but I think that our wedding cake is the best cake I have ever eaten.

chocolate cake with bailey's buttercream!

The best cake I have ever had would have to be my Mom's Orange Date Nut Cake. She made it every year for my birthday. My brother always had her make Lemon Chiffon and my sister loved her Boston Cream Pie.

The best cake I've ever had was brought to me by a friend who knows my passion for baking & sampling for inspiration. Purchased from an old bakery which had seen its heyday, the times of glory long faded with the imminent growth of chained operations. It was a slice of chocolate (never my go-to), not overly sweet with a punchy cocoa flavor, bittersweet ganache, and hazelnut - caramelized into thin crunchy layers of nutty perfection playing perfectly with the light moist cake. Within 3 seconds of that first bite, my eyes shut instinctively and trance like. Nirvana. They, of course, immediately shot back open ravenously searching for the next forkful. Although there was a thorough examination of the cake's anatomy, it was never reproduced. Some things should be left sacred.

The best cake I've had was an espresso layer cake with cinnamon buttercream. Yum!

The Smitten Kitchen "Best Birthday Cake" is a consistent winner in my family!

lemon crunch cake from aiea bowl on honolulu. tender yellow cake, pastry cream, whipped cream, lemon curd and toffee bits. still trying to recreate it at home, but i know it'll be worth it!

A slice of carrot cake in Bath. The carrots were really roughly grated and the nuts were left chunky. Tons of tart frosting on top. Amazing.

The best cake I ever had was the cake my mom made me for my birthday one year. It was the worst-tasting cake you've ever had--a half-raw mess of strawberry cake with lumpy cream cheese frosting. (For a scientist, my mother has a surprising lack of understanding of how to properly measure ingredients--she's convinced everything is just a 'rough guideline'). It sounds sappy, I know, but the fact that she spent the one day a week she gets off from work baking a cake for my birthday? No other cake has ever come close.

Sachertorte from the original Hotel Sacher in Vienna!

Smores cake! Made for a friend's birthday/ engagement party and so fun!

I don't often eat cake that isn't homemade these days, but I immodestly nominate a rosace a l'orange I made a few weeks ago--2 layers of genoise brushed with Grand Marnier and orange sugar syrup left from the candied orange slices shining from in between a layer of vanilla diplomat cream (pastry cream lightened with whipped cream). Like a creamsicle in cake form.

Hmmm, I love cakes, I really do, but the best cake I ever had was a cake made by Mister Baker in Abu Dhabi. This cake by far was tr moistest, most perfect sweetness gathering, not too much rich chocolate cake they at melted in your mouth. I didn't much care for frostings, but this frosting wasn't your normal Betty Crocker sugar delight. This was a lightly sweetened whipped frosting which perfectly married itself to the cake without overpowering the moist chocolate cake itself. Ughhhh, I have to stop talking about it before I go crazy for the next week or so! Well. That's my most favorite simple cake from the UAE!!!

Clarence Rivera

So many good cakes...What comes to mind instantly though is lemon chiffon topped with whipped cream and lemon curd.

Last October, I made my boyfriend a birthday cake - three-layer chocolate filled with peanut butter buttercream and chocolate buttercream, frosted with peanut butter buttercream and a chocolate glaze over the top. It was a little over the top, but yummy, and everyone enjoyed it.

The best cake I ever made was the Italian Orange Olive Oil cake that I found on Food52! I've made it soooo many times and every time, it's gone in a flash.

The best cake I ever had, and made (!), was for my husband's birthday. He loves both lemon and coconut, so I made a triple layer cake that incorporated his two favorite flavors, also adding lemon curd and toasted coconut flakes! It was a definite hit and one that I shall be making in many years to come!

One of my best cakes was made just after I was married. I used my trusted Better Homes and Garden cookbook (a wedding gift) to make a white cake filled with lemon curd and frosted it with my first 7 minute frosting. I wanted to put coconut on the icing, but was informed by my husband that he didn't like coconut. We compromised and I put coconut on half of the cake. We were both in heaven with our slices. Imagine my amazement the next day when I discovered he had eaten almost all of the coconut side! From then on I never had to abstain from frosting an entire cake with coconut icing.

my mother's cheesecake (if that counts) which she got from her mother- make it every thanksgiving and Christmas! and sometimes an extra one if the guests eat it all up ;)

apple cake with brown sugar buttercream from a wonderful bakery in los angeles

Homemade funfetti is up there for me, thanks to the nostalgia factor!

The best I ever had is Ina's Coconut Cake. It became my Mom's favorite and she asked me to make it for her on her birthday, Mother's Day and Easter. Her excitement and enthusiasm over all this coconut goodness was impressive!

The Milk Bar funfetti cake - I baked it for my own birthday!

Best cake I've ever had was on a road trip. We were in Nashville and we were supposed to be eating brunch, but I spied a peach cake from where we were sitting and asked our waitress if we could start off our meal with that cake. I don't typically start off my brunches with a slice of cake, but I'd gladly eat that peach cake as the appetizer for every meal!

The most memorable cake I've ever had was my first pavlova, almost 30 years ago in Northern Ireland. I had never heard of such a dessert, and it was a complete delight.

peninsula grill's coconut cake--we love it so much, we're having it at our wedding!

My best friend and I always pick up a giant hunk of chocolate cake from a local cafe, The Root Cellar (Chapel Hill, NC), before heading off on a road trip, after running a hard race, or because it's Tuesday. When that cake is around, good times are to follow.

While it might not be a cake my best was a chocolate torte where I got the recipe from here

Best cake in recent memory - Smitten Kitchen's yeasted bee sting cake (the pastry cream was extra-amazing) http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/04/bee-sting-cake/

When all is said and done, the James Beard Four Egg Layer cake is my favorite. It's just a simple, moist cake that I have frosted several ways and it stands up to any sidekicks that you fill it with including meringue, jams, and creams. I guess after all the fancy things I have eaten and even made myself , in the end I am old fashioned!

It's maple season here in the Northeast and we celebrated by visiting a maple festival. We bought maple syrup and maple sugar. One evening I walked into the kitchen an caught my husband drinking maple syrup from
the bottle. He was embarrassed, but I was inspired. For his birthday last week a made a triple layer spice cake and with frosting made with the maple sugar. Yum!

The best cake I ever had was from a food52 recipe! It was a walnut cake with meringue, walnuts and whipped cream that I made for a special occasion.

The best cake of all: my grandmother's sponge cake with whipped cream and strawberries.

The best cake I ever had was the green tea mille-feuille from Lady M bakery in New York. It was so good that we ended up working with the bakery for our wedding cakes, and the chestnut cream-filled one they provided is an easy second best.

I must lead a charmed life, because I have too many "best cakes" to choose from! One of my favorites is a red velvet cake layered with stabilized whipped cream and topped with fresh berries. It's a perfect cake to bring to a Fourth of July party, and it's delightful in its simplicity.

An old chocolate cake recipe my mom would make using mayonnaise in lieu of eggs and butter. A vivid and simply delicious
memory still....

My new favorite cake is a strawberry bavarian cream cake. Perfect for spring!

The best cake I've ever had was a chocolate ice cream cake with strawberries and an Oreo crust. Made by mom, so you know it's great!

I'm not a "sweet " cook- savory is more my specialty but decided I needed to start baking some cakes--- I tried a couple of chocolate cake recipes and Ina came through! It's delicious and not overly sweet/ uses hot coffee and buttermilk. Now I'm a baker!

would have to be the Momofuku Milk Bar confetti birthday cake I made myself for my 25th birthday last year (le sigh). It took me all week to make and prep all the different layers, and was so gratifying to put all together and see the final product!

The best cake is made with love. Every year my grandmother would make me a German Chocolate cake for my birthday. The cake was light and airy, coved with the delisious coconut frosting only on the top and in the middle so it wasn't too much and on the side would be big scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Not every one's cup of tea but my once a year treat. I never ate it any other time during the year.

When I was a kid, every year for my birthday I put in a special request for a cake that came from a diner-like restaurant in my hometown. It was a yellow layer cake with strawberry jam in between the layers, covered in a meringue frosting, and it was custom made so the frosting could be in any "shape" you asked for. I always requested meringue "roses", so it was basically just full of clumps of meringue. This was, by all means, no fancy cake, and a visit to the dentist was a must after that, but if I go back home for my birthday, I'll still ask my mom to get me the cake :)

The best cake I ever had was from an Italian bakery in my hometown. It was yellow butter cake filled with vanilla custard, fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Simple and delicious.

The best cake ever is the Coconut Tres Leches cake from this site...it disappears by the shovelful...literally! I'm not sure if it would work on a cake platter, but then again, it probably wouldn't hang around long enough to know!

I make an ice cream and angel food cake called Spectacular Spectacular. It's beautiful and delicious.

My best memory of cake is when my mom first made carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. We still use the recipe today with a few tweaks. I believe it originally was a Bundt recipe and contains raisins and pineapple, along with the shredded carrots. Yum!

Banana chocolate chip cake with peanut butter frosting.

There is a recipe in an old church cookbook that is our family's classic chocolate cake recipe: it is attributed to a woman named Wanda Thompson, and contains no eggs -- but does use vinegar. My mom always paired it with a glossy chocolate frosting that I believe comes from an old Betty Crocker cookbook, and it remains my all-time favorite combination.