Contest

Our Community's 5 Best Snack Cakes, Just in Time for the Holidays

You can whip up these sweet treats in no time at all.

by:
December 20, 2020
Photo by Julia Gartland. Food stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Prop stylist: Brooke Deonarine.

From our community to your kitchen, here are our top five snacking cakes for any time at all!


For our latest culinary contest, we asked for your best recipe for snacking cakes: simple cake recipes prepared in just one bowl. If the recipe included frosting, it had to include fewer than than five ingredients, and also come together in one bowl. As always, our community members rose to the challenge, and delivered us a variety of cakes that fit the bill.

Our final six recipes still in the running for the title of "Best Snacking Cake" have arrived just in time to satisfy your sweet tooth during the holidays with very little effort. From a bright and lemony cornbread cake to a rich chocolate cake perfect for serving in squares, you can be sure to find something for you and yours to snack on in the weeks (and months) to come.

1. Lemony Cornbread Snacking Cake by AntoniaJames

This elegant snacking cake is all about balance. Just the right amount of cornmeal, sweetness, and a lemony zip make this cake sing just in time for winter citrus season.

2. Blood Orange Poppyseed Ricotta Cake by Stephanie Loo

This beautiful cake has a lovely balance of salt and sweet. It's wonderful on its own, or add the citrusy glaze for a finishing touch.

3. Chocolate Carrot Snacking Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Jessie Sheehan

By the time your oven preheats, you can have this decadent chocolate snacking cake ready for the oven. This cake has just the right amount of chocolate, with finely grated carrots dancing in the background. Add a swoosh of cream cheese frosting and your holiday dessert is complete.

4. Cinnamon Anise Snack Cake by clintonhillbilly

This cake comes together so easily you can delegate the baking to the kids while you work on dinner. The anise, cinnamon, orange, and vanilla flavors blend beautifully in cake with just the right amount of almond flour to give it a hearty texture.

5. Ginger Cake with Maple Orange Glaze by Claire Benjamin

This cake hits all the best flavors of the fall and comes together with ease. The cake is gently sweet, moist, and the glaze adds a perfect citrus sweetness to the final product.

Give one or all of these recipes a try in your kitchen and let us know your thoughts.

Voting for the final two will open Jan. 1 at 12 p.m. EDT here. May the best snacking cake win!


Which snacking cake is your favorite to win? Let us know in the comments below!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

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Written by: Food52

1 Comment

Katherine S. December 20, 2020
Ginger cake all the way!! So simple, I can use it when I camp!!!