Cake

This über-trendy cake is actually a vintage recipe from the Deep South. It is as red as Scarlet O'Hara's dress thanks to the combination of cocoa powder and cheap liquid red food coloring. Be sure to use the cheap stuff! Fancy food coloring pastes and gels don't work nearly as well. The vinegar was traditionally added to the baking soda as a leavener. With self-rising flour, it's not necessary, but it's added here for its classic zippy flavor.

If you don't know what a Sno-Ball is, you should probably move on to the next chapter. Those round, fuzzy pink flavor wads are a staple of childhood (and a guilty pleasure of adulthood). Food coloring is optional here, but without it, this recipe looks much too grown-up.

The ingredients for the caramel will fit in a small saucepan, but make sure you use something larger—the molten sauce bubbles up quite a lot.

Beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy is essential to this cake's moist, tender crumb.

Cook the figs until just softened: Overcooking or intense boiling will render them tough instead of lush.

This cheesecake has Classic Caramel Sauce swirled into it, which makes it flavor-rich as well as visually exciting. The crust, made with toasted walnuts, provides a perfect balance of both flavor and texture. Because the cake needs time to cool and chill, I recommend making it at least a day in advance of when you plan to serve it.

No one really knows just whose idea it was to use a sponge cake crust for Junior's cheesecake recipe. It worked, and that same base continues to delight today.

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.

This is an insanely easy cake to make. It goes together in just minutes and tastes awesome: a touch ducky—more so if you use wild duck fat—sweet, but not overly so, with a little hit of rosemary to even things out. I originally made this as a sort of stunt, but it's so good I've put it into the regular rotation. If you like a sweeter cake, up the sugar to a full cup, and if you hate rosemary, skip it or sub in lemon verbena, sage, or winter savory. Serve the cake with fruit and maybe a little whipped cream. A sweet dessert white wine, like a vin santo or a Sauternes, is a perfect choice.

We admit that we have had cake for breakfast before. Who hasn't? But how about breakfast for dessert? This recipe came about when we accidentally made too much pancake batter on Sunday morning. It's our take on a thousand-layer cake. The pancakes can be made up to a day ahead and refrigerated. The cake can be assembled up to 2 hours ahead. Not feeling like dessert? Prepare the pancakes using only 2 tablespoons of sugar and have them for breakfast.

Why not make cinnamon buns into a coffee cake that can be pulled apart when ready to serve. It's a dessert that is just meant to make it to the breakfast table the next morning (if there's any left).

The first cupcake Matt ever added to the Robicelli's repertoire was "The CPB": chocolate cake and peanut butter buttercream topped with roasted peanuts and rich chocolate ganache. Sounds awesome, right? Of course it's awesome—how the hell can you screw something like that up? Of course, we eventually tired of awesome and needed to go past that to "mind blowing." So we decided to roll the entire damn thing in crushed-up pretzels and pour more chocolate over the top. You're welcome.

Lori Sobelson A moist and flavorful gingerbread with a cakelike texture, this snack cake is simply dreamy when served warm from the oven with a cold glass of milk. No one will guess it's gluten free. Note: Don't be fooled by a deep brown crust or a clean toothpick—this cake isn't done until it bounces back. The cake is vegan if made with flaxseed meal in place of the egg.

When we were first dating, we would stay up in bed for hours trying to come up with new interpretations of classic desserts. Bird chile and passion fruit pavlova; Stilton mousse with walnut Florentine; apple, currant, and Brie pot pie. But some classics we knew not to amp up with "bold flavors" because they were sacred. Such is the tarte bourdaloue. This was one of the first desserts Matt and I were both taught to make in our classical pastry training; it is the pride of any French patisserie worth its (artisinal) salt, and you will treat it with some goddamn respect! Traditionally, it's a buttery tart crust filled with poached pear and luxurious almond cream. However, no matter how mind blowing the tarte bourdaloue is, almost no one in this country knows what it is. French Matt Says: You uncultured American swine! So, in an effort to make this winning flavor combo a bit more popular this side of the pond, we broke tradition and messed with it a little to turn it into a cupcake¿I mean, what's more American than cupcakes? Besides bald eagles, of course, but then again, you can't eat those (yet)!

In this indulgent cake, apples are caramelized before being baked in buttery batter. Why stop there? Salted caramel sauce lets guests indulge even further.

If you like, serve this with whipped cream or an extra dollop of yogurt.

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.

The olive oil gives this cake extra depth and intensity. The complex flavors mature over time, so consider wrapping the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerating it, ready to ice and serve, for up to 3 days. Somewhat less festive (and less calorie laden), this is still very satisfying without the maple icing. Just dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.