Easy cake recipes do not have to mean boxed mixes and shortcuts, although a couple of the 25 below do use one. These are cakes from the Dessertlush archive that come together with everyday ingredients, from vanilla cupcakes that are ready in 35 minutes to layer cakes for birthdays, and every one links to the full recipe with exact measurements and step-by-step instructions.
The times and servings for these easy cake recipes come from each recipe card. If you are new to baking, start with the cupcakes, the sheet cakes or the poke cakes, which are the most forgiving.
Which Easy Cake Recipe Should You Make?
- Fastest: Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes take 35 minutes in total and Funfetti Cupcakes take 40.
- Starting from a cake mix: Strawberry Poke Cake and Easy Carrot Cake Made with Cake Mix.
- Feeding a crowd: Lemon Blueberry Sheet Cake serves 15, and the other sheet cakes, coffee cakes and loaf cakes serve 12.
- Under an hour: Easy Carrot Sheet Cake, Easy Zucchini Cake, Easy Strawberry Cake and Easy Lemon Sheet Cake.
- A project for the weekend: Milk Bar Birthday Cake and Caramel Cloud Cake take 2 hours or more.
Classic Layer and Celebration Cakes
These are the cakes for birthdays and dinners, the ones that make a table feel like an occasion.
1. Red Velvet Cake
A red velvet cake built on buttermilk and vegetable oil with a touch of cocoa. Thirty minutes of prep and 35 in the oven, and it serves 12.
Get the recipe →2. Milk Bar Birthday Cake
A bakery-style birthday cake with rainbow sprinkles, cake flour and grapeseed oil, with the ingredients given in grams. It is the most involved cake here, with 90 minutes of prep, and serves 8.
Get the recipe →3. Caramel Cloud Cake
A light cake made with cake flour and six egg yolks, with a caramel finish. Plan on about 3 hours in total, and it serves 10.
Get the recipe →4. Strawberry Cream Cake
A strawberry cream cake on a simple three-egg sponge. It serves 8 and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes in total.
Get the recipe →5. Moist Strawberry Shortcake Cake
A tall strawberry shortcake cake made with cake flour, softened butter and four egg whites. It serves 12 and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Get the recipe →6. Easy Cream Puff Cake
A cream puff turned into a cake: a base made from butter, water, milk, flour and four eggs, with a milk-based filling. It serves 12 in about 1 hour 5 minutes.
Get the recipe →Sheet Cakes for a Crowd
A sheet cake is the simplest way to feed a lot of people, and these three are all done in about an hour or less.
7. Easy Lemon Sheet Cake
The zest of two lemons and plain Greek yogurt go into the batter. It serves 12 and takes about 1 hour in total.
Get the recipe →8. Easy Carrot Sheet Cake
A carrot sheet cake made with vegetable oil and a mix of granulated and light brown sugar. Twenty-five minutes of prep, 30 in the oven, serving 12.
Get the recipe →9. Lemon Blueberry Sheet Cake
Lemon zest and blueberries in a softened-butter batter. It serves 15, the biggest yield in this list, and takes 45 minutes in total.
Get the recipe →Poke Cakes
Poke cakes soak up a topping or filling after baking, which makes them moist and easy to dress up.
10. Lemon Poke Cake
Lemon zest from two lemons and Greek yogurt in the batter, with optional poppy seeds for a little crunch. It serves 12 in about 1 hour 5 minutes.
Get the recipe →11. Boston Cream Poke Cake
A yogurt-and-oil cake turned into a Boston cream dessert. It serves 12 and takes about 1 hour 45 minutes, including 70 minutes of prep.
Get the recipe →12. Strawberry Poke Cake
This one starts with a boxed white cake mix and strawberry gelatin, and finishes with whipped topping. It serves 12 and takes about 3 hours 50 minutes in total, so make it ahead.
Get the recipe →Loaf, Butter and Coffee Cakes
No layers and no frosting needed. These are the cakes for a weekend morning, a bake sale or a cup of tea.
13. Easy Coconut Loaf Cake
A buttery loaf flavored with vanilla and a little almond extract. Twenty minutes of prep and an hour in the oven, serving 12.
Get the recipe →14. Kentucky Butter Cake
A rich butter cake made with a full cup of butter and four eggs. It serves 12 and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Get the recipe →15. The Best Ever Coffee Cake
A coffee cake with sour cream and a mix of granulated and light brown sugar. It serves 12 in about 1 hour 10 minutes.
Get the recipe →16. Apple Cider Coffee Cake
A cup of fresh apple cider goes into the batter. It serves 12 and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Get the recipe →Fruit, Carrot and Zucchini Cakes
Fruit, carrots and zucchini keep a cake moist, and they make everyday easy cake recipes feel a little more special.
17. Easy Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Sauce
A strawberry cake made with oil and milk, served with strawberry sauce, with the ingredients in grams and milliliters. It serves 8 and takes 55 minutes.
Get the recipe →18. Easy Berry Cake with Crumb Topping
A berry cake with a crumb topping. Twenty minutes of prep, 45 in the oven, and it serves 9.
Get the recipe →19. Zesty Lemon Blueberry Cake
A lemon and blueberry cake made with softened butter and two eggs. It serves 8 and takes about 1 hour 10 minutes.
Get the recipe →20. Easy Carrot Cake
A carrot cake made with vegetable oil, cinnamon and a mix of granulated and brown sugar. It serves 12 in about 1 hour 5 minutes.
Get the recipe →21. Easy Carrot Cake Made with Cake Mix
A shortcut carrot cake that starts with a boxed spice cake mix, 2 cups of grated carrots and walnuts, with a cream cheese frosting. It needs only 15 minutes of prep and takes 50 minutes in total.
Get the recipe →22. Easy Zucchini Cake
A zucchini cake made with Greek yogurt and maple syrup, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. It serves 12 and takes about 50 minutes.
Get the recipe →Tres Leches and Cupcakes
One cake for a crowd and two cupcakes for the quickest wins in the list.
23. Classic Creamy Tres Leches Cake
A tres leches cake with a yogurt and butter sponge. It serves 12 in about 1 hour 5 minutes.
Get the recipe →24. Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
A classic vanilla cupcake with 15 minutes of prep and 20 in the oven. It makes 12 cupcakes in 35 minutes, the fastest bake in this list.
Get the recipe →25. Funfetti Cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles, ready in 40 minutes. It makes 12.
Get the recipe →Tips for Easy Cake Recipes That Turn Out Well
Many of the easy cake recipes here call for room-temperature eggs, butter, milk or yogurt. Take them out of the fridge before you start, because ingredients that are the same temperature mix into a smoother batter and bake more evenly.
Match the cake to the occasion and the time you have. Cupcakes and sheet cakes are the easiest to portion and carry, loaf and coffee cakes need no frosting, and poke cakes are good for making ahead. The longest recipes here run from about 2 hours 15 minutes to nearly 4 hours, including cooling or chilling.
If you would rather skip the oven, see our 21 easy no-bake desserts, or head to the 25 easy chocolate desserts for more chocolate cakes and cupcakes.
Easy Cake Recipes FAQs
What is the fastest cake to make from this list?
Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes are the fastest of these easy cake recipes at 35 minutes in total, followed by Funfetti Cupcakes at 40 minutes.
Are there easy cake recipes that start with a cake mix?
Yes. Strawberry Poke Cake uses a boxed white cake mix with strawberry gelatin, and Easy Carrot Cake Made with Cake Mix uses a boxed spice cake mix.
Which cake serves the most people?
Lemon Blueberry Sheet Cake serves 15. Most of the other cakes in this list serve 12, and Milk Bar Birthday Cake, Strawberry Cream Cake and Zesty Lemon Blueberry Cake serve 8.
Which easy cake recipes take the longest?
Caramel Cloud Cake takes about 3 hours, Milk Bar Birthday Cake about 2 hours 15 minutes, and Strawberry Poke Cake about 3 hours 50 minutes because of chilling time.
Which cakes do not need frosting?
The loaf and coffee cakes: Easy Coconut Loaf Cake, Kentucky Butter Cake, The Best Ever Coffee Cake and Apple Cider Coffee Cake. Check each recipe card for how it is finished.
More Easy Cake Recipes
Want to keep baking? Browse every cake recipe or the cupcake recipes on Dessertlush for more easy cake recipes.
