10 of our favorite fruit-filled, fluffy and caramel-topped Southern spring cake recipes
Whether you like your cakes loaded with berries or topped with cloud-like fluffy frosting, this collection of Southern spring cake recipes will help you rediscover some desserts you might already love and introduce you to some new-to-you classic cakes.
From chocolate, nut-filled decadence to springy fruit-ladened cakes so moist and delicate they make surviving subzero temperatures worth it. Here are 10 recipes to prove it.
Mawmaw’s Strawberry Cake
A mawmaw is someone who provides comfort and often, by extension, delicious cakes. This blissfully berry-filled dessert features the freshest of spring fruit — strawberries — and makes them the star of the show. Between the strawberries, Jell-O and cake mix, the final layer cake is ultra moist and flavorful. Get the recipe
Southern Tea Cakes
There is just something charming about serving tea cakes. They're faintly sweet, a delightful mix of a madeleine and shortbread cookie. As the name suggests, these mini cakes are traditionally served during teatime, but they can, of course, be enjoyed during any occasion. Our recipe comes courtesy of Virginia Willis, who offers a slightly more modern reinterpretation of the classic dessert. Get the recipe
Anne Byrn’s Red Velvet Cake
Maybe it’s the eye-popping red color, but something about red velvet cake creates excitement on the plate. Here’s a traditional recipe for the cake, complete with cream cheese frosting. You can always forgo the food coloring and let the natural chemical reaction of the acidic and basic ingredients determine the color of the cake, but, really, what’s the fun in that? Get the recipe
Best Banana Cake
Have overly ripe bananas on your kitchen counter? You're one step closer to the perfect for banana bread, muffins or cake. This incredibly moist cake features mashed bananas, buttermilk, vanilla extract and loads of butter. Buttermilk and lemon juice add a little tang for a lovely balance. Get the recipe
Classic Hummingbird Cake
Hummingbird cake may be a classic Southern recipe, but the moist spice cake originates from the tropical island of Jamaica and is filled with the native fruits found there — bananas and pineapple. Named after the Jamaican national bird, hummingbird cake is traditionally served with a cream cheese frosting, but the mascarpone frosting in this recipe makes for a creamier cake with a more grown-up flavor. Get the recipe
Classic Southern Caramel Cake
This ultra-classic Southern layer cake is, honestly, a bit complicated. But with patience and practice, you can pull off a stunner of a dessert with tender vanilla cake layers and a complex, bittersweet caramel frosting. Just make sure to read the recipe carefully and follow all of the directions regarding time and temperatures. And, just an FYI, your life will be made much easier with a reliable candy or instant-read thermometer, as well as a stand mixer. Get the recipe
Traditional Southern Lane Cake
A cake with a little tipple inside? Sign me up. Lane Cake is a layered sponge cake with a boozy raisin-coconut filling and a pillowy white frosting. Named after its creator, Emma Rylander Lane, who entered the cake in a county fair baking competition in the late 19th century, the cake rose to fame when it was mentioned in another Southern classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” This recipe takes some effort in the kitchen, but the end result of a flavorful and moist showstopper cake is worth the time, and it only gets better with age. Get the recipe
Lady Baltimore Cake
Said to have originated in the early 20th century at Lady Baltimore’s Tea Room in Charleston, South Carolina, Lady Baltimore cake is a white cake filled with a mixture of dried fruit and nuts, then frosted with a meringue-like icing. It’s a labor of love, which is why many people around Charleston enjoy it as a wedding cake. It works equally well as a dessert for any festive occasion, be it Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Get the recipe
Strawberry Shortcake
The word “shortcake” implies a baked good with enough fat incorporated in it to make it “short” or flaky, according to Anne Byrn, who gave us this berry-filled recipe. The softer the flour, and less gluten and protein, the better the shortcake, so Byrn recommends White Lily flour or something similar. The best way to experience the flavor of old-fashioned strawberry shortcake is to buy local strawberries from farmers in your area. Get the recipe
Vanilla Pound Cake
Pound cake is a Southern classic that's always welcomed at a picnic or potluck. This one's extra easy to commit to memory if you're the type who likes to keep a mental Rolodex of go-to recipes. It uses an actual pound of butter and almost a pound of flour for a dense, rich cake that's good enough to serve plain, but even better with a heap of soft whipped cream and fresh berries. Get the recipe