15 Different Types of Cake for All Your Baking Needs

t's hard to find someone who doesn't have strong feelings about a homemade cake recipe. We all have our favorites. For some, it might be a rich, and sweet cake. Others prefer their cake a little airier—think angel food cake—with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh berries. While some folks won't touch anything but a homemade birthday cake, there are a few of us who love a good old-fashioned grocery store cake. But no matter your preferences, it's good to know the facts when it comes to different kinds of cake.

There are two main types of cake: butter (also known as a "shortened" cake) and foam. And then within each category there are many varieties. The primary difference between the two cakes to India is the fat content. Shortened cakes have either butter, oil, or shortening in them. (A classic yellow cake is a perfect example.) Foam cakes have little to no fat and typically involve whipped eggs (either white, yolks, or both), which make them lighter and airier. Think a rolled type sponge cake, like a Buche de Noel, which you might see during the holidays.

Keep scrolling for a crash course on some of our favorite types of cakes.

1Yellow Butter Cake

Many a kid's birthday party is celebrated with a sheet-cake version of this dessert that's topped with billows of chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Yellow butter cakes often involve creaming the butter and sugar together (in modern times, this is done with an electric mixer) then adding the dry and wet ingredients, but there are also “dump” versions where all of the ingredients are thrown into a bowl and simply mixed together.

2Pound Cake

Named because it's made with a pound of each of the main ingredients (flour, butter, and sugar), this cake doesn’t rise much while baking, and the texture is very dense. Our version boasts matcha and cocoa powder, but classic recipes have nothing but vanilla extract to flavor it. Bake up one of these beauties in a loaf or Bundt pan.

Recipe: Chocolate Matcha Pound Cake

3Red Velvet Cake

This is a true favorite, especially in the south. Made with either butter or oil, red velvet cake's color classically comes from the reaction of buttermilk and cocoa powder. Modern versions often achieve this hue by using red food coloring, or in the case of the raspberry velvet cake, shown here, pink.

Recipe: Raspberry Pink Velvet Cake

4Carrot Cake

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Leavened with baking soda and baking powder, this shortened cake uses oil as its main fat rather than butter. The addition of grated carrots makes the cake extra moist. Carrot cake is also flavored with warm spices and frosted with a rich cream cheese frosting. Pecans or walnuts are optional!

Recipe: Carrot Cake

source - https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g29890694/cake-types/

5Sponge Cake

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This is a foam-style cake that has no artificial leaveners (baking powder or baking soda). It gets its volume solely from whipped eggs —either whole eggs or simply whites. This cake takes well to being soaked in a flavored syrup (try soaking with a lemon syrup and serve with a dollop of lemon curd), layered with whipped cream and smashed berries, or if baked up thin, rolled in the Christmas classic, Buche de Noel.