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    Home » All Recipes

    Basic Cake Recipes Chart

    Updated: May 15, 2024 · Published: Aug 17, 2018 · by Jan Nunes

    Graphic comparing cake types by crumb and fat content.

    This Basic Cake Recipes Chart contains the most commonly made basic cakes. In this chart you can easily see the differences between Angel Food Cake and Pound Cake, and all the cakes in between these two extreme crumb types.

    Generally, the amount of fat and type of fat will determine if a cake is light as a cloud or rich and dense.

    With this Basic Cake Recipes Chart, you can easily see the change in ingredient proportions for each cake type plus the methods used in mixing the batters.

    A chart showing recipes for basic cakes, including ingredients, proportions, and methods used to mix cake batters.

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    Your inspiration for your next cake is here in the Basic Cake Recipes Chart!

    Jump to:
    • Cake Types
    • Methods for Mixing Batters
    • Great Cake Recipes You Will Love
    • More Recipe Charts and Helpful Hints
    • 💬 Comments

    Cake Types

    • Angel Food. The angel food cake contains no egg yolks and no fat. It is leavened by creating an egg foam batter with only egg whites that may contain cream of tartar to help the egg white whip up tall and fluffy, giving extra lift to the cake as it bakes.
    • Sponge. A sponge cake is made by separating the whites from the yolks and beating the whites and yolks separately before combining them with the rest of the ingredients.
    • Chiffon. The chiffon, like my Strawberry Almond Chiffon Cake, is similar to a sponge cake, but cooking oil is added to give extra richness.
    • Butter. Both the butter cake and the pound cake are made with the creaming method to lighten the texture of the butter to add more lift to the cake.
    • 1-2-3-4 Cake. Between the butter cake and the pound cake is the 1-2-3-4 cake. It is rich in buttery flavor but not as dense a crumb as a pound cake. These cakes can be made by both the creaming method and the all in one method.
    • Pound Cake. This famous cake is named for the fact that it contains one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Its dense crumb from the high fat content is legendary and the cake is mixed via the creaming method.

    Unshortened versus Shortened

    Unshortened cakes have no additional fat added to the batter. Shortened cakes have fat, like shortening, butter, or cooking oil added to the batter before baking.

    Methods for Mixing Batters

    Egg Foam Batter Method

    An egg foam batter begins by separating eggs and beating the whites until stiff peaks form. In some recipes, sugar is gradually added to egg whites as they are beaten to make a meringue as the base of the batter.

    When egg yolks are beaten separately and folded into the egg whites, a sponge cake is being made.

    Angel food cakes have no yolks added to the batter making it the leanest egg foam cake you can make.

    Creaming Method

    This method of mixing batter requires that a solid fat, like butter or shortening, is beaten with sugar until it is light and fluffy in color and texture. Eggs and flavorings are then added, followed by dry ingredients.

    The purpose of this method is to increase aeration in a batter, so cakes and other baked goods become lighter in texture. For more information, see my detailed pictorial on The Creaming Method.

    All in One Method

    This method of mixing cake batter means that all of the ingredients are added to a bowl at once and mixed until well combined. It may seem wrong, but it works amazingly well for some cake batters. I use the All in One Method to mix my Butter Pecan Rum Cake.

    Great Cake Recipes You Will Love

    • A tube cake in white frosting decorated with sliced strawberries on its top.
      Strawberry Almond Chiffon Cake
    • A bundt cake on a serving stand with a piece cut and on its side with a fork in it.
      Butter Pecan Rum Cake
    • A sliced cherry pecan loaf cake frosted with pink frosting and decorated with chopped pecans and cherries on a white plate.
      Cherry Pecan Loaf Cake
    • Rich and tender yellow loaf cake with meyer lemon and rosemary flavors is sliced and dusted with powdered sugar.
      Rosemary Lemon Cake
    • An angel food cake with a snowy white glaze and pearl frosted almonds on a wooden platter with a bark edge.
      Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake
    • A slice of yellow cake with a broiled caramel and nut topping on a white plate.
      Lazy Daisy Cake

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    Jan Nunes

    Hey There!

    Welcome to Encharted Cook! I'm Jan, a seasoned cook with recipe charts, pro tips, and ideas to help you make delicious dinners. Over the years I've learned that many recipes are related... and if you learn to make one delicious dish, you can make many more!

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