14 Fall Cakes to Make at Home

Try these easy dessert recipes to bring your favorite fall flavors to your next gathering.

1. 1. Apple cider cake: This cake, which features flavors of spicy, tangy apple cider, is extra flavorful and tender. Bakers typically make apple cider cake in a bundt pan, but you can also prepare the batter for cupcakes. A simple glaze of powdered sugar and apple cider is a popular topping for apple cider bundt cake. Cover this moist cake in sweet peanut buttercream frosting or caramel sauce for a classic flavor combination. Garnish the cake with a cinnamon streusel topping or chopped pecans.
2. 2. Apple crumble: This baked apple dessert consists of tender pieces of cooked fruit tucked beneath a buttery, crumbly topping. Apple crumble is a play on traditional apple pie that requires less time, effort, and baking expertise. Serve this apple cake hot with a slice of homemade vanilla ice cream.
3. 3. Carrot cake: Shredded carrots make this sweet spice cake extra moist while a slightly sour cream cheese frosting cuts through its sweetness. Most carrot cake recipes incorporate warming spices, like cinnamon and allspice, making them perfect for the fall dinner table.
4. 4. Cranberry cheesecake: This holiday-friendly twist on the classic cream cheese–based dessert works just as well for a fall celebration as it does for a winter one. While traditional cheesecake utilizes a graham cracker crust, this holiday version calls for gingersnaps to make a spicier base. Sugared cranberries top the cranberry cheesecake for an elegant finish.
5. 5. German chocolate cake: This chocolate layer cake features a thick, silky coconut-pecan custard filling that home cooks can adapt to include fall-friendly additions like pecans. Learn how to make German chocolate cake.
6. 6. Gingerbread cake: This butter cake showcases gingerbread’s signature flavors, including ground and fresh ginger, molasses, and baking spices. Bakers can frost or serve the gingerbread cake on its own, similar to a quick bread.
7. 7. Gluten-free apple cobbler: This classic rustic dessert calls for wheat-free flour, making it a suitable treat for those with gluten sensitivities. Featuring a cinnamon-flavored biscuit dough, this old-fashioned gluten-free apple cobbler doubles down on the warming flavors of fall.
8. 8. Orange olive oil cake: This lightly sweet, tangy cake relies on olive oil to achieve its extra dense, melt-in-the-mouth texture, similar to a pound cake. Since it contains no dairy products, orange olive oil cake has a longer shelf life than most cakes, especially when stored at room temperature.
9. 9. Pecan pie: Treacle-sweet and full of crunch, this popular nut pie is a perfect indulgence for the fall or holiday season. Pecan pie is a quintessential American dessert featuring a mosaic of pecan halves suspended in a silky, sugary blend of eggs, butter, and a sweetener—traditionally corn syrup—held together in a flaky pie crust. Serve a slice with a baked apple and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
10. 10. Pumpkin pie: This traditional fall dessert usually features a warm spiced pumpkin custard filling and flaky pie crust. Serve pumpkin pie (with a dollop of whipped cream) during fall harvest holidays, like Thanksgiving, when pumpkins and gourds are in season.
11. 11. Sour cream coffee cake: Featuring a generous crumb topping made of sweet cinnamon streusel, this ultra-moist cake makes a perfect addition to your local fall bake sale. Bake your sour cream coffee cake in various pans, including round, rectangular, tube pans, and bundt pans. Incorporate chopped pecans into the cinnamon-sugar topping for fall-friendly textural variation.
12. 12. Sour cream pound cake: Like sour cream coffee cake, this pound cake recipe uses sour cream to achieve an extremely dense and moist texture. Incorporate sliced apples, toffee bits, or apple cider frosting into your sour cream pound cake recipe to make an extra fall-friendly dessert.
13. 13. Sweet potato pie: Reminiscent of pumpkin pie, this rustic dessert features mashed sweet potatoes (or yams, its close relative) baked into a pie crust. The standard sweet potato pie recipe is easily customizable. Add a pecan topping or flavored crust, or use a combination of eggs and whole milk, heavy cream, or evaporated milk to achieve the perfect creamy consistency.
14. 14. Tarte Tatin: This rustic cake is essentially the French equivalent of an apple upside-down cake. Visually, tarte Tatin resembles an inverted apple pie, with a base of caramelized apples and a layer of buttery pastry over the top.

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