While it’s true that every time of the year is a fine time to enjoy cake, some flavors and kinds of cake lend themselves to certain times of the year more than others. The Fall season sees pumpkin and cinnamon, Winter has gingerbread, and the spring and summer months tend to be heavy on fruit and citrus inspired cakes.
There are a ton of flavors that can work in the spring and summer but because of the abundance of fresh produce that is available now, I think it’s only right to put a bit of a heavier focus on the fruit side of things. It’d be downright foolish not to take advantage of all the in season fruits by baking them into cakes, so that’s exactly what we’re gonna do. Here are some of my favorite Summer cake recipes:
Strawberry Rhubarb Cake {via my baking addiction}
Strawberry and rhubarb is simultaneously a classic fruit combination and one that still flies under the radar. While it’s very popular, you still aren’t seeing that many baked goods with the flavors, especially when you compare it to other classic combinations. I think we can lay the blame with rhubarb and the fact that it’s not that common of a fruit. It’s a little odd looking, a little celery looking, and that can cause people to walk right by it and choose to work with something they know better. Despite it’s somewhat intimidating presence, it has a very subtle flavor and deliberate but light sweetness, which makes it a great compliment to strawberries that tend to have a more robust flavor and sweetness. I find that putting them in a coffee cake like this one is best, as they hold up well to a crumb topping.
Image Credit: carly gomez
Golden Oreo Cupcakes {via your cup of cake}
Perhaps it’s because of their tan appearance, or maybe it’s because of their vanilla flavor, but Golden Oreos do seem more summery when compared to their chocolate counterparts. This is especially the case when they are added to a vanilla cake batter. These cupcakes are made with a yellow cake mix, which is baked on top of a whole golden Oreo and then finished with cream cheese frosting and another whole Oreo on top for decoration. They are great to bring to any cookout or just to make on a random Saturday. I am not usually one to use cake mixes but they do have their time and place and that time and place is definitely in these cupcakes.
Lemon Layer Cake {via fine cooking}
I’m a sucker for lemon and all lemon desserts, but nothing really beats a good lemon cake. And this is a gooooood lemon cake. It could actually be referred to as a triple lemon cake because it is a lemon cake, with a lemon curd filling, and then a lemon frosting to top. If you have a lemon lover in your life with a a special day coming up, I highly suggest you treat them to this cake. Because it’s made with cake flour (which has a finer texture than all purpose flour), the cake is nice and light to match the lemon flavor. Curds can be tough to make but this recipe is easy to follow, and the frosting has a strong lemon flavor from using both lemon juice and lemon zest. It’s truly a lemon lover’s dream.
Hummingbird Cake {via bachology}
Hummingbird cake has a strong popularity in the south but hasn’t gained too much mainstream attention in comparison to other cake flavors. It might be because it’s a spice-like cake batter with fruit added (banana and pineapple) and that can make it appear close to carrot cake even though they are nothing alike once you get past the surface comparisons. There are two things that make this particular recipe different than a traditional one: There are no pecans and it’s not a layer cake. And I suspect that many lovers of Hummingbird Cake will insist that any recipe without nuts isn’t hummingbird at all. But being that I am allergic to tree nuts and know that I’m not alone, this recipe that leaves out the pecans is my favorite. It’s straightforward, delicious, and most importantly has the essence of a hummingbird cake without the risk of anaphylactic shock.
Blackberry Bundt Cake with Orange Glaze {via foodtastic mom}
As I’ve mentioned previously, it’s the year of the Bundt cake, and I am stopping at nothing to get everybody on board. This cake is a true delight. Berries and citrus is a classic combination, and there is something about blackberries and orange together that is very special. Together they lend themselves to many things from sauces to scones to sorbet but I like to think they reached their full potential here in this Bundt cake. You’ll see that the recipe only has orange in the glaze but I throw about an orange worth of zest into the batter of the cake at the same time as the blackberries as well. I don’t think there’s ever too much orange and I really love how the blackberry/orange combination is in the cake itself and not solely the glaze.
Image Credit: kimberly vardeman
Olive Oil Grape Cake {via alex guarnaschelli}
If you’ve never heard of or had an olive oil cake before, this may seem little odd. But olive oil cakes are very common in Italy, and there’s no reason why they should’ve be served in the US as well. This is my current favorite way to enjoy an olive oil cake and while it tastes outstanding, I think that my favorite part of it is how simply stunning it looks. I say simply because there isn’t much to it — it’s just a cake with some roasted grapes on top — but in true Italian fashion sometimes simple is best. It’s a great cake to make for those people in your life that claim that there are such things in the world as desserts that are “too sweet” because this cake has only the lightest of sweetness.
Skillet Plum Cake {via serious eats}
Plums are one of Summer’s greatest pleasures, and anyone who has had a plum right at the peak of the season knows that is not hyperbolic speak. If you can get your hands on a perfectly ripe plum there are not many things better than that flavor, except if you put them into cake of course. This one is a simple and easy cake to throw together (when slicing plums is the hardest part of a recipe you definitely have a good one) and is the perfect thing to make if you are having a summer get together, Sunday dinner, or just looking to highlight some delicious plums that you found at the store.
Do you have a favorite cake to make in the summer?
Featured image is from Adrianna Calvo.
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