Our Best Cake Recipes

For graduations, birthdays and all your big moments, you'll find healthy cake recipes here that are as easy to make as they are lovely. With less butter and sugar and fewer calories, these healthy chocolate cakes, trifles, yellow sheet cakes and more are perfect for entertaining or just for fun.Download a FREE Cookbook of Our Best Healthy Dessert Recipes!Watch Video
Start Slideshow

1 of 33

Berry Chantilly Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

In this beautiful and simple Chantilly cake recipe, fresh berries are layered with whipped cream and delicate sponge cake for a special sweet that's as well suited for a bridal shower as it is for a birthday or graduation party or other special occasion. Fill and top with any combination of fresh berries.

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 33

Blueberry-Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This healthy pound cake recipe isn't just delicious--it also only requires one bowl to make. For the best cake texture, be sure to beat the sugar and butter together long enough in Step 2 to look creamy--the time it takes to get there varies according to the type of electric mixer you have. Serve with brunch or alongside a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

3 of 33

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Strawberries and lemons make for a sweet and citrusy treat in this lightened-up cupcake recipe topped with a cream cheese frosting.

Advertisement

4 of 33

Raspberry-Peach Trifle Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Lightly poached peaches, fresh raspberries and creamy vanilla custard fill the layers in this trifle-inspired healthy cake recipe. Impressively tall and luscious, this four-layer cake can be tricky to cut. For neater slices, you can assemble two shorter (two-layer) cakes instead.

5 of 33

Hot Milk Sponge Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This is the easiest and best-tasting sponge cake you can imagine. It keeps well in the refrigerator or freezer. Spread a thin layer of raspberry preserves between the layers and a light dusting of confectioners' sugar over the top and you'll have a perfect cake for an impromptu tea party.

6 of 33

Mini Pineapple Pound Cakes

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

In this moist and delicious healthy pound cake recipe, we use coconut oil in place of butter because an enzyme in fresh pineapple can react with dairy when heated, resulting in an off flavor. Alternatively, you can use melted butter and canned pineapple. To make a large cake, bake in a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan for 35 to 40 minutes.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 33

Glazed Sour Orange & Coconut Cakes

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This pudding-like gluten-free coconut cake recipe gets its amazing flavor and texture from pureed oranges. Sour oranges (aka Seville oranges) are ideal in these healthy coconut cakes because of their acidity and thin skin, but most citrus fruit will work. Coconut flour is high in fiber and absorbent, making it a great choice for moist desserts. Almond flour adds fabulous texture and nutty flavor. Look for gluten-free flours in natural-foods markets.

8 of 33

Banana Cream Layer Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Here we layer delicate banana-buttermilk cake with a fluffy Bavarian-style cream that's made low-fat by combining nonfat milk with a reasonable amount of whipping cream. The rich taste makes it hard to believe that this cake has only 300 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per slice.

9 of 33

Yellow Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Berries

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This healthy yellow cake recipe is perfect for making a sheet cake for a birthday, holiday or any celebration and the easy cream cheese frosting recipe is ready in just five minutes. Use fresh berries to decorate the cake with flower designs or get creative and make your own pattern. We made this yellow cake healthier by replacing some butter in the cake with oil, using reduced-fat cream cheese and low-fat Greek yogurt for the frosting instead of full-fat cream cheese and butter, and using fruit instead of colored frosting for decoration.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 33

Strawberry-Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This strawberry and rhubarb upside-down cake recipe highlights how delicious strawberries and rhubarb taste together. If you can't find rhubarb, substitute an equal amount of any kind of berry or even fresh figs. This upside-down cake still tastes great the next day when the juiciness of the fruit has had time to marry with the moist olive oil cake.

11 of 33

Linzer Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Linzer Tart (or Linzer Torte) is an Austrian specialty: an almond pastry topped with raspberry jam. Here it is reinvented as an American cake: almond-rich layers divided by raspberry jam. It's even better when prepared a day in advance, giving the jam time to soak into the cake. If you like, buck tradition by using strawberry jam and garnishing with fresh strawberries.

12 of 33

Key Lime Meringue Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

A cake with a meringue? Though not unheard of, this one is definitely a flight of fancy, a cakey version of Key lime pie.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 33

Pineapple-Coconut Layer Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

In this stunning dessert recipe, two layers of coconut cake, made with white whole-wheat flour for extra nutrition, are filled with sweet pineapple curd and topped with creamy coconut frosting, chunks of fresh pineapple and toasted coconut.

14 of 33

Blueberry Cupcakes

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

The “secret ingredient” in these coconut-infused blueberry cupcakes--mashed potatoes--gives the cake great texture, almost like pound cake. The fluffy frosting is just fun. Because it's low in calories and fat, you can spread or pipe a generous amount on top of each cupcake to make them look extra festive. The frosting stiffens as it stands, so be sure to put it on the cupcakes right after you make it.

15 of 33

EatingWell Flag Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Though this stunning red, white and blue American flag cake screams “Fourth of July Cake,” it's such a good dessert you'll want to make it for Memorial Day and other summer holidays too. We made this flag cake recipe healthy, with less saturated fat and calories than traditional versions, by replacing some butter in the yellow sheet cake with oil. Plus, for the cream cheese frosting, we replaced some of the cream cheese and butter with low-fat Greek yogurt.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 33

Carrot Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Carrots give carrot cake a health-halo effect--people think it's health food, but it's usually very high in fat and calories. But our version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most. First, we use less oil in our batter. Then we skip the butter in the frosting (don't worry, it's still light and smooth). To ensure the cake is moist, we add nonfat buttermilk and crushed pineapple.

17 of 33

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This easy-to-make chocolate cake is dark, moist, rich--and only dirties one bowl! Not quite as easy as boxed cake mixes, but those often contain trans fats. Our simple “from scratch” recipe gives you a home-baked cake with healthful canola oil and whole-wheat flour.

18 of 33

Sunny Citrus Chiffon Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Flavored with orange, lemon and lime, this big, beautiful cake is a fitting ending to a celebration. Just three egg yolks give the cake a golden hue and a texture richer than angel food.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

19 of 33

Frozen Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Retro, creamy and delicious, this cake is the frozen version of the beloved classic. This takes a bit of extra time to make--but it's worth it.

20 of 33

Pecan-Berry Coffee Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This scrumptious coffee cake recipe has a crumbly pecan topping and is speckled with blueberries or raspberries. You'll never guess there's apple in the berry coffee cake: it replaces some of the butter found in most coffee cakes and adds a decidedly sweet taste and moist crumb. This is a great recipe to serve at brunch and can be made the day before.

21 of 33

Lemon Poppy-Seed Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

We love that Bundt cakes don't demand frosting--just let a sweet lemon glaze run over the poppy-seed cake and you've got perfection.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

22 of 33

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Serve this dense, fudgy pudding cake with vanilla frozen yogurt.

23 of 33

Raspberry-Swirl Cupcakes

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

These raspberry-lemon cupcakes are topped with an easy cream cheese frosting tinted pink with a little raspberry puree. For those unaccustomed to the mildly nutty flavor of whole-wheat flour (used in these cupcakes), the flavor of the raspberry puree swirled into the lemony cake makes the wheat flavor undetectable.

24 of 33

Coffee-Streusel Bundt Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Can you really have too much of a good thing when it comes to the combination of coffee and cake? Here, we've created a lighter but still moist and rich Bundt cake, added a ribbon of hazelnut-coffee streusel inside and a drizzle of coffee glaze on top. To say it tastes great with a good cup of coffee is an understatement. Recipe by Joyce Hendley for EatingWell.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

25 of 33

Lemon Pound Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This wonderful rich, sweet lemon pound cake is downright zingy and the candied lemon slices are a beautiful bittersweet topping that's better than frosting. The best part, though: when you taste it you won't miss all the butter we cut out compared with a traditional pound cake recipe.

26 of 33

Chocolate-Cherry Cupcakes

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

The chopped cherries blend into the ultra-rich chocolate cake, giving these cupcakes a slight cherry flavor while keeping it super-moist with little added oil. The combination of reduced-fat cream cheese and sour cream gives the frosting cheesecake-like flavor with about 40 calories and 3 grams saturated fat less than a traditional cream cheese frosting.

27 of 33

Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

You don't have to have pumpkin pie to still enjoy pumpkin and spice in a Thanksgiving dessert. Pumpkin helps keep this cake tender and moist while, delicate spices add the classic Thanksgiving flavors.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

28 of 33

Lemon Poppy Seed Chiffon Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Beating the egg whites separately and then folding them into the batter gives this chiffon cake recipe great height, while the egg yolks make this healthy cake recipe rich and tender. Be sure to use a completely clean bowl and whisk when beating the whites-if the whites come in contact with any fat they won't whip up airy and light.

29 of 33

Chocolate-Beet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

These healthy chocolate cupcakes get a soft, moist texture from their not-so-secret ingredient: beets. The beets act as a natural red food dye, plus they bump up the fiber. Use red beets to give the cream cheese frosting a vibrant pink hue.

30 of 33

Apricot Bavarian Cream Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

A silky-smooth Bavarian-style apricot cream envelops the golden sponge cake in this truly spectacular healthy cake recipe. The cream is set with gelatin to make it firm enough to hold its shape when unmolded, but the texture is more like a delicate mousse.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

31 of 33

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

These vanilla-infused cupcakes are made with applesauce as a fat-replacer for butter that's traditionally part of vanilla cake batter. Thickened evaporated milk works as a great base for the rich and creamy chocolate frosting. Dark chocolate lovers, be sure to use bittersweet chocolate.

32 of 33

Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes with Mocha Sauce

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

Some molten-cake recipes call for simply underbaking the batter so the middles stay lava-like, but mini cakes get done so quickly it's best to give them a filling that won't set up. These rich, mocha-flavored morsels are guaranteed to stay moist and gooey, owing to a simple mocha ganache in the middle. Serve the cakes with a scoop of low-fat coffee ice cream and garnish with a chocolate-covered espresso bean, if desired. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

33 of 33

Strawberry Meringue Cake

View Recipe this link opens in a new tab

This light, flourless cake recipe features crispy, chewy rounds of almond meringue layered with strawberries and whipped cream. For the best results, avoid making the meringue layers on an overly humid or rainy day. The moisture prevents proper crisping.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Up Next

Advertisement