Top Fall Cakes to Bake This Season

Celebrate the best season with this collection of delicious fall cakes, full of cozy spices, seasonal fruit, and comforting textures.

Close up of a hand taking a slice out of a bundt cake on a white plate.

Leaves are turning, pumpkins are ripening, and the cooler weather is perfect for baking. Fill your home with the warm aroma of freshly baked cake and enjoy every comforting bite.

From pumpkin and apple to sweet potato and plum, these recipes highlight the season’s best flavors and include options for gatherings or simple weeknight treats.

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Why these are our favorite fall cakes

These fall cakes are moist, tender, and packed with seasonal flavor. Each recipe has been tested to ensure dependable results, and the posts include practical tips to help you succeed the first time you bake them.

You’ll find classic fall flavors like apple, pumpkin, and warm spice blends, along with some less common but delightful options such as sweet potato and plum. The selection also spans different formats: show-stopping layer cakes for special occasions and easy snack cakes for everyday baking.

1. Apple Cider Donut Cake

Apple cider donut bundt cake on a white cake stand with a white bowl, plates, candles and a glass of apple cider in the background.

This small (6-cup) apple cider donut bundt cake captures that fall fair feeling. It’s moist and fragrant from apple cider and applesauce, and it’s finished in cinnamon sugar for a nostalgic, cozy treat.

2. Pecan Upside Down Cake

slice being pulled from an pecan upside down cake with bits of caramel pulling between the slice and the rest of the cake with plates and a bowl of pecans in the background.

This single-layer pecan upside-down cake pairs a tender spice cake with a sticky, caramel-like topping (made without corn syrup) loaded with toasted pecans. It’s a perennial favorite on holiday dessert tables.

3. Krydderkake (Norwegian Spice Cake)

Hand cutting into a plated slice of kyrdderkake with the larger cake, two lit taper candles and another slice slightly blurred in the background.

Inspired by Scandinavian baking, this krydderkake is exceptionally tender and fragrant, blending cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg. A light cream cheese frosting complements the spices without overwhelming them.

4. Yogurt Plum Cake

Slices of yogurt plum cake arranged on white and blue dessert plates with a small pairing knife near by.

Plums make an excellent late-summer to early-fall dessert. This yogurt plum cake uses tangy Greek yogurt and lemon in the batter, topped with brown sugar-dusted plums and a crunchy almond topping for contrast.

5. Sweet Potato Layer Cake

sweet potato cake next to an empty bowl of caramel and a bowl of grapes

Think of your favorite sweet potato casserole transformed into a layered cake. Three spiced sweet potato cake layers are filled and frosted with a quick marshmallow buttercream and finished with a caramel drip for a rich, seasonal centerpiece.

6. Caramel Apple Snack Cake

overhead view of caramel apple cake on a cooling rack with plated slices of cake and a bowl of caramel around it.

This caramel apple snack cake delivers classic fall flavors: a moist spice cake studded with apples, topped with nutty browned butter frosting and a generous swirl of caramel for a comforting, easy-to-share dessert.

7. Pumpkin Baked Alaska

This showstopping pumpkin baked Alaska layers pound cake with no-churn pumpkin ice cream and a billowy, toasted meringue. It’s a dramatic dessert that highlights pumpkin in an unexpected format.

8. No Bake Pecan Pie Cheesecake

This no-bake dessert blends the flavors of pecan pie with cheesecake: a spiced gingersnap crust, a light whipped cheesecake filling, and a crisp caramel-pecan topping for texture and sweetness.