Our Most Popular Cakes Of All Time

Five tried-and-true classics that will make any occasion extra special.

All signature Southern cakes are equal parts flavor and emotion, connecting us with people and places we love. Bake your great aunt's "famous" pound cake and you'll immediately conjure memories of the family reunions and church potlucks where you first enjoyed it. "Pound cakes, like potato salad, are such a personal thing–more so really, than other cakes," said former Senior Food Editor Mary Allen Perry, who developed scores of cakes for Southern Living, including the annual December cover cake.

Recipes With Stories

Like all Southern recipes, our cakes tell stories. They help us define who we are and where we came from. That gives them the power to transport. Even if we were a thousand miles from the nearest pitcher of sweet tea, one bite of the Hummingbird Cake we grew up with would carry us, through memory, back to the South.

A Cake For Every Occasion

The art of cake baking remains a point of pride among Southern cooks, and the type of cake served still conveys, to a a degree, the status of the occasion. Cakes made with available ingredients like everyday pound cakes and upside-down skillet cakes are for family; those made with previously hard-to-get ingredients like citrus fruit or coconut are reserved for weddings and holidays.

These five cakes are a few of your favorites that you make time and again, from a seasonal showstopper to a simple and delicious pound cake.

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Read the original article on Southern Living.