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Variations: Add ½ cup of any of the following with the flour: semisweet chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate chips, cocoa nibs, chopped raisins, chopped dried cranberries, or chopped dried cherries.

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When’s a Cake Done?

Keep these four tips in mind:

The top should be lightly browned. If yours browns too quickly, cover it loosely with a piece of lightly greased or buttered foil, but do not let the foil touch the top surface.

The cake may pull slightly away from the pan’s edge, but not so far away that the cake’s edges are themselves slanted.

The cake should be firm but also spring back when gently touched at its center.

Finally, insert either a metal cake tester (available at cookware stores) or a wooden toothpick into the center of the cake and then gently remove it, pulling it straight back out of the hole you’ve made. There should either be a few crumbs attached or none at all, depending on the recipe’s instructions.

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Layer Cakes

These are the showstoppers, the frosted behemoths. We’ve offered our best suggestions for cake-and-frosting combinations, but become your own ultimate baker: mix and match to your heart’s content.

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Genoise Layers

This buttery French classic (said to be from Genoa) is the basis for a lighter-than-air layer cake as well as many other desserts. Frost these layers with almost any icing or frosting in this chapter—or follow the instructions below to turn the layers into spectacular specialty cakes. Makes two 8-inch round cake layers

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional for greasing the pans

¾ cup cake flour, plus additional for dusting the pans

5 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter two 8-inch round cake pans; then dust them with flour, making sure they’re evenly coated at the corner between the sides and the bottom before tapping out the excess.

If you’re using a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment. Place the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until tripled in volume and velvety, about 7 minutes. When the whisk attachment or beaters are turned off and lifted out of the batter, the batter should run off in thick ribbons that lie on top of the batter in the bowl without immediately dissolving back into it. In truth, you cannot overbeat at this stage. Beat in the vanilla and salt.

Scrape down and remove the beaters. Sift ¼ cup flour into the batter through a flour sifter or a fine-mesh sieve; then fold in with a rubber spatula, using slow, even arcs, just until moistened. Repeat two more times, each time with ¼ cup flour.

Pour in the melted butter and continue folding until a fairly smooth batter forms.

Pour and scrape the dough evenly into the two cake pans. Rap them against the counter a couple of times to get rid of any air pockets.

Bake until lightly browned, set but still soft, and a little spongy to the touch, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 22 minutes.

To cool and unmold: Set the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the inner rim of the pan to loosen the cake. then turn upside down, remove the pans, set a second rack over the cakes, turn them right side up, remove the top rack, and continue cooling until room temperature.

To store: Wrap the cooled layers individually in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Walnut Genoise: Substitute 6 tablespoons walnut oil and ½ tablespoon water for the melted butter. Use walnut oil to grease the pans as well. For a deeper taste, use toasted walnut oil (but not for greasing the pans).

Five Things to Do with a Genoise

I. Make a Frosted Layer Cake

Frost with Chocolate Frosting, Banana Frosting, Chocolate Whipped Cream, Italian Meringue Icing, Lemon Buttercream, Vanilla Buttercream, or Chocolate Mousse Frosting.