Feelings about cake can run deep and are often tied to regional recipes, family history, or simple flavor preferences. Maybe for you, the ultimate cake is the one you had on your birthday every year, perhaps a Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake with billows of chocolate frosting. Or maybe you like something audacious, like a three-layer rainbow sprinkle–filled Confetti Cake. Maybe your fondness isn’t tied to celebrations at all: Few things are more comforting than an anytime treat of Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Or the pleasures of a Salted Caramel Cupcake—a delightful solo indulgence. And baking enthusiasts might love elegant projects like Raspberry Charlotte. Cake can be a single layer like Apple Upside-Down Cake topped with glistening fruit. Or it can be as statuesque as Rainbow Layer Cake that stands six colored layers tall.

Whichever kind of cake you prefer, you’ll likely find it in this collection—America’s Test Kitchen’s first- ever cake cookbook, The Perfect Cake—and also learn how to make the most perfect-looking and -tasting version of it.