There are so many cake recipes available today that suit different tastes and diet concerns.

If you are going to bake your cakes at home, it is good to have a variety of pans of different shapes and sizes. Round pans that have a standard depth of 2 inches are ideal for making layer cakes (cakes with more than one “cake” or layer that usually have frosting in between the layers). For cheesecakes, a springform pan works well and comes with a removable base and has a ring that secures the cake while baking and releases it after it is done. Tube pans or Bundt pans work well for cakes with a hole in the middle. Some other pans that you may use for other kinds of cakes are square pans, jelly-roll pans, loaf pans, and sheet pans.

Then of course it is also good to have a variety of measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls, and mixers such as an electric mixer, food processor, blender, and whisk.

Let’s get to the exciting part — delicious cakes you can bake easily at home! If you are a lover of chocolate, there are so many types of good chocolate cakes: classic devil’s food cakes, chocolate cheesecakes, chocolate-buttermilk cakes, and cakes with chocolate chips, to name just a few. A delicious kind of cake that includes chocolate chips is the chocolate chip sour cream cake. The sweet flavor of the chocolate and the subtle flavor of the sour cream go together perfectly. There are several recipes that can be found online or in books for this cake, but the basic ingredients you will need are unsweetened chocolate, vanilla extract, sugar, sour cream, flour, baking soda, baking powder, egg whites, and chocolate chips.