Remember when I said I wanted to bake 50 cakes in one year? This ridiculous undertaking is still going on. If you’ve ever thought about putting stock into the butter industry, now’s the time, my friends.

I’m almost halfway to my goal. I’ve tackled my fear of layer cakes (spoiler alert: no one really cares about your uneven layers when they are eating delicious homemade cake), listened to tons of Beyonce, spent an embarrassing amount of time pouring over cookbooks, made my first vegan cake and managed to flambé some cherries without causing myself bodily harm.

Here’s a glance at the first half  of my cake project, along with links to the books where I got the recipes; my favorites are in bold.

1. Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake (All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray)
2. Brown Sugar Pound Cake (All Cakes Considered)
3. Cinnamon Almond Coffee Cake (All Cakes Considered)
4. Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake
5. Chocolate Pound Cake (All Cakes Considered)
6. Ginger Apple Torte (Food 52 Cookbook: Volume 2)
7. Cinnamon Roll Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
8. Coconut-Buttermilk Poundcake
9. Honey Nut Snack Cake
10. Luscious Cream Cheese Pound Cake (Bake Happy by Judith Fertig)
11. Chocolate Truffle Cake  (Bake Happy)
12. Vegan Devil’s Food Cake with Coconut-Coffee Frosting (Bake Happy)
13. Chocolate Whiskey Cake
14. Blood Orange Upside Down Cake (Honey and Jam: Seasonal Baking from my Kitchen in the Mountains by Hannah Queen)
15. Chocolate Butter Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch by Warren Brown)
16. Vanilla Cupcakes (I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris)
17. Neely’s Cookies N Cream Cake
18. Devil’s Food Cake with Angel Frosting (Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis)
19. Yellow Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Crunch Buttercream (CakeLove)
20. Sunday Night Cake (Baked Explorations)
21. Brooklyn Blackout Cake
22. Chocolate Cherry Torte (Baking, From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)
23. No-Mixer Cake (CakeLove)

Ginny is a baker of treats, reader of fiction and Coordinator of Volunteer Services based out of the Office of Programs and Partnerships at CLP – East Liberty. She wants to pet your dog.