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Fancy Cake Recipe

I'm looking to bake a cake for my SO's birthday. I'm looking for something interesting/sophisticated, WITHOUT CHOCOLATE, with some interesting flavor, maybe with nuts or liquer or fruit? I'd love any and all suggestions. Oh, BTW smaller cakes are better since we won't be serving a crowd. Thanks!!

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  1. I would make the "Beehive Cake" @ the Food Network site, it's a favorite for fancy looks AND flavor,
    or a Coconut Cheesecake (I have a recipe if you're interested.)

    1. The beehive cake looks great and I might end up making it. But still just looking for more ideas so I'm bumping this up. Maybe something Austrian like a torte?

      1. I recently made a cake for a friend's birthday that was not necessarily fancy, but was very tasty. It was 2 layers of yellow cake with a layer of lemon curd and raspberry jam mixed together as the filling between the layers and frosted with cream cheese frosting. I skipped this part since I forgot to buy them at the store, but I had been planning to arrange fresh raspberries on the cake to make it prettier.

        1. I saw a beautiful cake in a Martha Stewart magazine with poppyseeds and grapefruit. it was all in layers and looked so pretty. Never did try that one...

          1. My favorite celebration cake is a dacquoise, which is basically a meringue with part of the sugar replaced by ground nuts. Most recipe specify ground almonds or ground hazelnuts. You bake it in pans, then sandwich the layers with something nice and rich. One favorite of mine is simple whipped cream, sweeetened a little, with fresh or frozen raspberries. The combination of toasty nuts, cream and raspberries is delightful.