My issue with frosting is that it’s usually way too thick and way too sweet. A ganache is nice…usually quite thin and not too sweet.
If I make homemade cakes or cupcakes (not done very often) I put a skim coat of frosting on the cake. Just enough to add some flavor but not over power the cake itself.
Oh, I love a good frosting! My D is nursing & has to avoid dairy & soy. For her birthday, I baked her the most amazing dairy & soy free chocolate cake. The frosting was decadent!
Hands down my favorite is German chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting. (I will happily eat the frosting without the cake…) My second favorite is plain white cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Boring, I know.
Not a huge fan of carrot cake; I prefer applesauce cake with browned butter cream cheese frosting. It’s D2’s favorite and I once–when she was feeling homesick-- mailed her a homemade applesauce sheetcake more than halfway across the US in a standard USPS priority box when she was in college. The cake arrive intact- the frosting wasn’t even mushed against the pan cover when she got it.
I made an excellent cake this weekend. The frosting was so very very good. I made it in a springform pan. Increased the chocolate in both the cake and frosting by adding in some unsweetened cocoa. Also added a dash of salt to both. It’s a keeper.
I love that cookbook! It was a shower gift from my MIL almost 30 years ago!
Made red velvet cake for Mother’s Day! Three days into my new diet 
My favorite is a doctored devils food cake with chocolate chips and sour cream added with whipped cream frosting (a bit of cocoa added). Also, the NY Times Intense Chocolate Mousse cake. Divine!
I find a lot of buttercream frosting too sweet as well. Yellow cake with good chocolate frosting is also a favorite.
On the non-chocolate front, an orange poppy seed cake with a orange glaze is also a favorite.
This may make me the most hated CC user but…here goes…Ice Cream Cake?
LOL! The cake taste like cardboard but it’s mostly just ice cream so it’s a winner in my book. We always got the kids ice cream cakes for their birthdays.
So many great recipes but sadly because I live at close to 7000 ft elevation none of them will work for me. I’d have to play “guess the adjustment” and try fussing with the sugar (less than at sea level), flour (more than at sea level), baking powder/soda (less than at sea levels), eggs (more than at sea level), shortening/butter (less than at sea level) and liquids (more than at sea level). Plus one needs more chocolate at higher elevations to get the same intensity of flavor as at lower altitudes, but you can’t increase the amount of baking chocolate because it ruins the fat ratio in the cake and changes its texture. Plus still more adjustments to baking times and temperatures.
I stopped baking scratch chewy brownies for a long time because no matter how long I baked a sea level recipe they were always so gooey they were basically liquid. Even the kids wouldn’t eat them.
I finally got a really good altitude adjust recipe for chewy brownies from a professional chef I know in Breckenridge, CO about 3 years ago.
But scratch cakes–unless the recipe is from an altitude adjust cookbook–I just don’t bother anymore.
Not a flavor but…who here had a “doll cake” for their birthday when they were growing up? They were the ones where a Barbie doll (actually her head and torso) were sticking up out of a cake shaped like a ballgown. (no- I am not talking about those cakes where scantily dressed women jumped out! 
)
I never had one. My friends and cousins did. Next year when I turn 65 I am planning to order one from a nearby bakery.
More of a pastry but baklava is really good. It is a Turkish dessert and a restaurant by my house makes them pretty good. As for cake, it is surprising how good Publix makes their cake. We always get ours from Publix.
I also really really like cookie cake but I have not had that one since kindergarten…
After reading this thread all I want to do is bake a cake- something I rarely do. Birthdays for us are often a pan of homemade brownies with ice cream or a bakery cake.
I love chocolate, hummingbird, carrot, etc. I recently acquired 2 beautiful cake plates so need to get on this. I have a recipe for a chocolate zucchini cake from an old friend- one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted.
Your decision to order yourself a Barbie cake makes me so happy!!! I had one for my 4th bday and it was my favorite cake ever. My mom made it with my favorite colors and to this day it brings a smile. Thank you for reminding me of such happy occasion.
Maybe you could post a picture for us when you get yours!!! 
I don’t think I knew about Barbie cakes until I had kids! Guess my mom hid that idea well!!
I had a Barbie dress cake! My aunt’s mother made it for me; I think I was 3 that year.
Cake or cupcake?
Flavor?
Layer cake - because better frosting distribution- not just on top like most cupcakes. I love frosting.
Flavor - different flavors for different moods. Equal opportunity flavor lover.
If I have to narrow down I’ll lean towards choc cake with chocolate frosting or a loaded cake like carrot or hummingbird.
Was just remembering a delicious, moist strawberry cake a relative used to make. Well worth the splurge.
You’re eating your cupcake improperly then. You tear off the cake bottom of the cupcake and layer it on top of the frosting. Torn side down preferentially.
My SIL told me I was seriously crazy to do this but after he tried it when I bought a dozen cupcakes to share for my birthday, he decided it was the absolutely best method to eat cupcakes.
And my SIL can be absolutely obsessive about finding the best methodologies for just about everything. So high praise!