This homemade Smith Island cake features 9 thin layers of moist yellow cake covered with rich, fudgy chocolate icing. Maryland’s official state dessert is certainly a showstopper, but the individual cake layers bake and cool quickly, and the poured fudge icing makes decorating surprisingly simple.
I originally published this recipe in 2018 and have since updated it with a few small but worthwhile improvements, plus new photos and additional success tips.
If you weren’t born in Maryland, you may have no idea what Smith Island cake is. Even if you live here, you still might not know! I certainly didn’t until a reader emailed me years ago and encouraged me to try it.
After plenty of research, recipe testing, and LOTS of taste testing, let me introduce you to my homemade version of Maryland’s official state dessert: Smith Island cake. The updated recipe includes a little more baking powder for better lift, slightly less sugar in the cake, and more chocolate in the fudge icing.
Only a handful of states have an official state dessert, so you know this one is extra special!
What Is Smith Island Cake?
Smith Island is located in the Chesapeake Bay and is only accessible by boat. The cake that shares its name has a long history on the island, as I learned, where it was traditionally sent along with watermen during the autumn oyster harvest. The cooked fudge icing was especially practical because it kept longer than other types of frosting.
Today, Smith Island cakes are famous for their many ultra-thin layers (often 8 or more!) and you’ll find versions in flavors like lemon, coconut, carrot cake, and strawberry.
Here, we’re sticking with the classic: thin layers of moist yellow cake covered in rich chocolate fudge icing. Sprinkles are completely optional, but I’ll always encourage them!
If there’s one thing to know about Smith Island cake, it’s that this cake is exceptionally moist. The chocolate icing settles into all those pencil-thin cake layers, so nearly every bite has both soft yellow cake and rich fudge icing.
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
The ingredients for Smith Island cake are fairly simple and straightfoward, but a few are especially important:
- Butter: You’ll use unsalted butter in both the cake and the chocolate icing. For the cake batter, make sure it’s properly softened to room temperature so it can cream with the sugar.
- Buttermilk: This gives the yellow cake layers their exceptionally soft, moist texture. I don’t recommend substituting regular milk here.
- Bittersweet Chocolate: I prefer bittersweet chocolate in the icing to balance its sweetness. Use quality chocolate rather than chocolate chips, which don’t melt as smoothly. Looking for “baking bars” sold in the baking aisle. I like Ghirardelli brand. You need 6 ounces.
- Heavy Cream: The base of the cooked fudge icing, giving it a smooth, rich consistency.
- Corn Syrup: Just 2 teaspoons gives the chocolate icing a little extra shine. It’s completely optional and can be left out.
- Vanilla Extract: There’s plenty in both the cake and icing for flavor. Reach for pure vanilla extract and not imitation. You can even use homemade vanilla extract if you have a batch going!
You’ll also need baking powder and soda, flour, salt, sugar, and eggs.
The Smith Island Cake Layers
At its core, this is a 9-layer yellow cake. It sounds intimidating, but the process is actually much more manageable than you might expect.
The yellow cake batter is made with familiar ingredients including all-purpose flour, creamed butter and sugar, eggs, and buttermilk. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature so the batter combines smoothly and evenly. A little extra baking powder in this updated version gives the thin layers some additional lift without making them too puffy to stack.
You’ll have about 7 cups of batter, and I divide it between nine 9-inch cake pans, using a little less than 1 cup of batter for each (around 200-210g of batter per pan). Don’t worry if you don’t own 9 cake pans (who does?!); you’ll simply bake the layers in batches.
Spread the batter across the pans as evenly as you can. It will look like a very thin layer of batter and that’s exactly what you want.
And don’t skip the parchment paper. These thin cakes are delicate, so lining the pans with greased parchment paper rounds helps ensure they release without tearing.
Why Bake the Layers Individually?
Instead of baking a few thick cakes and slicing each horizontally into multiple layers, you bake each thin layer individually. This is easier than trying to evenly slice cakes into 9 delicate layers, and it helps each layer bake evenly. And because the cakes are so thin, they only need about 11-12 minutes in the oven.
If you have 3 cake pans, you can bake 3 layers at a time. If you have more pans, bake more at once. If you only have 1 or 2, that’s fine, too; just continue working in batches.
The good news about such thin cake layers is that they cool quickly, too. Let them cool completely before assembling, and handle them gently because they’re quite fragile.
Cooked Chocolate Fudge Icing
While the yellow cake layers are delicious, the cooked chocolate fudge icing is really the hallmark of Smith Island cake. The icing is made on the stovetop and needs time to cool and thicken before you assemble the cake, so I recommend making it first. It can cool while you prepare, bake, and cool the cake layers.
For this updated recipe, I increased the amount of chocolate from 4 ounces to 6 ounces for a thicker icing with even more chocolate flavor.
Combine butter, chopped chocolate, sugar, heavy cream, and optional corn syrup on the stovetop. I like bittersweet chocolate here because its deeper flavor balances the sweetness of the icing. Finish with vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
Boil the icing for 2 minutes, or until it reaches about 220°F (104°C).
Make sure you give the icing enough time to cool before assembling the cake. It will be quite thin when it first comes off the stove (similar to warm hot fudge sauce or chocolate ganache) and that’s completely normal. As it cools, it develops a thicker, spreadable consistency, and then sets even more once layered on the cake.
Assembling Your 9-Layer Smith Island Cake
Once the cakes are cool and the icing has thickened, assembly is surprisingly straightforward.
Place one cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate, spoon some chocolate icing on top, and spread it into a thin layer. Repeat with the remaining cakes and icing.
Don’t worry about making this cake look perfectly polished. Some icing will drip down the sides as you work, much like Boston Cream Pie and Chocolate Chip Cake, and that’s part of its charm.
And once you slice into it, you can really appreciate what makes Smith Island cake so special: layer after layer of soft yellow cake with chocolate fudge icing in every single bite.
Nine layers, plenty of chocolate fudge icing, and one seriously unforgettable cake. This is Smith Island cake!
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Smith Island Cake
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 36 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 12-14 servings
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Smith Island cake is the official dessert of Maryland. This stunning cake features 9 delicious yellow cake layers and chocolate icing layers. The chocolate icing seeps down into the cake layers creating the most deliciously moist cake you’ll ever taste. Garnish with sprinkles for an extra special treat!
Ingredients
Chocolate Icing
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
- 6 ounces (170g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped*
- 1 and 2/3 cups (335g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup (optional, for shine)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt (optional, to taste)
Cake
- 3 and 3/4 cups (443g) sifted all-purpose flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 3/4 cups (420ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
- optional: rainbow sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Make the icing first: The icing needs to cool completely and thicken before assembling the cake, so prepare it first. Combine the butter, chocolate, granulated sugar, heavy cream, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter and chocolate have melted. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, as the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a full boil. (You should see bubbling in the center of the saucepan, not just around the edges.) Once boiling, cook for 2 minutes, or until the mixture reaches 220°F (104°C). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Carefully taste and add a pinch of salt, if desired. Leave uncovered and set aside to cool and thicken for at least 2 hours, or until it reaches a spreadable consistency. This gives you plenty of time to bake and cool the cake layers. See the Make Ahead Tip if preparing in advance. Yields about 2 and 1/4 cups icing.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the thin cakes seamlessly release from the pans; they may crack and crumble otherwise. (If it’s helpful, see my parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post. You can also reuse the parchment rounds for each batch or cut 9 individual rounds.)
- Make the cake batter: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed.
- On medium-high speed, add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be smooth, velvety, and slightly thick.
- Bake the layers: You’ll have about 7 cups of batter total, so each of the 9 cake layers will use slightly less than 1 cup of batter, or about 200–210g. Keep any unused batter loosely covered at room temperature while the other layers bake. Pour slightly less than 1 cup (200–210g) of batter into each prepared cake pan and spread evenly. Bake for 11–12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The layers are VERY thin, so they shouldn’t need much longer than this. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for a couple minutes, then carefully invert each onto parchment paper on the counter. Peel off the parchment round from the bottom of the cake; you can reuse it for the next batch or use a new one. Once the pans are cool enough to handle, grease them again, line with parchment rounds, and grease the parchment. Repeat baking the remaining batter until you have baked all 9 layers. Allow all of the cake layers to cool completely, about 1 hour.
- Assemble the cake: Carefully place one layer on a serving platter, cake turntable, or cake stand. Spoon and spread 1/4 cup of icing on top, then repeat with the rest of the cake layers and icing. Some icing will spill over the sides and that’s ok. Decorate the top with sprinkles, if desired.
- Set the cake aside for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. This gives the icing time to set and makes the cake easier to slice. You can refrigerate the cake during this time, if desired.
- Cover and store leftover cake at room temperature for 1–2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled completely, covered tightly, and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day. The icing can also be prepared ahead of time, covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days. The assembled cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before serving. For the best taste and texture, though, I recommend enjoying this cake fresh.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Medium Saucepan | 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Whisk | Glass Mixing Bowl | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cake Turntable | Cake Carrier (for storage)
- 9 Layers: The 9 thin cake layers are baked individually rather than baking 3 or 4 thicker cakes and slicing them horizontally. This is actually easier and helps the layers bake more evenly—and because they’re so thin, each batch only takes about 11–12 minutes in the oven. If you have multiple 9-inch cake pans, you can bake several layers at once. If you only have 1 or 2 pans, simply work in batches until all 9 layers are baked.
- Chocolate in Icing: I prefer bittersweet chocolate for a rich chocolate flavor that balances the sweetness of the icing. For a sweeter icing, use semi-sweet chocolate. You need 6 ounces (170g) of chocolate, which is more than 1 standard 4-ounce baking chocolate bar, so be sure to have 2 bars on hand. Use baking chocolate bars, not chocolate chips, which don’t melt as smoothly.
- Flour: Sift flour before measuring.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk (an acid) is required for this cake recipe. If you don’t have any, you can make a DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 and 3/4 cups. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Very delicious. I did add mixed chopped nuts every couple of layers and on top of cake instead of sprinkles. It was a big hit and a keeper.
Super excited to make this cake for family and have all the ingredients ready but just realized my pans are 8-inch! Will that still work? Should I just bake them a minute or so longer? Thanks in advance!
Hi Helen, that should be fine! Bake time will be slightly longer for the slightly thicker layers.
This cake is the new birthday cake in our family. It’s always requested. The recipe is clear and easy, just takes a bit of time. I love the flavor of the vanilla cake and my husband says the frosting is death by chocolate and could eat it by the spoonful – fudge is a good description. I have 3 – 9″ pans and this last time started weighing each when putting the batter in them. Three rounds of baking and my 9 layers aren’t perfectly even, but I think it’s a bit of the charm of this cake. Thanks for developing easy and tasty recipes.
Hello – any way to do a
Hello – any advice on making a six inch version of this cake? Thank you!
Hi Anna, For best results, we recommend skipping this recipe if you don’t have the right size pan. You can bake our 6 inch cake instead and use this frosting for it. Halve this frosting if doing so.
Tried baking in parchment. Rolled out batter evenly. When done each layer was thick at one end and thin at the other. When put together it made for one ugly cake. Do you trim each layer? How do you get each layer uniform across the layer? Would it be better if I didn’t use parchment? Suggestions?
Hi Haydn! The step by step photos in the post above may be helpful – you shouldn’t have to trim the cake layers if you spread the batter out evenly before baking.
Would love to know – can you freeze the cake, If you can’t eat it all at once or in a week? Wanting to know for my niece who lives in Maryland and just told me about the cake.
Hi Lisa, see recipe notes for freezing instructions!
No icing on the sides? I’m from Maryland and have never seen a Smith Island cake that wasn’t completely covered with icing, including the most authentic version from the Smith Island Bakery. What made you decide not to cover the whole cake, and if I wanted to, how hard would it be? Did you opt not to because it was difficult, and not worth it?
Hi Julie! We preferred the look of seeing all the beautiful layers in the cake, but you can absolutely coat the sides as well! This icing recipe yields about 2 1/4 cups. If you want to make sure you have enough to coat the sides better, we suggest making 1.5x the icing recipe. One reader commented that she actually made chocolate buttercream frosting to frost the outside of this cake and it was a hit, so that’s also an option!
This cake looks great! Im planning to make it for a small bbq we are having. Question- instead of the chocolate icing.. can you use a chocolate ganache? Thanks!
Sure can, Becky!
I am from Maryland, actually I live very close to Smith Island and this cake is fabulous! We have tried many of the different flavors including many of the fruit flavors. A tradition here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and a true treat for special ocassions!
perfect for Preakness parties. purists would make extra icing to coat the sides.
I hope I am not repeating this as I was writing a message and then it disappeared. I was asking if you have made other versions of this? Years ago I made something similar with a chocolate sponge cake and a crème de menthe, stabilized whipping cream filling with chocolate glaze. I would love to try other flavors if you have suggestions. Your cake is yummy and I love all of your recipes! Thank you for sharing!!
Hi Jaye, we haven’t tested other flavor variations of this recipe, but that sounds delicious! If you enjoy that flavor combination, you might like this mint chocolate cake recipe.
I haven’t had a Sally’s recipe yet that I did not love. Honestly! Thanks for all of your very detailed instructions and excellent recipes. Making this today for a family members bday. They always loved yellow cake and chocolate icing growing up so I thought this would be a treat for them. It looks great (mines a lil sloppy, but still works!) and it tastes great!!!
So glad you loved this recipe – hope it’s a hit with your family 🙂
This cake is worth the time and effort! Family favorite
I’m a Maryland transplant and think I am going to have my Girl Scouts attempt this as a “regional recipe” for their New Cuisines badge. I hope I’m not insane to have them tackle this. Maybe I should make a test cake this weekend. I’ve only had Smith Island cake once and it was sooooo good. Thank you for the recipe!
We would love to hear how it goes, Carrie!
Could I use milk chocolate for the frosting?
Hi Ella! We found the icing to be too sweet with anything sweeter than semi-sweet chocolate. Milk chocolate would work, though, if that’s your preference. Make sure to use pure baking chocolate.
What size pans could I use to make this cake rectangular?
I have lost track of tbe number of your recipes that I have tried and can’t wait to give this one a go. In South Africa we don’t have all purpose flour readily available. I have cake flour, bread flour or 00 flourto choose from. Normally I just pick the one that seems as thougb it would work best but in this instance I am uncertain. What would you recommend?
Thanks!
Hi Rowan, of those options, I would use cake flour. You may want to slightly reduce the liquid in the batter since cake flour is lighter than all-purpose/plain flour. I recommend 1 and 2/3 cups (400ml) buttermilk.
How would you make a chocolate peanut butter icing for the Smith Island Cake?
Thank you,
Mariann
Hi Mariann, That sounds delicious! We haven’t tested it so we’re not sure of the exact amount, but it should work to add a little bit of peanut butter to this icing recipe. Let us know what you try!
Spotted the photo of this and instantly thought of the Russian honey cake (Медови́к), there’s also Napoleon’s cake which has a similar high number of layers (although involves pastry). I’ve made honey cake a few times and it’s definitely much nicer after sitting in the fridge 24 hours, so the cake can soak up the cream, after which point it has a moist fudge-esque consistency/flavour.
Haven’t tried this recipe, but I assume it’s great if it’s anything similar and thought you might be interested in the additional context.
I love this cake. I’ve made it twice now and it was perfect both times. The only aspect I am having a challenge with is that even though I scoop just under a cup of batter into each pan, I can only get 7 or 8 layers. Can you suggest a measurement that would work to ensure nine layers?
Hi Karen, Thank you for using this recipe! You’ll have about 8 cups of batter to work with, so we used a little less than 1 cup of batter per cake. You could, of course, bake 8 cakes using 1 cup of batter each.
As a native Marylander, I’ll let you in on a secret – anything between 8 and 10 layers is okay! Most often I see an even number of layers, either 8 or 10, but 9 is just fine, too!
I’m from Maryland and I’ve always wanted to make a Smith Island cake! This recipe was easy to follow and I was pretty pleased with how mine turned out. Just one question – How did you get your layers so flat? I had some trouble getting the thick batter to spread out evenly in the pans so my layers had a slight dome to them.
Hi Amanda, Thank you for trying this recipe and we are glad you enjoyed it! The trick to flat layers is that it needs to go into the oven flat. When you pour your batter it your pans, use an offset spatula to smooth it out as best you can and shimmy the pan a little little to make sure it’s level before going in the oven. If they dome up a bit you can alway use a knife to cut the tops off for flatter layers.
Can I use a caramel icing on this cake?
Sounds delicious, Mickie!
Is there a reason the recipe calls for all purpose flour instead of cake flour?
Hi Brenda! You’ll want to stick with all-purpose flour to ensure these thin layers don’t fall apart when assembling.
How can I alter this recipe to make a cookies and cream smith island cake?
Hi Vanessa, We haven’t tested it but you should be able to add crumbled Oreo cookies to this cake batter with no problem. You can even top the cake with the frosting from this cookies and cream sheet cake. Let us know if you give it a try!
i haven’t tried this yet, but it reminds me of the Indonesian Lapis Legit! give it a try
I have made this once before and added crumbled Reece’s cups into the layers. So good!! Do you think I could add peanut butter into the fudge icing? If so, do you have a recommended amount, or a different recipe that would work well? Thanks!
Hi Jen, That sounds delicious! We haven’t tested it so I don’t know the exact amount, but I’m sure it would work. Let us know if you try it!
My stepson, a Maryland boy, requested a Smith Island cake for his birthday. I was up for the challenge and this recipe made it 100% easy to bake and build. And it was so, so, SO SO SO SO good. Oh my gosh. It was so good. SO GOOD. I ended up making 8 layers for his 8 years.
I wish you could have seen his face when he saw it, and when he bit into it. Heaven. Thank you!
I have always wanted to try a Smith Island cake, but did not have any around here. This recipe provided clear instructions that walked me through the steps and delivered a delicious cake. We are dark chocolate lovers and so I used Baker’s unsweetened chocolate for the icing. It had great chocolate flavor without being too sweet or too bitter. I made eight layers with the batter. Next time I will put a bit less on the batter for each pan and try to get to the nine layers. I had a little bit of trouble spreading the batter out in the pans as the parchment paper would move. Using the back of a soup spoon and moving from the center out worked well. Overall this cake came out a success. Sally, thank you for guiding me through it!
Best –
Christine
Do read through the recipe thoroughly before starting. Do spread the batter as close to the edges of pans as possible, and as evenly as possible. Do make 1 and 1/2 of the frosting recipe- being sure to calculate out the revised measurements before you begin. Do pour the frosting on the top of the cake after putting it on the layers – but give it a quick mix with your hand mixer before frosting the sides of the cake – it will thicken it up and make it easier to work with. Sally, a video for this cake would be really helpful for less experienced bakers
Hi Sally, I made this cake recently and it was absolutely delicious. My only concern was, the chocolate icing was not runny and kept on following off the cake making a puddle around the base. I measured the ingredients correctly. So is this how the icing should be, or am I missing something?
Hi Rosalin, since the icing is made with butter, it thickens as it cools. Did you let it cool completely? It’s meant to be a little drippy, but shouldn’t be pooling at the base of the cake.
Sally, will there be enough icing to frost the outside of the cake as well, if one so desires?
Hi Tracie, this icing recipe yields about 2 1/4 cups. If you want to make sure you have enough to coat the sides better, we suggest making 1.5x the icing recipe. One reader commented that she actually made chocolate buttercream frosting to frost the outside of this cake and it was a hit, so that’s also an option!
I doubled the icing recipe and it was very grainy. Should I have boiled it longer?