Getty ImagesEver hear that snappy song "If I knew you were comin' I'd have baked a cake . . ." ? It was a huge late '40s hit, the good old days when cooks thought nothing of whipping up a cake for family supper -- a from-scratch cake because mixes hadn't yet inundated the market.

That from-scratch cake would have been a family "fave," angel food, perhaps, devil's food or one of the other American classics featured here. Only slightly more complicated than a mix, all deliver fresher, finer flavor. I urge you to try them, but first a few keys to success:

• Read each recipe before you start, twice if necessary, so you know exactly what to do.
• Measure all ingredients at the outset so you don't have to pause mid-recipe.
• Follow recipe exactly. Don't substitute one ingredient for another unless recipe offers options.
• Sift flour before you measure it, even if the bag says "presifted" because flour compacts in transit and storage. Even easier, whisk flour well before measuring.
• Use dry-cup measures for flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients (they're spout-less, nested in 1-cup, 1/2-cup, 1/3-cup, and 1/4-cup sizes). Spoon ingredient lightly into cup and level off with the edge of a small thin spatula. Note: These cups are best for sour cream, too, shortening, brown sugar, etc. Pack in into cup and level off with the broadside of a spatula.
• Measure liquids in spouted, transparent measuring cups. Set on counter, add liquid, then confirm amount by bending to read at eye level.
• To prevent over-browning, use bright metal pans, not darkly coated ones.
• Preheat oven 15 minutes before baking.
• Check oven accuracy often with an oven thermometer and if it's running cold or hot (most ovens are), compensate by adding to or subtracting from suggested baking time.
• Rely on Grandma's tests for cake doneness: pulls from sides of pan . . . feels springy when touched . . . cake tester or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Once you've baked one cake from scratch, seen it rise majestically, and won oohs and aahs from family and friends, why not bake your way through all ten classics that follow? Each, you might say, is a piece of cake.

• Angel Food Cake recipe
• Devil's Food Cake recipe
• Red Velvet Cake with Fluffy Sour Cream Frosting recipe
• Crazy Cake recipe
• 1-2-3-4 Cake recipe
• Lemon Chiffon Cake recipe
• Easy-Does-It Pound Cake recipe
• Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe
• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe
• Hummingbird Cake recipe