Every Nothing Bundt Cake Flavor, Ranked Worst To Best

The cool thing about Nothing Bundt Cakes is that it actually backs up its name. In other words? The store sells nothing but bundt cakes, at least from a food perspective. It does offer a wide variety of bundt cake sizes, from the gargantuan Tiered and Big Bundts to the more individual-friendly Bundtlets — which I tried for this article — and even tiny Bundtinis. While any of these cakes can be decorated in a variety of creative ways, including for birthdays, holidays, weddings, corporate events, and more, the bottom line is that every purchase starts with a bundt cake.

In addition to the plethora of sizes, Nothing Bundt Cakes' cakes come in a number of flavors, with nine standard options, two gluten-free options, as well as rotating seasonal and pop-up choices. The customer can also customize their topping preferences, as the store offers everything from extra cream cheese frosting to no frosting at all (though for this exercise, I took the default frosting option).

With all of that considered, I took the opportunity to taste each of the store's standard (AKA always available) cake flavor options to decide once and for all which is the best. What follows is my honest and unvarnished ranking of every Nothing Bundt cake flavor.

There is, without a doubt, something weird in the flavor here. Is it the gluten-free cake base? Or the lemon? The raspberry? I tried this one before any of the other cakes with those three elements, so it was initially unclear. Even after trying those other cakes (see below), I'm still not sure. I liked both the other gluten-free option and the lemon option quite a bit, and while the other raspberry wasn't my absolute favorite, it was fine. In the end, then, it actually doesn't seem like the problem here is one ingredient in particular, just that here they all seem to come together to create something off-putting and, quite frankly, odd.

In terms of evaluating this as a gluten-free option, the cake is definitely not as tender as the gluten-containing ones, so this wheat eater will probably try to stick with the standard cake-flour cakes in the future. That said, for anyone who either isn't able to eat gluten or who simply chooses not to, Nothing Bundt Cakes' gluten-free options are a decent choice for a cake without worry.

This cake tastes eerily like a pink Starburst — as in, almost exactly (I can smell it from five feet away). Now, I personally like pink Starburst and think they're delicious ... but should a cake taste like a Starburst candy? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't think it should. Simply put, this is not the flavor of fresh strawberries; it's more akin to an industrial strawberry flavoring. It might feel properly at home in junk food candy, but notably out of place in a cake (or perhaps I'm expecting too much from a chain bakery).

Visually, this is one of the more interesting varieties of the white, fruit-flavored cakes. I'll absolutely give it that. It's got a darker complexion, for example, and is speckled with enticing red flecks throughout. And that's not nothing: We eat with our eyes before our mouths, after all. Purely from a flavor standpoint, however, it's difficult to recommend this one to adults, so it comes near the bottom.

This one is made from the standard vanilla cake base, but with colorful sprinkles mixed in, mostly for visual appeal. They do add little bits of flavor, as well; unfortunately, that isn't pleasant in this particular case. The sprinkles are really just sugar on top of what's already a sweet cake (not to mention sweet icing), plus a slight twang of artificiality for good measure. And, looking at the ingredients, like most sprinkles, these are mired with artificial colors and flavors. In other words, no thanks.

Look, I get it, this one offers that extra special visual nuance when grabbing a birthday cake, or otherwise festive dessert for celebratory purposes. And for that occasion, it's fine. It's cloying and artificial, yes, but if it's for a crowd and everyone gets a small slice, these objections are minor. That said, while this wasn't the worst option I tried, I wouldn't recommend this for someone consuming a large amount of Nothing Bundt Cake.

As the de facto "plain" cake option on Nothing Bundt Cakes' menu, there's nothing necessarily wrong with this one. It's solid for what it is, and may just be the necessary choice to please a crowd with varying tastes. That said, my main objection here is that there isn't anything, flavor-wise, to balance the otherwise overwhelming sweetness on display here.

The cake is sweet, the frosting is even sweeter, and the added vanilla flavor simply does not do enough to counteract that. Now, is this an unfair criticism of a frosted cake? Perhaps. Then again, the higher-ranked cakes on this list manage to offer enough variation in flavor — as well as savory, acidic, or bitter notes to offset all the sugar — that work better than this one does. As such, I remain confident in my judgment that this one is just too sweet, and too reliant on one flavor note to place any higher on the list (or to be a buy again).

Though I'm hardly excited about this particular flavor, compared to the aforementioned vanilla? It offers just enough taste variation to help make it slightly more interesting. It's the raspberry flavor that does the heavy lifting from this perspective, offering a sweet-yet-zesty note that helps bring much-needed balance to the palate here. And while I don't like the raspberry flavor as much as the lemon (see below), there doesn't seem to be any off notes here that explain the weirdness of the gluten-free lemon raspberry mentioned previously.

As for the white chocolate, I can't imagine I ever could have guessed that this flavor was part of the profile here, had I not seen it on the menu beforehand. Though it is true that this cake base tastes different than the cake base for the vanilla cake, it simply isn't at all suggestive of white chocolate. Not that it tastes bad, but white chocolate lovers — if those exist — might be disappointed with the execution.

This flavor isn't bad per se, but it's probably the most disappointing of any on the list for me. Expecting a cake chock-full of that classic Oreo flavor, what I found instead was just bland. Described as a fluffy white cake with Oreo chunks laced throughout, it really does sound fantastic. And, at the very least, the added chocolate here does help offset the otherwise sweet cake base. But there isn't much to get excited about otherwise.

I have two hypotheses about why this flavor combination, which seems like it would be delicious, doesn't quite work. For one, the chocolate part of the Oreo cookies, after being baked then chilled, are too soft to make much of a textural impact. Though they do add a bit of flavor, they fail to offer anything tactile that one gets from, say, cookies and cream ice cream. Secondly, the iconic Oreo cream filling — which many believe is the best thing about eating Oreos — actually clashes with the cake itself. Essentially, both are vanilla cream, but since they feature slightly different versions of the same flavor, it doesn't quite come together. All told, this isn't a terrible option by any means, but it is disappointing.

Considering my earlier comment about the need for varied flavors and textures to help create balance and harmony in every bite, this carrot cake option — with its cinnamon and nutmeg spices alongside (somewhat surprisingly) pineapple pieces — seems like a slam dunk. To be sure, it mostly delivers on its description's promise. In addition, the classic icing for carrot cake is cream cheese frosting, of course, which adds to the affinity here.

Now, texture-wise, this old school cake is by far the most intriguing of the bunch, with the candied pineapple chunks and carrot shavings adding a pleasant chewiness that the others lack. But while the latter isn't particularly notable from a flavor standpoint, I could definitely live without the unnatural pop of sweetness the former bring, which kept it from ranking higher.

The other thing to note about this cake's taste is that it toes the line between being favorably cinnamon-forward and having too much darn cinnamon. As a lover of the warm spice, I enjoyed this flavor profile, but those who would prefer a more deft use of cinnamon may find this particular aspect too aggressive.

All things being equal, this is probably my favorite flavor combination of any on this list. It gets knocked down slightly to fourth place, however, because the gluten-free aspect means it's both less tender than the standard cakes and features a slightly unpleasant aftertaste that lingers on the palate. Other than that, this is great, and there's a lot to like here — gluten or no gluten.

This bundt tastes like a classic chocolate chip cookie, with that telltale interplay between the sweet dough base and little hits of bitter, savory chocolate. It also doesn't come across as excessively sweet like the lower-ranked ones, which also makes this cake feel more balanced. Made primarily with rice flour, Nothing Bundt Cakes' gluten-free cake base is — as noted in the gluten-free lemon raspberry section above — unfortunately inferior to the wheat-based cake base. Yet it can still be enjoyable even without the gluten if executed solidly enough.

For this one, the flavor itself is lovely enough to make this gluten lover consider ordering it again. Certainly, if there were a wheat-based cake made with this chocolate chip cookie flavor, it would become my go-to going forward.

The beauty of a flavor like this one — described by the company as rich chocolate cake with "craveable" chocolate chips mixed throughout — is that the ample addition of chocolate helps greatly to balance all the inherent sweetness of both cake and frosting, as discussed above. This is why chocolate cake is such a perpetual favorite, both here and elsewhere. The combination of flavors is difficult to top.

All that said, while I enjoyed the moist, rich texture of the chocolate cake base here, I did find myself wishing it could have been bolder, or more chocolatey, from a taste perspective. As in, it's good, but not great enough to best the top two entries. I did indeed find myself craving the chips, as they added to the rich, decadent sensation. But again, without them, the cake could have been slightly more favorable. In the end, this might be a nitpick critique, but isn't that what we're here for? That said, I'd happily eat this one again.

Unlike the aforementioned gluten-free lemon raspberry option — which I found to be aggressively flavored in an odd way — the lemon flavor here is both subtle and beautiful. While these cakes can trend towards cloying quite easily when there isn't any aspect of the flavor profile to balance out that sweetness, with this one, the natural acidity of lemon is simply a perfect foil. And the amount of lemon used is perfect — neither too much nor too little — creating a truly elegant bite.

This cake is simple, yes, and perhaps not the most exciting on paper. Visually, it might not drive the most engagement online. But there's a reason Nothing Bundt Cakes lists it as a customer favorite (and why it earned a second place ranking). It's so beautifully structured that instead of overwhelming my palate, my taste buds are continually refreshed and ready for another bite. What else does a cake need?

Though this goes against everything red velvet cake is — typically a red-tinged, milder chocolate cake than a fully dark chocolate one — the chocolate cake experience here is somehow more satisfying to this chocoholic than it is in the aforementioned double chocolate option. Is it the way that the cocoa powder is incorporated? The higher contrast between the base and chocolate chips? The cool red color? Or something else entirely? To be honest, I can't be sure. But I am sure that this red velvet flavor combination is crazy delicious enough to take first place.

Funny story: When I was in the store waiting for my order, a young woman was ahead of me trying to decide what she was going to treat herself with for her birthday. She couldn't decide whether to go with red velvet or chocolate chocolate chip. Silently observing, I was thinking to myself this was a no-brainer: always go full chocolate. In the end, much to my chagrin, she chose red velvet ... yet she was absolutely correct about which was the better option of the two.

While it indeed sells nothing but bundt cakes (and some party accessories), the products from Nothing Bundt Cakes come in a variety of sizes, including the standard 8-inch Bundt, as well as individually-sized Bundtlet cakes. The store only serves one type of cream cheese frosting, though the amount used can also be customized.

For this exercise, I specifically focused on Bundtlets, which serve 1-2 people according to the company. This was a large enough size to evaluate each of the store's standard flavors — there are nine regular flavors and two gluten-free options — without going overboard on cake.

I ordered a Bundtlet in each year-round flavor from my local Nothing Bundt Cakes franchise, with the default icing option on each. Because the frosting includes cream cheese, I received the cakes chilled, and followed the included instructions for optimal enjoyment (which essentially meant letting them warm up at room temperature for a brief period before eating). From there, I evaluated each bundt option on flavor, texture, and overall balance to determine my final rankings.