From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcakecake1 /keɪk/ ●●● S2 W3 noun 1 
[countable, uncountable]DF a soft sweet food made by baking a mixture of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs We had cake and ice cream. a chocolate cake2 → fish/rice/potato etc cake3 [countable]PIECE a small block of somethingcake of a cake of soap4 → be a piece of cake5 → take the cake6 → have your cake and eat it7 → a slice of the cake → sell like hot cakes at hot cake(1)COLLOCATIONSverbsmake/bake a cakeLet’s make a cake for his birthday.decorate a cakeWe decorated the cake with strawberries and cream.ice a cake British English, frost a cake American English (=cover a cake with fine sugar mixed with a liquid)She iced her own wedding cake.phrasesa piece/slice of cakeWould you like a slice of cake?a cake recipeDo you have any good cake recipes?a cake tin British English, a cake pan American English (=that you bake a cake in)Use a 20 cm cake tin.a cake shopThere’s a very good cake shop in the market.cake mix (=a mixture that you buy in a packet and use for making a cake)If I’m feeling lazy, I sometimes use a cake mix.types of cakea birthday/Christmas/wedding cake (=a special cake for a birthday etc)Lucy had twelve candles on her birthday cake.a home-made cakeHome-made cakes are much nicer than bought ones.a fruit cake (=one with dried fruit in it)Fruit cakes keep for quite a long time.a sponge cake (=one made from flour, butter, sugar, and eggs)It’s best to eat sponge cakes on the day you make them.a chocolate/lemon etc cake (=a sponge cake with a chocolate etc flavour)She’d baked a chocolate cake for me.a cream cake (=one with thick cream inside it)I’ll get fat if I eat any more cream cakes.COMMON ERRORS ► Don’t say ‘cook a cake’. Say make a cake or bake a cake.
[countable, uncountable]DF a soft sweet food made by baking a mixture of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs We had cake and ice cream. a chocolate cake2 → fish/rice/potato etc cake3 [countable]PIECE a small block of somethingcake of a cake of soap4 → be a piece of cake5 → take the cake6 → have your cake and eat it7 → a slice of the cake → sell like hot cakes at hot cake(1)COLLOCATIONSverbsmake/bake a cakeLet’s make a cake for his birthday.decorate a cakeWe decorated the cake with strawberries and cream.ice a cake British English, frost a cake American English (=cover a cake with fine sugar mixed with a liquid)She iced her own wedding cake.phrasesa piece/slice of cakeWould you like a slice of cake?a cake recipeDo you have any good cake recipes?a cake tin British English, a cake pan American English (=that you bake a cake in)Use a 20 cm cake tin.a cake shopThere’s a very good cake shop in the market.cake mix (=a mixture that you buy in a packet and use for making a cake)If I’m feeling lazy, I sometimes use a cake mix.types of cakea birthday/Christmas/wedding cake (=a special cake for a birthday etc)Lucy had twelve candles on her birthday cake.a home-made cakeHome-made cakes are much nicer than bought ones.a fruit cake (=one with dried fruit in it)Fruit cakes keep for quite a long time.a sponge cake (=one made from flour, butter, sugar, and eggs)It’s best to eat sponge cakes on the day you make them.a chocolate/lemon etc cake (=a sponge cake with a chocolate etc flavour)She’d baked a chocolate cake for me.a cream cake (=one with thick cream inside it)I’ll get fat if I eat any more cream cakes.COMMON ERRORS ► Don’t say ‘cook a cake’. Say make a cake or bake a cake. Examples from the Corpus
cake• A plastic Santa was sledging across the snow-white surface of a cake.• a birthday cake• Each of us receives a slice of heavenly chocolate cake.• She would have been on the floor for those pastries, and after the chocolate cake.• Noreen, frankly, wanted her cake and to eat it as well.• Pour into greased and floured 9-by-13-inch cake pan.• Many cake recipes call for all-purpose flour, but those that suggest cake flour do so for a reason.• Do you want a piece of cake?• From top, Smoked salmon rolls with pesto rice, Christmas jewel basmati salad, Basmati rice cake.• When the cake is cool, slice it across with a large knife to make two cakes.cake of• A thin cake of wax covered the jam to seal it.cakecake2 verb 1 → be caked with/in something2 [intransitive]COVER if a substance cakes, it forms a thick hard layer when it dries→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
cake• His plimsolls were now caked in heavy clods of wet earth and his jersey was already wet from his soaked mackintosh.• The hand was caked in mud, the fingers hooked into a claw.• Their lashes would be heavily caked whereas the newcomers were fearful of the technique at first.• It was caked with dirt, but he slipped it on anyway.Origin cake1 (1100-1200) Old Norse kaka 