Layer-Cake Desert

Layer-Cake Desert is the sandy second world of New Super Mario Bros. U, lying directly north of Acorn Plains, northwest of Sparkling Waters and Soda Jungle and southwest from Frosted Glacier. Unlike the previous desert worlds, which had Egyptian pyramids, it has various desserts within the world, such as giant cakes (with one giant cake in the world map) and giant melting ice cream cones. Part of the name is derived from a type of cake with multiple layers, held together by frosting. The second part is a reference to the similarities between "desert" and "dessert". The boss of this world is Morton Koopa Jr., who was also the boss of Desert Land in Super Mario Bros. 3. There are also giant Moai statues in a sea of sand, which also appear in some levels and in the world map. A Super Acorn can also be found in the map alongside the Enemy Courses, where it'll place the Super Acorn in the inventory box. There are 9 levels in this world, with 6 normal levels, a secret level, the Tower level and the Castle level, as well as a Goomba and a Fire Bro. Enemy Course, two red Toad Houses and a green Toad House. At the end of Layer-Cake Desert, there's a fork in the road, allowing the player to progress either to Frosted Glacier or Sparkling Waters.

Challenge Mode original courses

 * Hot Hidden-Coin Hunt - Coin Collection
 * Lakitu's Cloud Heist - Coin Collection (Original Course)
 * No-Cash Dash - Time Attack
 * Stone-Eye Desert Dash - Time Attack
 * Stone-Eye Koopas - 1-Up Rally (Original Course)

Boost Rush Courses

 * Stone-Eye Zone – Easy Pack
 * Dry Desert Mushrooms – Acrobat Pack

New Super Mario Bros. U

 * Koopa Paratroopas
 * Pokeys
 * Swoopers
 * Fire Snakes
 * Fire Bros.
 * Spike Tops
 * Super Dry Bones
 * Grrrols
 * Spikes
 * Stone Spikes
 * Lakitus
 * Gūrindais
 * Boss: Morton Koopa Jr.

New Super Luigi U

 * Spikes
 * Venus Fire Traps
 * Pokeys
 * Grrrols
 * Mega Grrrols
 * Fire Bros.
 * Big Venus Fire Traps
 * Stone Spikes
 * Gūrindais
 * Stalking Piranha Plants
 * River Piranha Plants
 * Enemy Course: Goombas
 * Boss: Morton Koopa Jr.

Mario Golf: World Tour
Layer-Cake Desert appears in the Nintendo 3DS game Mario Golf: World Tour as the first course of the Flower Pack downloadable content (the second course being Sparkling Waters). It is a remake of Shy Guy Desert from Mario Golf updated with the style and assets of Layer-Cake Desert.

Mario Party 10
Layer-Cake Desert appears in Mario Party 10 as the location of the minigame Fruit Scoot Scurry. The minigame involves players jumping across Stone-Eyes to collect various types of fruit.

Super Mario Galaxy 3
Layer-Cake Desert appears in Super Mario Galaxy 3 as the location of the galaxy Desert Ruin Galaxy.

Trivia

 * Layer-Cake Desert, Soda Jungle, and Meringue Clouds are the only three worlds to have three Toad Houses, two red and one green.
 * In Mario Kart 8, there is a course called Sweet Sweet Canyon that has some resemblance to Layer-Cake Desert, most notably the cake.