Cake

Cake is a form of sweet, baked dessert and a recurring object in the Mushroom World as well as the Real World. Even though the appearances vary from game to game, it often features more than one layer and is almost always decorated with cream and strawberries. Cakes are often associated with Princess Peach, as she usually bakes Mario one upon her rescue, and sometimes serve as the ultimate treat in the games.

Super Mario 64 and 64 DS
In Super Mario 64, Princess Peach writes Mario a letter inviting him to her Castle telling him that she baked a cake for him. However, Mario first has to collect the Power Stars and save the princess who has been kidnapped by Bowser before he gets what he's been promised. The cake itself is shown on the ending picture, featuring little figurines of Mario and Peach.

Super Mario 64 DS begins with the same letter from Peach to Mario but with the difference that Luigi and Wario also follow Peach's invitation to the castle. The cake in the ending picture is exactly the same as in the original Super Mario 64, but this time little figurines of Yoshi, Luigi and Wario are standing next to Mario and Peach.

Super Mario Galaxy
Cakes made an appearance in Super Mario Galaxy. There are several huge cake planets in the Toy Time Galaxy in the mission "Bouncing Down Cake Lane". At the last cake planet before the battle with the Undergrunt Gunner, Mario must spin near all the candles to make the flames go out, which reveals a Launch Star. There is also a giant cake at the end of Sweet Sweet Galaxy where the Power Star is located.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, there was a cake presented for Peach's birthday, but it appears that Bowser's seven Koopalings and Bowser Jr. used it to kidnap the princess.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
In a very similar way to Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 2 starts with a letter from Princess Peach to Mario inviting him to eat cake while watching the shooting stars. But Bowser wants some cake too and kidnaps Peach, hoping she would bake him a huge cake fitting his new huge appearance. Peach actually seems to have baked one, as a huge cake resembling the one in New Super Mario Bros. Wii can be seen in front of Peach's Castle during the game's ending credits, and the fact that Bowser states "Huge cake, never got a slice!" after being defeated by Mario. Several cakes of varying sizes also appear in the Sweet Mystery Galaxy in this game.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, there was an enemy named Bundt, who was a wedding cake. It was the creation of Chef Torte and his  apprentice. A masterpiece of culinary perfection, Bundt was so outstanding, it actually came to life.

Paper Mario
Cakes are made by mixing Cake Mix in Paper Mario. A Cake has to be made for Gourmet Guy in Shy Guy's Toy Box to progress. The Cake Mix can be found in the Shy Guys' playground beyond Anti Guy's spot. Cake restores fifteen FP and sells highest at Star Haven for fifteen Coins.

If Mario reclaims Tayce T.'s Frying Pan from the Shy Guy who stole it, the elderly Toad cook will prepare him a Cake. Of note is, after Mario gets this Cake, Tayce T. mentions that she used a Cake to win over her nameless, now late husband, rendering the making of Cakes troublesome to her. Also of note is that this back story is extremely similar to that given for Couple's Cake by Wonky in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Peach also has to bake a cake for Gourmet Guy in Chapter four. She uses Butter, Cream, Flour, Milk, Salt, Strawberries and Sugar to bake a cake delicious enough for Gourmet Guy to eat. The ingredients need to be combined in the right order and then to be heated in an oven for thirty seconds in order to be able to complete the interlude task.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door a cake was delivered to Mario in the Glitz Pit by a fan of his. If Mario and his partner eat it, it will refill all of the party's stats.

Later, another "fan" gives Mario a cake. Mario's partner eats it first this time around, but before they have time to give some to Mario, they start to feel sick and Mario will have to fight the next competitor alone. Before fighting with Rawk Hawk, he reveals that he tricked them into eating the poison cake.

If Mario decides not to eat cake, (though Mario's partner will say otherwise), Shellshock will eat it instead, either saying that the cake tasted really good or he got poisoned by it.

Throughout the Paper Mario series, there are many variations of cakes that can be prepared by the cooks. There are Choco Cake, Couple's Cake, Fruity Cake, Mousse Cake, Nutty Cake, Shroom Cake and Strange Cake.

Mario Party series
In Mario Party, a board called Peach's Birthday Cake takes place on a giant birthday cake. It is one of the smallest boards in the series. Players need to collect stars to complete the cake. At the end of the game, the winner's stars form into a large star that flashes and the board turns into a birthday cake. Additionally, in the same game, one of Bowser's Bogus Items is a Bowser Cake, the item for Peach's Birthday Cake.

Mario Party 2 features a 2-vs-2 player mini-game called Cake Factory. In order to win, the team has to make more cakes than the other by grabbing ingredients from a conveyor belt and placing them in the correct order on a plate.

Two cakes, each with three layers, are also featured in the Mario Party 3 Game Guy mini-game Game Guy's Sweet Surprise. In it, Big Chomp and Little Chomp have a race to see who can finish their cake first, and the player must predict their winner.

In Mario Party 8, the 2-vs-2 mini-game Sugar Rush has the teams competing against each other in duplicating two cakes by grabbing toppings from a tray and placing them on the cake, as a Koopa placed them.

Wario Land II
One of Wario's reaction abilities in Wario Land II is turning into Fat Wario after eating cake thrown by a Cook. While being fat, Wario has the ability to destroy enemies and certain blocks by simply bouncing them off his stomach, but he gets very slow and can't jump very high anymore.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves
In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, in the microgame Bungee Buddies, collecting Cakes will cause the players to fly ahead.

Other Appearances
A cake made by Princess Peach for Bowser can be seen at the end of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.

A cake also appeared in the Club Nintendo comic "Rummelplatzquatsch" on a Game Boy screen after Mario bought a Game Boy Camera that was said to be able to foresee the future. He assumed that Peach might have made one for him; however, one was thrown into his face by an old man instead.

Trivia

 * In the German version of Super Mario Galaxy 2, it is explicitly stated several times that the cake Bowser wants Peach to bake him is a chocolate cake.