It is obvious that dessert is not part of the meal, and that if one has fruit for dessert, one needs to make another Bracha over it. I have heard that there is a controvesy over cake eaten for desert - some people say a second Bracha and some do not, and some do only under certain situations. Could you please clarify what is normally done?

Cake as a dessert is a very controversial point amongst the Poskim. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef suggests you simply eat it with a Bracha after Birkat Hamazon (Bentching). Rabbi Ro'i Margalit