Recipe Roundup

37 Birthday Cake Recipes to Make All Your Wishes Come True

Celebrate in style with our favorite birthday cakes, designed for every type of party.
A birthday cake with chocolate frosting sprinkles and candles being blown out on a red and white pedestal.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson

Whether you pick a towering layer cake or a one-bowl wonder, all of our favorite birthday cake recipes have a few things in common: They’re fun, festive, and require at least one candle.

Our best birthday cakes include an all-star classic yellow cake, some beloved regional favorites, plus cakes decked out with seasonal fruit, and lots of rich, fudgy crowd-pleasers (our Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake is a chocolate lover’s dream). With so many options, you can truly match the cake to the occasion: Want an elegant French gâteau for your friend saving up for a trip to Paris? A drip cake to impress your kids? A low-maintenance icebox cake for a poolside gathering? Cupcakes for a crowd? We have the answer for every type of birthday party below.

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  • Yellow cake with chocolate frosting being sliced and served.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    1/37

    Super-Moist Yellow Cake With Rich Chocolate Frosting

    For classic birthday cake flavor that doesn’t require heading to the grocery store for boxed cake mix, consider this from-scratch yellow cake recipe. The sponge gains its fluffy, delicate crumb from reverse creaming, a technique that starts with dropping the butter into the dry ingredients rather than whipping it with sugar. This is one of those never-fail birthday cake recipes that proves that there’s no better gift than homemade cake.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by John Bjostad
    2/37

    Double Chocolate Layer Cake

    When this chocolate birthday cake first made the rounds in the Gourmet offices, it’s said the staff swooned. You (and your guests) will too.

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  • Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Emilie Fosnocht
    3/37

    Smith Island Cake

    There are layer cakes, and there are many-layer-cakes, and this is one of the latter. Read our layer-slicing tip—hint, you need some toothpicks—before you start baking.

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  • Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    4/37

    Fluffy and Fabulous Coconut Cake

    This Southern classic looks stunning on a cake stand, but you’ll need a little patience between steps. When the bake time is up, let the cakes cool 30 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack; make sure they’re really at room temperature before you start frosting.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Sean Dooley
    9/37

    Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

    Full of shredded carrot and fragrant spices, this classic cake gets a swoosh of extra-tangy cream cheese frosting.

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  • Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    10/37

    Chocolate Cupcakes

    We’re going to pause right here to remind you that you don’t actually have to make one big birthday cake. These fluffy chocolate cupcakes are a breeze to make—and you won’t be stuck with cutting slices for everyone.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    19/37

    Fancy Dirt Cake

    The best birthday cake recipes are unapologetically fun, and this spin on the childhood favorite is no exception. You can use chocolate shortbread or even Oreo cookies for the “dirt”; decorate with edible flowers or gummy worms.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    20/37

    Tre Latte Olive Oil Cake

    Senior editor Joe Sevier declared this spin on tres leches one of the best desserts he’s ever made. The cake itself is made with lots of large eggs, olive oil, and vanilla bean paste, and the soaking liquid combines whole milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and more olive oil. Don’t skip the tangy mascarpone whipped cream on top, which balances the sweetness of the sponge.

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  • Photo by Oriana Koren
    21/37

    Chocolate Doberge Cake

    Recognizable by its seemingly endless layers of chocolate sponge, sandwiched with rich cocoa pudding and German buttercream, this sky-high Louisiana classic can be found at parties across the American South. Yes, you’ll need a stand mixer (or a very large bowl) and a whopping 22 eggs (plus two yolks!)  to make it—it’s a true special occasion cake, worth every bit of effort.

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  • Photo by Dana Gallagher
    22/37

    Sheet-Pan Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake

    No round cake pans? No problem. Bake the lemon cake batter on a sheet tray, let cool on a wire rack, then invert onto parchment paper and cut the sponge into circles for easy layering. This cake gets a simple frosting made with room-temperature cream cheese, unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    25/37

    Baked Alaska Saint Pierre

    Why light candles when you can light the whole cake on fire? Frost a dome of ice cream and orange sorbet—set atop a Grand Marnier–flavored sponge—with meringue. Once the cake’s assembled, drizzle on more liqueur and (briefly, safely) set the whole thing ablaze.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    26/37

    Dr. Bird Cake

    Chopped pineapple, ripe bananas, and flaked coconut come together in this classic Jamaican cake, which you might know as Hummingbird Cake. It’s the perfect way to celebrate a summer birthday or brighten a winter occasion.

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  • Photo by Linda Xiao
    29/37

    Crepe Cake

    Nothing says “happy birthday” quite like stacks upon stacks of orange-scented crepes layered with pastry cream (it’s easier to make than you might expect). The cake requires at least six hours in the fridge to chill, so plan accordingly.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    30/37

    Tres Leches Cake

    Rather than baking her pastel de tres leches in a big 13x9" pan, chef Fany Gerson splits a round cake layer in half before soaking it and layering with whipped cream and fruit.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert
    33/37

    Chiffon Cake

    If you’re picturing a birthday cake that’s light and fluffy—even fluffier than angel food—this recipe will deliver.

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  • Photo by Peter Cassidy
    34/37

    Prinsesstårta

    Baking and assembling a Swedish princess cake is a labor of love, but the flavors are unmatched. There’s a reason it has become so beloved in San Francisco—and everywhere else it has traveled.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    35/37

    Marguerite Cassis

    Whipped cream flavored with crème de cassis—black currant liqueur found in classic cocktails like the Kir Royale—keeps this birthday cake light and airy. Scatter a handful of fresh blackberries or currants on top of the cake for an especially pretty presentation.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Kaitlin Wayne, prop styling by Christina Allen
    36/37

    Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

    You absolutely don’t have to skip birthday cake at a gluten-free celebration. This fudgy dessert, made with oat and rice flours, will delight everyone who tastes it.

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  • Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Summer Moore 
    37/37

    Raspberry Cake With Whipped Cream Filling

    We couldn't make a list of the best birthday cake recipes without including this delightfully light and airy pink cake. Freeze-dried raspberries give the whipped cream its showstopping hue.

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Emily Saladino is a writer, editor, and recipe developer based in New York. Previously the Digital Managing Editor of Wine Enthusiast and Editor in Chief of VinePair, her writing has been published in The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, and others. She currently reviews wines from Greece, Crete, and Georgia for Wine Enthusiast. A former professional cook and... Read more
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