Recipe Roundup

53 Birthday Cake Recipes for the Best Part of Every Celebration

Birthdays call for show-stopping, over-the-top cakes that taste as great as they look. Here are our favorites, all worthy of your special day.
53 Birthday Cake Recipes for the Best Part of Every Celebration
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson

Sad cake has no place at a birthday party. We’re putting dry, flavorless cakes on notice, because as long as you start with one of these birthday cake recipes, you’re guaranteed a happy crowd of dessert lovers. Below you’ll find our ultimate yellow cake, our favorite carrot cake, a slew of fantastic chocolate cakes, and a bunch of fun ways to decorate cakes. Scroll down for all of our favorite birthday cake options—all worthy of a fancy cake stand and all the trick candles you can find.

  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou
    7/53

    Tahini Chiffon Cake With Burnt Honey Cream and Poached Rhubarb

    This cake has the fluffy, so-light-it-could-float texture of angel food cake, with a touch of egg yolk for richness. Tahini brings pure sesame flavor and a lining of sesame seeds adds a bonus level of crunch.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by John Bjostad
    8/53

    Double Chocolate Layer Cake

    This chocolate birthday cake from Gourmet has tangy buttermilk in the batter. “Quite possibly the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted,” writes one reviewer.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    9/53

    Baked Alaska Saint Pierre

    Why light candles when you can light a whole cake on fire? This orange-scented cake—layered with vanilla ice cream and orange sorbet—is frozen, covered in meringue, toasted in a hot oven, and, finally, set ablaze. It's the perfect recipe for any big birthday.

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  • Photo by Ted Cavanaugh
    10/53

    Banana Split Ice Cream Cake

    Get set to impress with this ice cream cake with all of the familiar flavors and textures you'd find in a banana split, like a caramel banana jam, maraschino cherries suspended in vanilla ice cream, and a heavy hand of crushed peanuts sprinkled on top.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    11/53

    Classic Carrot-Coconut Cake

    Coconut cake meets carrot cake in this delicious mashup. The classic cream cheese frosting gets a flurry of coconut flakes as decoration.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    12/53

    Tre Latte Olive Oil Cake

    Our editor Joe Sevier declared this spin on tres leches the very best dessert he made last year. The mascarpone whipped cream on top takes the cake from very good to unforgettable.

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  • Photo by Caleb Adams, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    16/53

    Three Cities of Spain Cheesecake

    Possibly the best cheesecake recipe ever, this version was published in Gourmet in 1999. People have been losing their minds over it ever since.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    17/53

    Orange Chiffon Cake

    A classic chiffon cake is kind of a cross between an oil cake and a sponge cake. It includes baking powder and vegetable oil, but the eggs are separated and the whites are beaten to soft peaks before being folded into the batter. This creates a cake with a tender crumb and rich flavor like an oil cake, but with a lighter texture that's more like a sponge cake.

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  • Photo by Tara Fisher
    18/53

    Malted Milk Piñata Cake

    Malted milk powder adds delicious flavor to this cake, which is filled with milk bottle sweets.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    19/53

    How to Make a Drip Cake

    Make your friends jealous with an Instagram-worthy drip cake.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    20/53

    Marjolaine

    Made with nutty meringue, rich chocolate ganache, and vanilla and hazelnut buttercreams, the marjolaine is a birthday cake that will truly impress. It also happens to taste like a fancy candy bar—and that's a good thing, indeed.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    21/53

    Gooey Butter Cake

    The signature dessert of St. Louis is just what its name suggests—a wonderfully gooey butter cake that doesn’t quite set when baked.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    25/53

    Mint-Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

    If you're throwing a kid's birthday party, there's enough to juggle without giving yourself a baking project. That's why you should turn store-bought ice cream sandwiches and chocolate-peppermint whipped cream into a towering, show-stopping dessert.

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  • Photo by Roland Bello
    26/53

    Ice-Cream-Cone Cake

    Kids (and more than a few adults) will almost certainly shriek with joy at the sight of this fantasy dessert. Golden, buttery cake layers sandwich chocolate cookie crumbs and are topped with a custard frosting that calls to mind soft-serve ice cream. Crisp wafer cones are filled with batter and baked into their own little cupcakes, then crowned with swirls of ice-cream-style frosting.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    27/53

    Double Chocolate Cake with Peppermint-Chocolate Frosting

    This dairy-free chocolate cake is made with mayonnaise, which gives it tons of richness and makes sure that it won't dry out.

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  • Photo by Andrew Purcell, Prop Styling by Paige Hicks, Food Styling by Carrie Purcell
    34/53

    Easter Egg Cake with Strawberry Frosting

    Know someone born in the spring? This is the perfect cake for them. If not, swap out the eggs for whole strawberries. (Or just leave the eggs, 'cause they're darling.)

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  • Photo by Eva Kolenko
    35/53

    Blueberry-Lemon Icebox Cake

    Here's a cake that kids and non-bakers can easily assemble, so you can get right to the fun part—singing “Happy Birthday” and diving in.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    36/53

    Rhubarb Custard Cake

    This easy cake batter requires no mixer and comes together in minutes. The final result is a rich, custardy cake that plays perfectly off the tart rhubarb topping.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    40/53

    Cranberry-Pistachio Baked Alaska

    Underneath the toasted meringue, you’ll find a surprising lightness that comes from cheery red cranberry sorbet layered with pale green pistachio ice cream and buttery pound cake.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott
    41/53

    Fallen Chocolate Cake

    Worried about your cake collapsing in on itself? With this recipe, that's the point. (The fudgy, craggy, delicious point.)

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  • Photo by Jonathan Lovekin
    42/53

    Ricotta Filo Cake

    Not feeling a traditional layer cake this year? Pick this soft, creamy cheesecake topped with shattered pastry instead.

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  • Stephen Lewis
    52/53

    The Tomboy Cake

    Inspired by a style of cake from California's Miette bakeries, we frost the top and middle layers of this stunner but leave the sides naked to showcase the almond cake.

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  • Photo by Tuukka Koski
    53/53

    Darkest Chocolate Cake With Red Wine Glaze

    Birthday cake recipes should be selected to honor the preferences of the person who is being celebrated. Here's the best option for your favorite wine lover.

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