The Ultimate Guide to Birthday Cake
Updated: Mar. 28, 2023
Break out the candles! This guide contains our best birthday cake recipes, tips and decorating ideas.
It’s not a proper birthday celebration without a cake. Whether your favorite flavor is chocolate, vanilla or red velvet, birthday cakes give you the magical opportunity to make a wish and blow out the candles.
Even if your last bake looked like a scene straight from Sleeping Beauty, you don’t have to turn to a fancy bakery to get the perfect birthday cake. We collected all of our essential birthday cake information, from recipes to techniques to decorating ideas, into this guide so your next baking project turns out just as sweet as the birthday boy or girl.
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Homemade Birthday Cake Recipes
Few things are as festive as a towering birthday cake that’s loaded with frosting and candles. But the key to the best birthday cake is starting with a quality recipe that’ll ensure each piece is as moist and delicious as the next. Keep things simple with these classic flavors:
New to baking? Try our easy birthday cake recipes that have simple steps—perfect for the beginner baker.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, take a peek at our top-rated birthday cake recipes to challenge your cake-making skills. You’ll find everything from Unicorn Cake to a Decadent Fudge Cake with a marbled chocolate topping that’ll make you want to celebrate your birthday every day.
And for the little ones (or kids at heart), these adorable kids’ birthday cakes are sure to be the center of your celebration. And don’t forget about the decor! Check out our 16 adorable kids birthday party ideas and decorations.
Sandy’s Chocolate CakeYears ago, I drove more than four hours to a cake contest, holding my entry on my lap the whole way. But it paid off. One bite and you'll see why this velvety beauty was named the best chocolate cake recipe and won first prize. —Sandra Johnson, Tioga, Pennsylvania
Pineapple Pudding CakeMy mother used to love making this easy pineapple sunshine cake in the summertime. It's so cool and refreshing that it never lasts very long! —Kathleen Worden, North Andover, Massachusetts
Peanut Butter 'N' Jelly CakeIf you're looking for some creative birthday cake ideas, look no further! I made this fun and flavorful peanut butter and jelly cake for my son's first birthday. He just turned 33, and he still has to have his favorite treat. —Linda Graybill, Sebring, Florida
Cream Cheese Sheet CakeThis tender, buttery cream cheese cake with a thin layer of fudge frosting is perfect for get-togethers and parties. It's not uncommon to see folks going back for second and even third pieces. —Gaye Mann, Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Moist Chocolate CakeThis moist chocolate cake recipe with coffee reminds me of my grandmother because it was one of her specialties. I bake it often for family parties, and it always brings back fond memories. The cake is light and airy with a delicious chocolate taste. This recipe is a keeper! —Patricia Kreitz, Richland, Pennsylvania
Margarita Tres Leches CakeThe first time I ever had tres leches cake I felt as if I were in heaven. I have made it at home using several techniques and flavors, and this margarita twist on the classic is my favorite. —Laurie Lufkin, Essex, Massachusetts
Oreo Mousse CakeOreo mousse cake is so simple to put together, but it tastes as decadent as fancy restaurant desserts. Have fun garnishing it as you like using crushed or whole Oreos, additional whipped cream rosettes or chocolate shavings. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Best Red Velvet CakeIt's just not just for Christmas, but birthdays too. This is different from other red velvet cake recipes I’ve had; the icing is as light as snow. —Kathryn Davison, Charlotte, North Carolina
Sour Cream Sugar Cookie CakeThis sugar cookie cake is inspired by the classic cookie! The secret to a dense yet cakelike texture is to make sure you don't overbake the cake. —Carmell Childs, Orangeville, Utah
Lemon Lover’s Birthday Pound CakeEveryone raves about this pretty dessert—and it sure doesn't last long with my family. It also freezes beautifully, so why not make two and pop one into the freezer for another day? —Annettia Mounger, Kansas City, Missouri
Cookie CakeThis oversized cookie cake recipe is so easy and quick that I just might make it instead of traditional cookies from now on. I don't miss portioning out dough or shuffling pans in and out of the oven. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week. —Lisa Kaminski, Taste of Home Editor
Million Dollar CakePineapple and mandarin oranges give this easy cake a refreshing, tropical twist. With cake mix and pudding mix as ingredients, it is a breeze to put together when you're short on prep time. Plus, it needs to chill before serving, so it's a perfect make-ahead dessert for potlucks and parties! —Rashanda Cobbins, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hummingbird CakeThis impressive hummingbird cake is my dad’s favorite, so I always make it for his birthday. It makes a memorable dessert for any celebration and is lovely with a summer meal. —Nancy Zimmerman, Cape May Court House, New Jersey
Strawberry Jam CakeEvery year I make this special strawberry jam cake for the Relay for Life cake raffle. It has raised lots of money for a good cause. —Tammy Urbina, Warner Robins, Georgia
Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar FrostingI am a healthy eater most of the time, but this apple spice cake is worth the splurge! You can add a cup of raisins to the batter before baking if you'd like. —Jennifer Owen, Louisville, Kentucky
Birthday Cake Baking Tips
Whether you’re a baking newbie or have been whipping up birthday cakes for years, there’s always room for improvement. We ask the Test Kitchen for their need-to-know birthday cake tips.
- Resist overbeating your ingredients! Overworking the batter can develop too much gluten, giving the cake a dense, pancake-like texture. Here’s how to avoid other common cake mistakes.
- Nothing is as disappointing as a cake getting stuck in the pan. Learning how to grease a cake pan will help take away some of the stress of the day.
- Ensure your layer cakes are perfectly baked by using cake strips. These $10 tools help your cake layers bake evenly and prevent doming.
- Remember: just because it’s a birthday doesn’t mean you have to bake a layer cake. Sheet cakes and single-layer round cakes are much easier to make and frost, and are just as festive.
- If you find the top of your cake is sticky and difficult to frost, you may have covered it before it was completely cooled. Doing this traps heat, making a cake tacky and tough to work with. Always let cake cool on a wire rack until it reaches room temperature.
- Free up some time by making a birthday cake in advance. We show you how to store a cake correctly and even how to freeze a cake.
Homemade Frosting Recipes and Tips
There’s no better way to complement a beautifully baked cake than with homemade frosting. Start with our simple frosting recipes to learn how to make buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, chocolate ganache and more.
- Our No. 1 cake frosting tip is to make sure the cake is completely cool before adding the frosting. Otherwise, all your hard work might melt right off the cake!
- The secret to picture-perfect cakes is a crumb coat. By taking just a couple minutes to apply a thin layer of frosting to seal the cake layers, you’ll prevent pesky crumbs from mixing in with the frosting.
- If you don’t have piping bags but want to add some flare to your cake, learn how to frost with a plastic bag.
- As long as you’re not using delicate whipped cream frosting, you can frost your cake a day in advance without a problem.
Birthday Cake Decorating Ideas
When it comes to birthday cake decorations, the sky’s the limit! You can go simple and elegant or completely over the top; just leave room for some candles. Whichever way you go, here are some ways to make sure your decorating goes off without a hitch.
- From sprinkles to fresh fruit, anyone can put together these easy cake decorating ideas in just a few steps.
- Go trendy with your birthday cake by adding a drip effect like blogger Courtney Rich does. All you’ll need are some baking chips, food coloring and a microwave.
- Stuck in a rut? Our creative birthday cake ideas will help get your decor juices flowing (we especially love this butterfly cake!).
More Ways to Decorate
Confetti Drip Cake
A list of birthday cake decorating ideas isn't complete without a confetti cake. That's why we're putting this extra-fun cake front and center. This cake has confetti inside and outside. Plus, it gets one final finish with a candy-colored drip design.
Piping Everywhere
Show off your piping skills by switching up techniques and pastry tips. Use the same frosting to create different designs across the cake. Looking for a recipe? Use your piping bag skills with our banana cake with chocolate frosting.
Sprinkles, Sprinkles and More Sprinkles
Nothing screams birthday more than sprinkles. Use sprinkles to top any cake—be it a classic sheet cake or a towering tiered creation. But you don't need to stop there! You can swirl sprinkles right into your buttercream frosting. You can also press sprinkles onto the side of the cake for a truly fantastical confetti masterpiece. That's what our Test Kitchen did for its best-ever vanilla birthday cake.
Naked Cake
A naked cake is completely bare (or nearly so) on the outside. Without the typical outer coat, the interior of the layer cake is exposed to showcase all the yummy frosting and fillings inside—like what you'll find with this strawberry mascarpone cake or red velvet cake.
Ombre Frosting
Can't decide between frosting colors or just want to switch up your classic frosted cake? Try an ombre effect. Divide your favorite frosting into three batches and dye each in various shades of the same color. Pipe a wide band of each around the cake and use a wide spatula to blend and smooth out the frosting. With a few swipes, they'll gracefully blend together. Planning for a 50th birthday? Check out these recipe ideas for the big bash.
Chocolate Curls
Not all birthday cake decorating ideas involve piping bags and heaps of sprinkles. For the chocolate fanatic in your life, top a chocolate cake with creamy chocolate frosting and plenty of chocolate curls.
Unicorn Cake
Look no further for a truly magical birthday cake idea. It doesn't get any better than this unicorn cake. Brush an ice cream cone with edible gold dust and then use various pastry tips to create the unicorn's mane. And this cake is just the start; find more unicorn recipes from our Test Kitchen.
Bundt Cake
Bundt pans are naturally decorative, so why not use them as the foundation for your celebratory cake? Top these cakes with an easy glaze and a splash of sprinkles. You can also finish them off with a hefty dose of frosting—we call that a copycat Nothing Bundt Cakes cake.
Rainbow Swirls
A simple white layer cake can transform into a showstopper birthday treat with plenty of colorful icing. Fill a piping bag with multiple colors to create streaked swirls. You can also use a small spatula to add paint-like daubs to the sides of your cake.
Cover in Ganache
Sure, frosting is delicious, but a cake covered in ganache can be over-the-top decadent. Birthday cake decorating ideas like this are perfect for the chocoholics in your life. Try it with this four-layer chocolate mousse cake or some of our other favorite chocolate cakes.
Star-Spangled
This birthday cake decorating idea looks complicated, but it's very easy to cover your favorite layer cake in a galaxy of stars. To make, trace star shapes (or really any shape) onto waxed paper or parchment paper. Then pipe melted white chocolate over the outline. Once dry, spritz the shapes with edible gold paint and press them onto the side of the layer cake—as we did with our princess-style cake.
Go Vertical
Birthday cake decorating ideas often start with a traditional layer cake. But what if you turned this cake on its head and made a vertical layer cake? Vertical cakes are made very similarly to a cake roll. If you've made a cake roll or yule log cake in the past, this is a fresh technique you'll be able to tackle.
Use Sparklers
Impressive to look at but easy to make, this old-fashioned cake gets an instant upgrade with sparklers, a petite bunting and a chocolate figurine. Check out our favorite edible cake decorations to add to your bake.
Game Cake
Take inspiration from board games to make a birthday cake. For little ones, try a literal Candy Land cake. For grown-ups that love games, try your best to match the design of Settlers of Catan or Trivial Pursuit.
Edible Flowers
This is one birthday cake decorating idea that's perfect for spring birthdays. Finish any cake—be it a homemade carrot cake or even a grocery store cake—with a few edible flowers like pansies or rose petals.
A New Way to Upside-Down
Pineapple upside-down cakes are a perennial favorite. But you can switch up the finish by slicing the pineapple in a different way. Create a scallop pattern by slicing the rings in half and nestling cherries under each arc. And pineapple is just the start. Be sure to check out 40+ more upside-down desserts.
Cover It in Cookies
Don't have any special frosting tools on hand? You can still create a gorgeous themed design for your birthday cake using shaped cookies. Use storebought to save time. Simply place them on top of the cake, or adhere them to the sides with extra frosting as we did with this darling carrot layer cake.
KitKat Cake
Want to take your favorite person's birthday to the next level of sweetness? Make a KitKat cake. This cake starts with two layers of your favorite cake and then gets finished carefully with a ring of KitKats. Don't forget to fill the top with plenty of candies like M&M's or Reese's Pieces.
Fruit Slices
Chocolate fanatics seem to have all the fun with birthday cake decorating ideas, but they don't have to! You can go over the top with colorful fruit decorations. Slice up citrus and sprinkle coconut over your favorite fruit-forward dessert, such as this Hawaiian sunset cake.
Rainbow Cake
Pull out all the stops with birthday cake decorating ideas! This rainbow cake uses smooth buttercream frosting as a base (here's how to frost a cake cleanly). Then use all kinds of pastry tips and food coloring to create the designs you see. Rainbows, clouds and sun rays are just the start! If you want the cake to look like a rainbow inside, check out this rainbow Bundt cake recipe.
Chocolate Leaves
Need birthday cake decorating ideas for the outdoorsy person in your life? Turn to nature for some inspiration! This chocolate truffle cake is finished with chocolate leaves. To make these, brush leaves (wash and pat dry first) with melted chocolate. Pop them in the fridge or freezer and peel away the leaves. The chocolate will take on the texture of the leaves.
Go for Fancy Candles
A fancy candle or two can go a long way in making any cake feel special. It's an easy way to even make a simple 13x9 cake feel extra special. Give it a go with our homemade confetti cake.
Harry Potter Cake
Whether you're a Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin or Hufflepuff, you'll be able to appreciate this Harry Potter birthday cake. This recipe (and its signature decorations) takes inspiration from the cake Hagrid makes for Harry on his 11th birthday—the birthday where Hagrid also reveals "yer a wizard, Harry!" Be sure to check out these tips on how to throw the perfect Harry Potter birthday party—including some more Hogwarts-inspired recipes.
Candy Crumbles
Know a candy fiend? Then the best birthday cake decorating ideas we can give you are candy, candy and candy. Crush up their favorite candy bar or sprinkle their favorite sweet over the top. That's what our Test Kitchen did with this chocolate malt layer cake.
Pizza Cake
A pizza party is not complete without a pizza cake! This birthday cake decorating idea is super fun—and relatively fuss free. For this cake, you only need to make a single round cake. Then top with red frosting, shredded cheese (AKA white chocolate curls) and candy versions of your favorite toppings. Our Test Kitchen cut up fruit roll-ups for pepperoni.
Soft Scales
If you have a little mermaid in the family, your birthday cake decorating ideas might take some hints from under the sea. This cake uses a plain pastry tip and an offset spatula to create a scale-like pattern. You can also use the same technique on sheet cakes.
Puppy Dog Cake
This cake is so doggone cute you may not want to slice into it—though you definitely should! This puppy dog cake uses some artful piping to create that adorable face.
Swirls Everywhere
Make your birthday cake look like a bouquet of roses when you use a star tip to pipe dozens of floral swirls. You can use this technique with any tip on any cake. For one that looks like this, opt for a larger star tip and spirals (these each measure about 1.5 inches across).
Baby Shark Cake
You already can't get the song out of your head, so why not use that as cake-decorating inspiration? This cake uses premade fondant as a shortcut to make this Baby Shark cake.
Roll Out a Wacky Pattern
This wacky argyle cake will be the star of your birthday party with its patterned fondant decoration. Learn how to decorate with homemade fondant that looks (and tastes!) great.
Essential Tools
Beyond basics like bowls and a mixing spoon, these are the tools our Test Kitchen cooks turn to whenever they’re making a birthday cake.
- Stand mixer: From mixing batter to whipping up a perfect Italian meringue frosting, a stand mixer will help you with just about every step of the birthday cake making process. If you don’t have the spare space or funds, a trusty hand mixer is a good alternative.
- Kitchen scale: Baking is a science. Get the most precise measurements for best-ever cakes by using a kitchen scale.
- Offset spatulas: Smooth frosting and spread fillings with our Test Kitchen’s favorite offset spatula.
- Cake stand: Put your masterpiece on display with one of these unique cake stands.
- Candles: OK, they’re not a tool, but candles are still a must! Wilton has a range of birthday candles, including letters, numbers and lots of color.
Store-Bought Birthday Cakes
Don’t have time to make a birthday cake from scratch? No worries! By using top-rated cake mix and utilizing ingredient and decoration upgrades, your guests will be none the wiser.
- Start off by using the right box of cake mix. Our editors taste-tested dozens of boxed cake mixes to find the best brands. See the results for best yellow cake mix, best confetti cake mix, best chocolate cake mix and best angel food cake mix.
- There are a few ways to boost the flavor of boxed cake, too. Using buttermilk, adding mayo and tossing in some nuts are just a few ways to make boxed cake mix taste homemade.
- Just because you go with store-bought doesn’t mean you can’t add a special touch. We like to zhuzh up a grocery store cake by topping it with cookies or popcorn, covering it in ganache and fresh berries or going sprinkle-crazy.
- Down to the last resort? Turn to the best bakery in your state when you need a birthday cake ASAP. Some even swear by Costco’s birthday cakes when they’re in a time pinch.
Next up: You don’t have to stop at cake. Make these confetti-filled treats, too!
Unicorn ManesEveryone loves a classic shortbread cookie. Make each cookie magical with a quick dip into melted baking chips and rainbow-colored sprinkles. Your unicorns will love these rainbow bites. —Angela Lemoine, Howell, New Jersey
Cookie CakeThis oversized cookie cake recipe is so easy and quick that I just might make it instead of traditional cookies from now on. I don't miss portioning out dough or shuffling pans in and out of the oven. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week. —Lisa Kaminski, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Moist Chocolate CakeThis moist chocolate cake recipe with coffee reminds me of my grandmother because it was one of her specialties. I bake it often for family parties, and it always brings back fond memories. The cake is light and airy with a delicious chocolate taste. This recipe is a keeper! —Patricia Kreitz, Richland, Pennsylvania
Chocolate-Glazed Doughnut CookiesMy little nieces love to help decorate these doughnut-shaped cookies. They top them with sprinkles, chopped pecans or crushed candy canes. —Jolie Stinson, Marion, Indiana
Princess ToastI made these sparkly treats for my daughter's Brownie troop and they're great for princess parties. Sometimes I use lemon curd in place of the jam. —Marina Castle Kelley, Canyon Country, California
Sour Cream Sugar Cookie CakeMy husband requested a giant sugar cookie for his birthday. I wanted to do something a bit more exciting than birthday cookies, so I came up with this sugar cookie cake. The secret to a dense yet cakelike texture is to make sure you don't overbake the cake. —Carmell Childs, Orangeville, Utah
Fruity No-Bake CookiesKeep your kitchen cool with these freezer cookies made with fruity cereal. They're extra sweet and even more fun for kids to help make.—Taste of Home Test Kitchen, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Cream Cheese Sheet CakeThis tender, buttery cream cheese cake with a thin layer of fudge frosting is perfect for a crowd. It's always popular at potlucks and parties. It's not uncommon to see folks going back for second and even third pieces. —Gaye Mann, Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Originally Published: May 12, 2020
