Make It the Best Party Ever With These 19 Birthday Cake Recipes (2024)

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Chocolate! Vanilla! Strawberry! Coconut! There's a cake on this list for everyone.

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Published April 11, 2024

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Make It the Best Party Ever With These 19 Birthday Cake Recipes (1)

Nothing says "Happy birthday" like a stunning layer cake. And when it's homemade? Even better! These 19 birthday cake recipes offer something for everyone—from classic chocolate to a simple, delicious vanilla, and everything in between. So go on, get out the hats, light those birthday candles, and let them eat cake!

Classic Vanilla Butter Cake Recipe
This classic birthday cake base is tender, fluffy, and perfectly moist. We offer a detailed guide for making a layer cake and upping your birthday cake game, including how to level layers, what is a crumb coat, and recommendations for storing and serving.
Classic Vanilla Butter Cake
Chocolate Birthday Layer Cake
This easy, moist chocolate layer cake gets deep flavor from cocoa powder and espresso powder and moisture from vegetable oil.
Chocolate Birthday Layer Cake
Red Velvet Cake
Flavored with bittersweet cocoa and tangy buttermilk, then stacked with tart cream cheese frosting, this red velvet cake will keep you coming back for more.
Red Velvet Cake
Devil's Food Cake
Dark chocolate and Dutch cocoa make this devil's food twice as chocolaty.
Devil's Food Cake
Continue to 5 of 19 below.
Double-Strawberry Cake
Strawberry in two forms infuses this layer cake with beautiful color and natural flavor.
Double-Strawberry Cake
White Cake With Brown Butter and Toasted Sugar
This is not a traditional "white" cake by any stretch; brown butter and toasted sugar boldly amplify its vanilla flavor.
White Cake With Brown Butter and Toasted Sugar
Triple Coconut Cake
This riff on the Southern classic incorporates coconut in every form, giving the cake an all-natural flavor and super-moist crumb. The caramelized white chocolate coconut ganache is an optional extravagance, but don't skimp on the toasted coconut!
Triple Coconut Cake
Oreo Cake With Oreo Whipped Cream Frosting
This simple yet impressive chocolate cake is layered and topped with Oreo whipped cream.
Oreo Cake With Oreo Whipped Cream Frosting
Continue to 9 of 19 below.
Strawberry Buttercream Birthday Cake
Layers of tender yellow cake are put together with sweetened condensed milk and a generous coat of billowy, strawberry-flecked buttercream.
Strawberry Buttercream Birthday Cake
Fluffy and Nutty Almond Layer Cake
A substantial proportion of almond flour in the batter results in a dessert that strikes a balance between a fluffy American cake and a hearty European torte.
Fluffy and Nutty Almond Layer Cake
Brown Butter Carrot Cake
Brown butter and toasted pecans make a carrot cake that's extra nutty and rich.
Brown Butter Carrot Cake
Texas Sheet Cake
This option is a delightful combination of fluffy cake and fudgy frosting that should be in every baker's repertoire.
Texas Sheet Cake
Continue to 13 of 19 below.
Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake
Dark chocolate and tart cherry juice come together in this rich layer cake.
Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake
Classic Chiffon Cake With Vanilla Chantilly
Chiffon is a quintessentially American cake, similar toangel foodbut delicately rich thanks to the addition of both egg yolks and oil.
Classic Chiffon Cake With Vanilla Chantilly
Pumpkin Cake
Made in the style of a yellow layer cake, this rich and moist pumpkin cake uses squash purée and autumnal spices to evoke the classic flavors of pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin Cake
Buttermilk Cappuccino Cake
The cake is moist and tender, with the subtle tang from the buttermilk and just a hint of nutmeg. Soak the layers in a coffee syrup to add additional moisture and flavor, and then cover it with an espresso-flavored Swiss buttercream.
Buttermilk Cappuccino Cake
Continue to 17 of 19 below.
Blackberry and White Chocolate Layer Cake
This beautiful lemon layer cake is accented with blackberry preserves, white chocolate icing, and wafer cookies.
Blackberry and White Chocolate Layer Cake
Coconut Layer Cake with Chocolate Glaze
This layered coconut cake is enrobed in a chocolate glaze and sprinkled with toasted coconut.
Coconut Layer Cake With Chocolate Glaze
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
With moist chocolate cake and luxurious peanut butter-chocolate ganache, this is an uber-rich, super-tall cake that will have everyone swooning.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake