Editors’ Collection

Our Best Birthday Cakes

Celebrate your favorite person with these delicious birthday cakes from NYT Cooking.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Recipes

Classic White Cake
Yossy Arefi
196 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
196
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
936 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
936
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4356 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,356
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
177 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
177
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
10265 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
10,265
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
280 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
280
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
843 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
843
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
161 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
161
About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
711 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
711
About 2 hours
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Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3326 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,326
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
197 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
197
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
103 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
103
About 7 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3554 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,554
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
882 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
882
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
329 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
329
1 hour and 50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2393 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,393
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1691 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,691
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2057 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,057
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
87 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
87
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
1966 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,966
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2248 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,248
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1394 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,394
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
219 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
219
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
951 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
951
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1034 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,034
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1812 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,812
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2268 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,268
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2094 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,094
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
497 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
497
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1752 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,752
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
710 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
710
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3238 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,238
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
556 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
556
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
292 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
292
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1330 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,330
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2211 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,211
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
618 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
618
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1889 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,889
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4145 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,145
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
332 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
332
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
455 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
455
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
4511 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,511
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
859 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
859
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
459 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
459
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
678 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
678
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
545 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
545
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
773 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
773
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
Genevieve Ko
1222 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,222
45 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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