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
207 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
207
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
985 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
985
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4370 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,370
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
180 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
180
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
10368 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
10,368
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
301 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
301
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
920 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
920
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
193 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
193
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
772 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
772
About 2 hours
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Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3335 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,335
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
202 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
202
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
105 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
105
About 7 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3558 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,558
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
886 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
886
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
345 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
345
1 hour and 50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2399 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,399
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1702 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,702
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2071 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,071
45 minutes
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Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
88 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
88
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
1971 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,971
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2261 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,261
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1402 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,402
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
226 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
226
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
953 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
953
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1042 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,042
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1813 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,813
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2273 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,273
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2104 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,104
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
1761 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,761
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
713 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
713
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3378 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,378
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
1341 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,341
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2220 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,220
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
625 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
625
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1891 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,891
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4195 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,195
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
456 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
456
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
4520 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,520
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
864 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
864
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
461 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
461
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
548 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
548
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
779 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
779
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
Genevieve Ko
1233 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,233
45 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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