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
250 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
250
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1202 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,202
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4447 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,447
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
197 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
197
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
11348 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
11,348
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
413 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
413
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
1123 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,123
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
362 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
362
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
1614 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,614
About 2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3374 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,374
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
262 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
262
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
134 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
134
About 7 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3564 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,564
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
904 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
904
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
470 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
470
1 hour and 50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2451 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,451
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1743 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,743
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2139 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,139
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
96 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
96
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
2003 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,003
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2300 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,300
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1413 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,413
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
263 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
263
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
971 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
971
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1097 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,097
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1825 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,825
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2291 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,291
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2149 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,149
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
501 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
501
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1798 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,798
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
726 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
726
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3514 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,514
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
563 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
563
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
294 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
294
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1366 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,366
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2295 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,295
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
674 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
674
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1908 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,908
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4653 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,653
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
334 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
334
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
466 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
466
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
5088 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
5,088
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
872 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
872
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
489 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
489
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
683 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
683
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
564 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
564
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
783 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
783
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
Genevieve Ko
1290 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,290
45 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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