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
257 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
257
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1225 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,225
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4460 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,460
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
200 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
200
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
11437 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
11,437
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake
Adrianna Adarme
49 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
49
1 hour 30 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
437 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
437
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
1237 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,237
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
384 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
384
About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
1693 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,693
About 2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3377 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,377
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
268 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
268
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
136 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
136
About 7 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3568 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,568
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
907 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
907
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
500 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
500
1 hour and 50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2472 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,472
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1752 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,752
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2154 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,154
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
95 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
95
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
2013 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,013
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2304 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,304
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1418 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,418
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
273 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
273
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
972 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
972
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1102 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,102
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1826 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,826
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2292 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,292
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2169 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,169
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
503 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
503
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1808 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,808
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
728 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
728
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3543 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,543
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
565 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
565
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
1370 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,370
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2306 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,306
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
677 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
677
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
4692 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,692
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
335 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
335
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
5124 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
5,124
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
876 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
876
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
684 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
684
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
573 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
573
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
787 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
787
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
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