Birthday Cakes

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Yellow Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting

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A classic yellow cake with rich chocolate frosting is a rewarding birthday treat.

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Moist Devil's Food Cake

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This deep, rich confection topped with fudgy frosting is ideal for special occasions.

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Lemon Meringue Cake

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Layers of airy cake bring new life to an old favorite.

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Red Velvet Chocolate Cake

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This decadent dessert is made even better when topped with our creamy seven-minute frosting.

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Carrot Cake

Kenji Toma

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Beneath this towering yet unpretentious appearance lies multiple layers of moist, midly spiced cake that are flecked with carrots and pecans and enveloped by a generous coating of cream cheese frosting.

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Coconut Layer Cake

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Sweetened, shredded coconut sprinkled on the frosting balances the tartness of the lemon curd filling and gives the cake a whimsical flourish.

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New York-Style Cheesecake

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This recipe starts with a crunchy chocolate wafer cookie crust and finishes with a smooth cream-cheese filling to create a dessert that everyone will love.

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No-Bake Birthday Cake

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This kid-pleasing marshmallow-and-crisp-rice cereal confection has a sweet secret: chocolate-marshmallow icing inside.

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Banana Split Cake

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Instead of cake and ice cream, try a birthday party dessert inspired by both. This gooey trifle overflows with layers of vanilla cake, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, bananas, and drippy chocolate sauce.

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Sailboat Cake

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Fluffy light-blue frosting creates scalloped waves around the sides of this chocolate cake.

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Inside-Out Strawberry Ice-Cream Cake

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Vanilla ice-cream is used to cover layers of fresh strawberries and spongy cake for a unique frozen dessert.

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Lollipop Garden Cake

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Cheerful colored candies spring up from a garden of lightly-tinted buttercream.

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Tiniest Birthday Cake

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Fancy buttercream flourishes topped with nonpareil gumdrops make this dainty cake look grand.

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Rocket Ship Cake

Sang An

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The recipient of this showstopping cake will be over the moon with delight!

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Bouncing Ball Cake

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Bright-colored balls of tinted buttercream "bounce" cheerily around this pretty cake.

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Chocolate Walk of Fame

WILLIAM ABRANOWICZ

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This cake sets the stage for a movie-premiere birthday party.

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Stars-and-Moon Cake

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This icebox cake, made with homemade chocolate wafers, is perfect for a first birthday.

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Vanilla Letter Cupcakes

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Why settle on just one cake when you can have a dozen or more? It's as easy as ABC to make cupcakes using the initial of the birthday child.

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Polka-Dot Birthday Cake

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Perfect for any kid's birthday party is this colorful cake filled with sweet orange marmalade and decorated in red, orange, yellow, turquoise, and royal-blue gel-paste food colors.

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Ruffle Tower Cake

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Inspired by ruffled tap pants, this cake is covered with frilly rows of white and pink frosting piped from a single bag. Three tender lemon layers make this birthday cake tall enough to show off the ribbon-candy effect of the frosting and ensure there is plenty for everyone.

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Martha's Birthday Cake

Bryan Gardner

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This festive, delicious cake was conceived by John Baricelli, the manager of the prep kitchen at the television studio, for Martha's birthday.

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Tiramisu Ice Cream Cake

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This frozen treat is the perfect pick for any coffee-lover's birthday celebration.

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Four-Layer Appalachian Stack Cake

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Dried apples are plumped in warm cider then tucked between layers of clove and ginger-spiced molasses cake to create this luscious dessert perfect for a fall or winter birthday.

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Caramel Cake

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Sweet caramel drizzled over rich frosting makes a dessert worthy of celebration.

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Angel Food Swirl Cake

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Adding fresh raspberries to the classic angel food cake uplifts this airy dessert.

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Chocolate Meringue Cake

Anna Williams

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This cake has all the necessary components for a decadent celebration: excitement (a crackly meringue top), unexpected twists (chocolate chunks and hazelnuts hidden inside), and a feel-good ending (the moist chocolate cake).

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Birthday Number Cake

For the party's big moment, frost a cake any way you like. Center a number printout on top of the cake, and poke holes through it with a pin to site candles.

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Pastel Layer Cake

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Five pastel layers form this colorful creation. You can also use the batter to make four dozen cupcakes or a two- or three-layer cake.

More Birthday Party Ideas

Picture-Themed Party

Number-Themed Party

More Grown-Up Birthday Party Ideas

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