Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cake Recipes 30 Kid-Friendly Birthday Cake Recipes for Your Next Celebration By Kelly Vaughan Kelly Vaughan Kelly is a former associate digital food editor for MarthaStewart.com. Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 21, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Getty / Betsie Van der Meer There's no party like a birthday party! To mark the occasion for boys and girls, young and young at heart, we have rounded up 30 of our most delicious, festive, and kid-friendly birthday cake recipes. But can we let you in on a little secret? Adults can—and should—make these sweet treats for their own birthdays too. After all, who would ever say no to a slice of cake? No birthday cake is truly complete without sprinkles and we have a few recipes that truly take the cake (pun intended) thanks to these colorful extras. Our Sprinkle Cake features sprinkles mixed in the cake batter; it's every surface of the cake is then covered with sprinkles once it's frosted. Another festive recipe is our Confetti Cake with Vanilla Frosting. It's homemade, yes, but did you ever think of making your own sprinkles, too? We tried it for ourselves and the results truly worth the effort. Bigger sprinkles than you've ever seen in your life are dyed with natural hues of every color of the rainbow. Of course, if you're not up for making handmade sprinkles, how about a low-maintenance but totally delicious sheet cake? From combinations of vanilla and chocolate to bright and lemony, we have a recipe that will please every palate. Celebrating a summer birthday? Look no further than one of our ice cream cake recipes. With a multitude of flavors, some inspired by our favorite ice cream shoppe treats (think: banana split or hot fudge brownie), don't let these genius ideas melt away. Fill the piñata, wrap some presents, and hang the streamers—it's party time! 01 of 30 Confetti Cake with Vanilla Frosting Ngoc Minh Ngo Enjoy our remake of classic boxed Funfetti mix with this cheery recipe made with homemade sprinkles. After all, it's a birthday party, so why not go all out? View Recipe 02 of 30 Vanilla Sponge Cake with Strawberry-Meringue Buttercream Ngoc Minh Ngo For a natural pink hue and sweet-tart flavor, puréed strawberries are mixed into the buttercream that adorns this lofty three-layer cake. View Recipe 03 of 30 Vanilla Sheet Cake with Chocolate-Ganache Buttercream Alpha Smoot This simple, kid-friendly cake recipe starts with a basic yellow cake, which is topped with the fudgiest buttercream made from semisweet chocolate, heavy cream, corn syrup, and unsalted butter. View Recipe 04 of 30 Coconut Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Frosting Armando Rafael Celebrate a birthday with this light and airy cake that pairs three coconut-based ingredients—coconut oil, unsweetened coconut flakes, and coconut milk—for a sweet bite. Bonus: It's gluten-free! View Recipe 05 of 30 Sprinkle Cake Bryan Gardner Nothing says "birthday party" quite like a cake covered in colorful sprinkles. If that's not festive enough for you, we mixed sprinkles into the cake batter, too. View Recipe 06 of 30 Triple-Chocolate Ice Cream Cake Mike Krautter Whether you're a chocolate lover, have a summer birthday, or both, this recipe is for you. Buttermilk helps to keep the cake super moist while a white chocolate ganache offsets the richness of chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream. View Recipe 07 of 30 Strawberry-Swirl Bundt Cake Marcus Nilsson A combination of ground freeze-dried strawberries and fresh strawberries—plus, pink gel-paste food coloring—add fruity flavor and a pink hue to the strawberry swirl in this eye-catching Bundt cake recipe. View Recipe 08 of 30 Pull-Apart Vanilla-Wafer Cupcake Cake with Berries Can't decide between baking a cake and cupcakes for a birthday party? How about this creative recipe? Arrange cupcakes in a neat rectangle and spread an even layer of buttercream and fresh berries on top, which gives the appearance of a sheet cake. View Recipe 09 of 30 Chocolate Sheet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Alpha Smoot What's black and white and sweet all over? This moist sheet cake recipe is perfect for serving to a crowd at a birthday party. View Recipe 10 of 30 Light and Fluffy Yellow Cake If you've never baked a birthday cake from scratch, start with this basic recipe—a simple, but spectacular yellow cake that has a fine crumb thanks to cake flour, whipped egg whites, and buttermilk. View Recipe 11 of 30 Vegan Chocolate Cake Bryan Gardner Here's a birthday cake that will be safe for vegans or anyone with a dairy allergy to eat. A thick, fluffy chocolate icing is spread between two layers of chocolate cake. But we don't stop there—top it off with a decadent chocolate ganache that's vegan, too! View Recipe 12 of 30 Ombre Strawberry Cake Mike Krautter This pretty-in-pink birthday cake is just the thing for a celebration. Each layer is filled with strawberry jam, and then the whole thing is topped with a light pink Swiss Meringue Buttercream piped into delicate ruffles. View Recipe 13 of 30 Citrus Mousse Cake with Buttercream Frosting Ngoc Minh Ngo For a springtime soirée, look no further than this elegant lemon-infused cake that's topped with a brightly flavored buttercream featuring a duo of lime zest, lime juice, and lemon juice. View Recipe 14 of 30 Chocolate-and-Vanilla Zebra Cake Ngoc Minh Ngo The cover star of Martha Stewart's Cake Perfection, this dramatic chocolate and vanilla cake is sure to please everyone. View Recipe 15 of 30 Grasshopper Dome Ice Cream Cake NGOC MINH NGO Chocolate and mint are one of the richest and most refreshing combinations—here, they take the form of an epic ice cream cake that's just the thing to serve at a summer birthday party. View Recipe 16 of 30 Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake Anson Smart The best part of this birthday cake recipe is that you can completely customize it based on your favorite ice cream flavors. We layered pistachio gelato, vanilla ice cream, and strawberry ice cream but feel free to choose whatever you or your kids like. View Recipe 17 of 30 Carrot Cake with White-Chocolate Frosting Ngoc Minh Ngo We can't think of a better cake for a spring birthday than carrot cake, and this version is about as good as it gets. The cake is spiced with ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and freshly grated nutmeg, then topped with a rich white chocolate-cream cheese frosting. View Recipe 18 of 30 Chocolate Angel Food Cake with Double-Chocolate Frosting Mike Krautter Want to know the secret to a light and fluffy cake? Cake flour, which has a lower protein count than all-purpose flour, is what gives this treat such a fine crumb. The rich chocolate flavor is accentuated with instant espresso powder. View Recipe 19 of 30 German Chocolate Bundt Cake Marcus Nilsson German chocolate cake is characterized by its inclusion of pecans and shredded coconut, which add texture and complex—but oh, so irresistible—flavor to this birthday cake recipe. View Recipe 20 of 30 Apple Layer Cake with Cream-Cheese Frosting Mike Krautter For a birthday that falls during autumn, we can't think of a more appropriate—and delicious—cake than this one. It's the perfect way to use up the bounty of freshly picked apples from the orchard. View Recipe 21 of 30 Berries-and-Cherries Ice Cream Cake Marcus Nilsson Truly as sweet as cherry pie, this ice cream cake—made with a duo of vanilla ice cream and cherry ice cream—is studded with fresh cherries, raspberries, and blackberries. View Recipe 22 of 30 Ombre Sheet Cake Raymond Hom Streaks of pink, yellow, and orange food coloring create a vivid ombré hue atop this sheet cake. Feel free to choose other colors (think blue and purple or green and yellow) based on what the birthday girl or boy loves! View Recipe 23 of 30 Blondie Ice Cream Cake Ryan Liebe A birthday is a special day so serve an extra special dessert. A homemade blondie serves as the base for this ice cream cake recipe and more blondie pieces are folded into softened vanilla ice cream. Of course, no ice cream cake is complete without hot fudge sauce and this cake has lots of it. View Recipe 24 of 30 Owl Cake Johnny Miller Who wants a slice of this super-smart sheet cake that is perfect for serving on your little one's birthday? View Recipe 25 of 30 Lemon-Glazed Sheet Cake Alpha Smoot There is lemon zest in the cake and the sweetened glaze of this bright and sunny birthday cake recipe. View Recipe 26 of 30 Banana-Split Ice Cream Cake Alpha Smoot Your family and friends will adore this innovative dessert that marries a traditional banana split sundae with a vanilla sheet cake. View Recipe 27 of 30 Gumdrop Cake Krause, Johansen Give this birthday cake recipe a festive twist by intricately decorating it with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and colorful gumdrops. View Recipe 28 of 30 Berry Layer Cake Mike Krautter Swirls and twirls of multiple hues of purple frosting—plus blackberries and blueberries—create an absolutely stunning exterior on this triple-layer cake recipe that's perfect for a special birthday. View Recipe 29 of 30 Fish Birthday Cake Johnny Miller Go under the sea with this dessert. Your little ones will adore this clever birthday cake shaped and decorated like a fish with buttercream and candy. View Recipe 30 of 30 Caramel Buttercream Layer Cake Mike Krautter Elevate a classic yellow birthday cake recipe with a rich, homemade buttercream. Don't forget the candles! View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit