20 Celebratory Cake Recipes to Make for Your Graduate

This moist, classic combination of vanilla and chocolate is both simple and spectacular. The cake is made with a mixture of vanilla bean and vanilla extract for extra flavor. Meanwhile, the swirled chocolate buttercream on top is in a league of its own, making it a delightful dessert for a graduation party.

Have you ever seen a graduation cake as bright and cheerful as this one? It's the perfect celebratory treat to serve in the summer thanks to three layers of lemon goodness in the cake, frosting, and garnish.

Whether your grad is gluten-free or a chocoholic, this flourless chocolate cake recipe is sure to please. A tangy crème fraîche topping contrasts the sweet and rich slice on your plate.

If your graduate studied any foreign languages, make a sweet reminder of their coursework. For French speakers, this super-impressive stacked cake is the way to go. Paper-thin crepes are layered with an airy raspberry filling and chocolate-hazelnut mousse.

This stunning make-ahead ice cream cake is a great way to honor your graduate's hard work. Generous layers of pistachio gelato, vanilla ice cream, and strawberry ice cream are sandwiched between homemade cornmeal cake for a dessert filled with a symphony of flavors.

Simple doesn't mean boring; in fact, this perfect yellow layer cake is worthy of an accomplishment as big as commencement. Buttermilk and whipped egg whites are the secrets to the moist, airy graduation cake.

Celebrate your graduate with this pretty-in-pink floral cake. The juice and zest of limes and lemons brighten the mousse filling and an arrangement of edible flowers, meringue, confetti candies, and candy pearls are decorated on top.

You'll be the talk of the schoolyard when everyone finds out the sprinkles on top are completely homemade. The rest of this basic vanilla cake is light, tender, and a total crowd-pleaser.

They did it: They graduated! Now celebrate with this seasonal cake that's as tall as your list of accomplishments. Each layer is filled with sliced fresh strawberries and a sweet-as-can-be strawberry meringue buttercream.

Chocolate and mint are one of the ultimate flavor combinations, and they really shine together in this double-chocolate dome cake filled with mint chocolate ice cream.

This Southern-inspired cake is as good as gold. The traditional pineapple-banana cake gets a triple dose of coconut for natural sweetness from coconut sugar, unsweetened shredded coconut, and large unsweetened coconut flakes.

Hosting a casual backyard graduation party? Make this seasonal cake with lemon and blueberries—it could not be easier or more delicious.

Everyone deserves a slice of this luxe commencement cake after supporting your graduate through thick and thin. In between two layers of rich cocoa cake is a macerated raspberry jam that soaks into every layer, making it extra moist.

All of the pistachio flavor is hiding in the pastry cream filling, which is made with sugar, cornstarch, pistachio paste, an egg yolk, and whole milk. The topping is the most luscious vanilla buttercream, tinted pale green for a peek as to what's waiting on the inside.

Whether your graduate is about to head to the state where bigger is better—or if they've just departed their southern campus—make our best-ever chocolate sheet cake for your graduation party. A dense, gooey chocolate cake is topped with rich chocolate icing and finely chopped toasted pecans.

Chocolate lovers will cheer for this double-chocolate layer cake made with Dutch-processed cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. If that's not enough for you, top it all off with our Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting.

Kids and adults alike will cheer for this graduation dessert. There's a little bit of everything in this fudgy ice cream cake—crunchy peanut butter, crushed raspberries, two flavors of ice cream, whipped cream, and of course, a cherry on top.

Your graduate may not have much of a sweet tooth, but we're positive that they'll be excited to dig into a slice of this zesty cake. It has segments of citrus in it, a citrus simple syrup, a citrus glaze, and candied citrus zest on top.

The graduating class will be on cloud nine when they throw their caps in the air. Make that moment last a little bit longer with this cloud-like creamy caramel meringue graduation cake.