Birthday Cake Ideas

Unique birthday cake ideas can sweeten the most special moment of any birthday party for any age.

Is there anything better than seeing the candle-laden birthday cake brought out with your name on it?!

What a warm sense of importance and celebrity we feel surrounded by the special people in our lives who have gathered expressly to celebrate YOU.

Don’t you wish, as with a camera, you can capture the image of a moment, you can somehow, in the same immortalizing way, capture and keep a special feeling? I need to get Canon working on that.

Birthday Cake Ideas are Important!

I ask you, what would a birthday party be without a birthday cake, ice-cream and other sundry edibles? Probably a lot less fattening but not nearly as traditional, exciting, nor sugar-fueled. Peruse the birthday cake ideas on this page and then share your own.

The quintessential birthday cake is the delectable icing on the – sorry, but – cake. Aside from the star attraction (the birthday person), the cake, too, is a star of sorts. A co-star you might say.

Need more than cake? Visit the birthday food ideas page for 5 ice cream recipes, simple snacks ideas and more.

Cake Ideas for Every Birthday Budget

If you have an unlimited birthday party budget, you can ignore this section. For everyone else, consider the following birthday cake costs:

• A professionally baked and decorated cake from a grocery store bakery will run anywhere from $15 to $30 depending, of course, on the size and amount of decorations. Making one yourself will cost as little as $5 to $10 using a cake mix or your own ingredients and handiwork.
  
• For an individual bakery, budget for prices such as these:
  
  • 9”, 1-1/2 layer-cake: serving 12, $45.00
  • Single layer, ¼ sheet cake: serving 16, $57.00
  • 9”, Barbie® birthday cake: serving 16, $70.00
    
• An amazing designer custom made cake from say, Charm City Cakes, runs from $350 on up depending on complexity of design and size.

Many bakeries will provide a sample slice or cupcake for you to try before making a decision on what flavor to choose.

Basic Birthday Cake Ideas and Recipes

I have a couple of basic cake recipes for you to use if you have decided to go with making your own cake rather than ordering a cake from a bakery. It is always best to do a trial run of a new recipe before “show time.”

These can be used for kids or adult birthdays.

Preheat Oven to:
375 degrees

Time to Bake:
9” rounds = 30-35 mins
9” x 13” pan = 35-40 mins
Cupcakes = 18-20 mins

Basic Yellow Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 C butter
• 1 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 C milk

Directions:

1. Spray bottom and sides of two 9-inch round pans or one 9” x 13” pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cut parchment or wax paper to fit bottom of pan. Spray again, then dust with 1-tsp flour.
3. In a medium bowl combine: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter about 30 seconds, add sugar and vanilla; beat till well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Then add flour mixture and milk alternatively. Pour into pans.

Tips for layering cakes:

• Spread a thin layer of frosting between layers of cake to “glue” them together.
• Trace a design or lettering in frosting with a toothpick first.
• Add decorating items before frosting dries.

Preheat Oven to:
350 degrees

Time to Bake:
9” rounds = 30-35 mins
9” x 13” pan = 35-40 mins
Cupcakes = 18-20 mins

Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

Do you love chocolate birthday cake? Ideas for chocolate anything are always in high demand. Here’s a basic chocolate fudge cake recipe for the chocoholic birthday boy or girl.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp cocoa (to dust bottom of cake pan)
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 C butter
• 1 3/4 C sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3 oz unsweetened Chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 1/4 C cold water

Directions:

1. Spray bottom and sides of two 9-inch round pans or one 9” x 13” pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cut parchment or wax paper to fit bottom of pan. Spray again, then dust with 1 tsp cocoa.
3. In a medium bowl combine: flour, soda and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium speed about 30 seconds. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Blend in cooled chocolate.
4. Add flour mixture and cold water alternately to beaten mixture, beating after each addition. Pour in pans.

Serves:
20

Preheat Oven to:
N/A – It’s no bake!

Time to Assemble:
30 minutes (depending on how creative you get)

No-Bake Choo-Choo Train Cake

Having a “choo-choo train” party? Here’s a fantastic birthday cake idea: Learn how to make a train cake.

Ingredients:

• 5 or more loaf or pound cakes
• Foil (for lining a board; thick cardboard will work)
• Frosting
• Chocolate wafer cookies
• 1 Vanilla wafer cookie
• Hershey’s Kisses
• Licorice
• M&Ms

Directions:

1. Make or buy 5 or more loaf/pound cakes (one for each car, plus one).
2. On large foil lined board or carboard, line up all but one cake to resemble train. Leave 3 inches between each cake.
3. Cut unused cake in half; place one half on top of first cake to form engine. Frost in blue.
4. Use 4 chocolate wafer cookies and black licorice for wheels, a wrapped Hershey’s Kiss for a smoke stack, and vanilla wafer for an engineer.
5. Frost other cars in different colors and add wheels as described.
6. Out-line top of each car with licorice.
7. Put mini M&Ms on top of first two cars for passengers.
8. Put candles on last car.
9. Connect cars with licorice.
10. Use the licorice to make train tracks in front of and behind the choo-choo train.

Serves:
12

Preheat Oven to:
N/A – It’s no bake!

Time to Assemble:
15-20 minutes

Volcano Cake Recipe

How about adding a little seismic activity with this easy no-bake volcano cake?!

Ingredients:

• 2 Angel Food cakes
• 1 Jumbo muffin
• Frosting
• Lava colored paste food coloring
• Sparkler Candles
• Plastic or sugar shaped dinosaurs and palm trees

Directions:

1. Cut off the bottom half of one angel food cake and stack it on top of the other cake, trimming edges with a serrated knife as needed to form volcano.
2. Glue the 2 layers together with a thin layer of frosting.
3. Cut the rounded end from the jumbo muffin and place it upside down on top of the angel food cakes, securing it to the top cake layer with a thin layer of frosting.
4. Frost entire cake with brown icing.
5. For lava: use paste food coloring to create vibrant red, yellow and orange frosting.
6. Surround volcano with dinosaurs and palm trees for a dinosaur theme.
7. Stick appropriate number of sparkler candles out of top of volcano.

Coverage:
One 9” x 13” cake, or
One two-layer 9” cake, or
24 cupcakes

Time to Prepare:
About 10 minutes

Butter Cream Cake Frosting

Birthday cake ideas are worthless without the frosting! You can use canned frosting (no?) or make your own. Try this simple butter cream cake frosting recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 tbls butter; softened
• 4 1/2 C sifted* powdered sugar (measured after sifting)
• 1/4 C milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

*Frosting made without sifting sugar tastes and spreads fine, but it will be a little lumpy.

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy.
2. Gradually add half the powdered sugar, beating well.
3. Beat in the milk and vanilla.
4. Gradually beat in remaining sugar, adding milk if needed.

Variation:

For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, add 2 oz. of melted, cooled, unsweetened chocolate along with the vanilla.

Do you have a great birthday cake recipe? Share it in the comments!

Oreo cookie Birthday Cake photo credit: Toa Heftiba on Unsplash