Recipes Desserts Cake The Best Birthday Cake Recipes By Food & Wine Editors Published on January 12, 2017 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos We love a classic layered birthday cake, but these recipes take a party favorite to the next level with sophisticated ingredients like brown butter and salted caramel. With everything from a baked Alaska ice cream birthday cake to a dreamy, creamy milk chocolate layer cake, these recipes will get the party started. Whether you're turning six or sixty, we have your perfect birthday treat. 01 of 12 Ice Cream Birthday Cake © David Malosh This awesome cake for a crowd features chocolate cake, two flavors of ice cream, thick layers of fudge sauce, layers of chocolate crunchies and a luscious ganache topping. Go to Recipe 02 of 12 Triple-Layer Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Nicole Franzen This magnificent cake has three layers of moist, tender chocolate with a hint of cinnamon and a silky chocolate ganache. Go to Recipe 03 of 12 Caramel Layer Cake This impressive cake is encased in a fudge-like caramel frosting. Pastry chef Lisa Donovan adapted it from a recipe by Southern-cooking doyenne Edna Lewis. Go to Recipe 04 of 12 Four-Layer Coconut Cake Coconut oil and toasted ground coconut are baked into the batter of this beautiful cake, which is then layered with bittersweet marmalade and fluffy white frosting. Go to Recipe 05 of 12 Milk-Chocolate-Frosted Layer Cake Con Poulos This cake from pastry chef Karina Gowing is perfection for anyone who loves frosting. The ultracreamy icing, which is almost like a milk-chocolate ganache, gets spread liberally over layers of light, delicate, cocoa-flavored cake. Go to Recipe 06 of 12 Yellow Layer Cake with Vanilla Frosting Fredrika Stjärne This classic cake is a birthday party staple. Go to Recipe 07 of 12 Crunchy Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layer Cake © Tina Rupp The genius of this layer cake is its extraordinarily crunchy filling, made with almonds, salted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, chocolate and Rice Krispies. The silky milk-chocolate ganache frosting almost pushes the recipe over the top. Go to Recipe 08 of 12 Brown-Butter Layer Cake Seattle chef Tom Douglas uses brown butter for an indulgent nutty flavor in this fun twist on a classic white cake. Go to Recipe 09 of 12 Baked Alaska Birthday Cake This ultimate birthday cake features three flavors of ice cream, moist chocolate cake, nutty ganache and fluffy meringue. Go to Recipe 10 of 12 Best-Ever Birthday Cake Greg Dupree Who can argue with a classic yellow cake dotted with sprinkles and finished with a chocolate icing? This recipe is exactly that, no boxed mix required. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/best-ever-birthday-cake 11 of 12 Rainbow Cake Abby Hocking / Food & Wine If you're looking for a colorful celebration cake, this rainbow stunner is the way to go. Get the Recipe 12 of 12 Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen When you want to keep things simple and bright, this easy and delicious lemon cake only takes one bowl to throw together. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit