25 easy and delicious birthday cake recipes (2024)

We’ve used a pinprick of purple food colouring to neutralise the yellow colour of the buttercream, making it appear whiter. The sprinkle selection is vital here to avoid clumping or bleeding, make sure to use a bake-stable variety (it will say so on the description).

Recipe: Rainbow Funfetti Loaf Cake

Victoria sponge cake is a classic bake for any big occasion, including a birthday celebration. This traybake version slices up into neat squares and goes further than a normal round cake.

Recipe: Victoria sponge traybake

This light cake is like a set mousse – you can even hear the bubbles pop as you slice it! We recommend using Green & Black’s chocolate, as it has the right percentage of cocoa solids.

Recipe: Three-ingredient chocolate cake

A chocolate traybake perfect for a birthday cake, celebration cake or something for a bake sale; it's a total crowd-pleaser!

Recipe: Chocolate Cake Tray Bake

Black Forest Gateau is a classic recipe from Germany made with kirsch, chocolate and cherries. It's a timeless cake that would be perfect for a birthday or any other special occasion.

Recipe: Black Forest gateau

This showstopper of a cake is easier to master than you think.

This is an easy tray bake cake - but it's also a poke cake, which means you poke holes into the sponge and top it with chocolate sauce to make it extra moist. Plus, it's topped with Reese's Cups, so what's not to like?

Decadent and chocolatey, this hot chocolate fudge cake has a boozy twist with an Irish cream drizzle.

Recipe: Hot chocolate fudge cake

This easy chocolate cake recipe is hard to resist and take just 35 minutes to prepare. A perfect cake recipe for birthdays or any special occasion.

Recipe: Milk chocolate cake

Perfect for a birthday or celebration, this walnut whip layer cake takes all the elements of a walnut whip and turns them into a delectable dessert.

Recipe: Walnut whip cake

A true afternoon-tea classic – buttermilk gives this cake extra body and moisture

For lovers of bannoffee pie, this is a birthday cake with their name written on it!

Red velvet cake traditionally used boiled sweets or beetroot to dye the cake its red-brown colour, but we’ve used food colouring for speed and ease.

Recipe: Red Velvet Cake

Although the GH cooks originally created this beautiful cake for the festive period, it works at any time of year as a show-stopping celebration cake.

A real make-ahead crowdpleaser. These flavours won’t fail to delight children and adults alike.

Recipe: Malted Chocolate Ice Box Cake

This simple, classic cake is a perennial favourite and is perfect for feeding a crowd or whipping up for a bakesale.

Recipe: Lemon Drizzle Traybake

This delicious cake is both dairy and gluten free and looks fit for a celebration with its gorgeous white frosting.