10 Beautiful Adult Birthday Cake Ideas (Includes Recipe)

Are you looking for elegant and beautiful ideas for your next adult birthday cake? Or perhaps you want to surprise a family member, your kids or a friend with a personable, fun cake that also tastes amazing? Whether you’re after a cake that is super unique with flowers, or you’re after a simple chocolate recipe that’ll blow your taste buds away, there’s something for everyone on this list. Explore 10 awesome birthday cake recipes collected from different food bloggers.

1. Nutella Layer Birthday Cake

The cake is a moist and super intense chocolate cake that uses a little hazelnut flour to make it even tastier. To make it even more chocolatey; bomb the layers in between layers the sponge cake alternating between chopped hazelnuts, chocolate sprinkles and chopped Kinder Duplo chocolates. Get instructions via Cau de Sucre.

Ingredients

CAKE

• 400 g flour
• 150 g grounded hazelnut
• 12 Tbsp pure cocoa powder
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 500 g sugar
• 200 ml sunflower oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 espresso cup
• 400 ml milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

FILLING

• 500 g Mascarpone (cold)
• 75 g icing sugar
• 250 ml whipping cream (very cold)
• 3 Tbsp pure cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp Nutella

ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

• 250 g sugar
• 90 ml water
• 330 g butter (at room temperature but not too soft)
• 6 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 drop of vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp Nutella

DECORATION

• 150 g chocolate (minimum 50% cocoa)
• 75 g whipping cream
• 1 tsp butter
• A bit of Nutella
• Chocolate Sprinkles
• 1 handful of whole hazelnuts
• Chocolates, choco bars or anything you want to put on top

2. Strawberry Birthday Cake

This moist and fluffy strawberry cake might just be the perfect birthday cake! It’s filled with strawberry and lemon buttercream and crowned with dainty strawberries and delicate buttercream roses. Get instructions via Preppy Kitchen.

Ingredients

CAKE

• 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour 205g
• 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
• 1 tsp baking powder 4g, heaping
• ¼ tsp baking soda 1g, heaping
• ¼ tsp kosher salt 1g, heaping
• ¾ cup butter 170g unsalted, room temperature or melted
• ¼ cup whole milk 60ml warm
• ¼ cup strawberry preserves 80g strained, warmed
• ½ cup sour cream 120ml, room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract 15mL
• 3 egg whites large
• 3/5 cup fresh strawberries 70g, chopped (optional)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring

AMERICAN BUTTERCREAM

• 1-2 lb. confectioners’ sugar, depending on taste 454g-908g
• 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter 226g room temperature
• 1 tbsp strawberry preserve strained 20g
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt 1g, heaping
• Lemon juice
• Wilton Color Right Red food coloring
• Wilton Color Right base yellow food coloring
• Baby strawberries

3. Donut Birthday Cake

Donuts are the perfect companion for adult birthday cakes. First stack our apple cakes, then top them with generous donuts. A few decorative beads and flowers complete the dream of a birthday cake! Get directions via Kuchenkult.

Ingredients

• 1 pack of cake cream (Dr. Oetker)
• 250 g butter
• 300 ml of milk
• 300 g Candymelts (Wilton)
• 1 groove palm oil
• Sugar pearls (Birkmann)
• Herbs

4. Drippy Chocolate Birthday Cake

Aussie cake designers like Katherine Sabbath, Unbirthday Bakery, and Cakes by Cliff (to name a few) have taken the cake design world by storm with their fun new twists on the classic chocolate drip cake. Learn how to make a drippy chocolate cake, with perfect drizzles of ganache, purposefully placed candy pieces and shards of chocolate. Get recipe from The Cake Blog

5. Vegan Tofu Tiramisu Birthday Cake

Get recipe via isfood.agughostkey

6. To Die For Carrot Birthday Cake

Truly the BEST Carrot Cake you’ll ever try! So easy to make and as an added bonus, there’s no oil or butter. I know this cake will quickly become a family favorite! Get recipe from Mom On Time Out.

7. Red Velvet Birthday Cake Recipe

This is a light chocolate cake, with lots of addictive cream cheese frosting and a crown of buttercream roses. This cake is moist but so light and fluffy; it really is the perfect match for all that delicious frosting! You can make this without any food coloring and it will be a light tan color, not quite red, but it will be eaten just as quickly! Get recipe via Preppy Kitchen. 

8. Confetti Birthday Cake Cheesecake Recipe

With a layer of no-bake cheesecake on top of a birthday cake crust, this cheesecake is the perfect birthday treat. The base is moist and fluffy and the cheesecake is rich and creamy, all with EXTRA sprinkles. But don’t be deceived by this cake and cheesecake combo. It’s very easy to make and it tastes as good as it looks! Get recipe via Butternut Bakery.

9. Naked Birthday Cake Recipe

This cake features layers of cake, lemon curd, crushed meringues, Swiss buttercream and sparklers. Boom. What more could you ask for? A naked birthday cake is basically one that’s barely frosted on the outside so you can see all those glorious layers on the inside!! And because it needs to be bright and cheerful we threw on a bunch of pink and yellow candies and flowers PLUS some sparklers on top. Get recipe via What’s Gabby Cooking.

10. Perfect Pumpkin Layer Birthday Cake Recipe

It’s deliciously moist because of the buttermilk, totally fluffy from the cake flour, and the combination of sweetness and spice is divine. The pumpkin flavor of this cake comes from canned, pureed pumpkin and a medley of beautiful spices: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Get recipe via Sugar and Sparrow. 

Summary

You don't have to be an advanced baker to pull off these fabulous birthday cake ideas. They're incredibly versatile. This is your chance to forego a store-bought dessert in favor of one of these homemade birthday cake recipes for adults. The birthday recipient will really appreciate the thoughtful gesture of a birthday cake being made with love—just for them. 

And remember no birthday cake table decor is complete without a Birthday Butler centerpiece! Our birthday centerpiece elevates your party from ordinary to extraordinary. Its unique construction allows you to display the birthday banner on your buffet table, kitchen island or wherever else is convenient. And because we know decorating can be time consuming our banner features handy clasps that allow you to hook it on the banner stand in 60 seconds saving you time and headache!