Everyone loves a great birthday cake! Kids might be focused on getting as much icing as they can, but most adults crave a little more substance. Here are 16 delicious birthday cakes for adults!
Guess what day it is?!?!?! It’s my birthday! And for the most part, when you’re an adult, a birthday is just another day. A reminder of the constant march of time, that you aren’t getting any younger. As if I need a birthday to remind me of that…I have plenty of gray hairs to remind me of that on the daily! Is there a difference between birthday cakes for kids and birthday cakes for adults? I think so. Most kids are just after as much frosting as possible…and while I definitely don’t hate a delicious frosting, I want my birthday cake to have a little something more. I have a standing request for cupcakes from Federal Bake Shop for every birthday, but I would gladly take any of these birthday cakes that anyone would like to bake for me!
Sheet Cakes
If I’m going to bake a cake, I’m going for simplicity. I can’t remember the last time I baked a layer cake. I prefer a bundt, a bar, or, my favorite, a simple sheet cake. I am the queen of taking a cake that is traditionally made as a layer cake and reimagining it as a sheet cake. Here are some of my favorites!
Classic Yellow Cake
You can’t go wrong with a classic yellow cake with chocolate icing! This one is like the boxed mix from your childhood…only not.
Italian Cream Sheet Cake
Tender white cake, cream cheese icing, coconut, and pecans? Italian cream cake has it all!
Hummingbird Sheet Cake
This classic Southern cake is usually a stacked-high layer cake, but I simplify it by pouring the batter into a sheet pan. So delicious!
Banana Pudding Cake
This poke cake has vanilla pudding, bananas, and whipped cream, just like the classic Southern dessert!
Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake
It doesn’t have to be fall to eat pumpkin cake! This one is SOOOOO creamy and delicious!
Biscoff Cookie Butter Cake
I love cookie butter, and around here Biscoff brand is the easiest one to find. I love to make this cake with cookie butter, crushed Biscoff cookies, and just a hint of coffee flavor!
Caramel Sheet Cake
If you are a frosting lover, this is the cake for you. Look at that layer of caramel frosting!!!
Bundt Cakes, Tube Pan Cakes, and Other Single Pan Cakes
I love an angel food cake, a good bundt cake, or any other cake that I can make in a single pan. The pans may not be portable like a sheet pan is, but these cakes are still dead simple and incredibly tasty!
Chocolate Stout Cake
My husband owns a beer store, so there’s no shortage of new beers to bake and cook with. A great stout pairs perfectly with deep, rich chocolate in this simple but decadent cake!
Pumpkin Angel Food Cake
Pumpkin, again! It’s hard to find a recipe for pumpkin angel food cake from scratch…most of them involve boxed mixes. This one is easy, light, and airy. Pumpkin perfection!
Spiced Apple Cake
This easy cake is packed full of apples with lots of warm spices. It’s an amazing cake!
French Yogurt Cake
Yogurt cake is often one of the first things that French children learn to bake, and it’s easy to see why. Just a few simple ingredients measured in equal parts, and it yields a yummy, citrusy cake!
Bars
They may not be traditional, but who would turn up their nose at a delicious bar cookie? I certainly wouldn’t!
Wedding Cake Bars
These cake mix bars are thickly flavored with almond and frosted with a layer of almond-flavored icing, and I could easily eat them every. single. day.
Red Wine Brownies with Cheesecake Swirl
I mean, read the name of the recipe.
Mint Cookie Cheesecake Bars
These bars are made with a simple cheesecake batter and mint Oreos, and I wish someone would bring me some right now!
Apple-Walnut Blondies
Finished with a salted caramel whiskey sauce, these bars are decadent, delicious, and basically autumn in bar cookie form!
Salted Caramel Brownies
A perfect finish…chewy, fudgy brownies topped with smooth salted caramel…perfection!
What are your favorite birthday cakes for adults?