Homemade birthday cakes are a wonderful way to celebrate your special day, whether you’re turning 3 or 33. The following quick and easy cake decorating ideas are appropriate for birthday boys and girls of all ages, so you can skip the bakery and serve up a home baked cake with confidence.
Candy Decorated Cake
Use M&Ms and Kit Kats to transform a plain cake into a sugary masterpiece, finishing off your cake with a pretty ribbon bow. Head over to Living the Pie Life to learn more about this delicious cake decorating technique.
Malt Ball Cake
A chocolate layer cake covered in chocolate malt balls is the perfect rich and decadent dessert for a chocoholic on her birthday. Food and Wine has the recipe. (If you’re in a hurry, you could always use this technique to decorate a purchased cake instead.)
Seashell Cake
Blue buttercream frosting, brown sugar sand, and white chocolate seashells make this cake the perfect choice for a beach themed celebration. Cake Whiz shows you how to make this impressive birthday treat.
Cookie Dough Cake
Can’t decide between cake and cookies? Why not have them both? This yellow cake is paired with buttercream frosting, chocolate chip cookies and mini chocolate chips. Kelly Luna has the instructions in her blog.
Skittle Cake
Use Skittles to make a rainbow pattern on a cake, then add a colorful birthday bunting. My Paper Crush shows you how.
Fruity Pebbles Cake
Cereal might not be your first choice when you think of cake decorating supplies, but a box of Fruity Pebbles lets you easily create a festive multi-colored cake that’s perfect for celebrating a friend or family member’s special day. Visit Butterlust to learn more.
Sprinkle Cake
Use your favorite cookie cutter and a container of rainbow sprinkles to expertly decorate any birthday cake. You can add numbers to the cake or use shapes such as stars and hearts, depending upon your personal preferences. Little Life of Mine has excellent photos showcasing this technique.
Modern Stenciled Cake
Make wax paper stencils with stripes, checks, and other geometric patterns, then fill in the empty spaces for colored sugar for a modern looking cake. Brit + Co explains this technique in greater detail.
Strawberry Flower Cake
Arrange slices of fresh strawberries to look like a flower for a cake that’s sophisticated yet surprisingly easy to create. Urban Bakes has the details.
Sugar Dusted Cake
Skip the frosting all together and simply dust the top of your cake with a light coat of powdered sugar. This technique works best on rich chocolate cakes that don’t need any added sweetness from a layer of frosting. Use a doily to create the delicate lacy pattern. Life’s Little Sweets shows you how.
