So, your child’s birthday is coming up. You’ve got the card and presents sorted, now all you need to do is bake up a stunning cake that will make them love you for forever. Problem is, you’re no Mary Berry, and time is not on your side, so you need something relatively easy to whip up that looks impressive.
No worries; we’ve got you covered! Here are 15 alternative kids’ birthday cakes that will light up their cute face and earn you kudos from the adults, too.
Get the recipe: BBC Good Food’s digger cake
1. Digger cake
Thankfully, this construction digger cake is incredibly easy to construct. Create a convincing building site by digging away some of the chocolate sponge to reveal a crumbly rubble-like texture. Then all you need are a few toy diggers, smarties and a make-shift sign. Let the birthday king or queen dig in!
Get the recipe: Annie Riggs’ flowering garden cake
2. Flower garden cake
If your child loves pretty flowers and the outdoors, this floral bake will impress them to no end. Sweet-laden cupcakes are a clever way to create eye-catching flowers, while easy-to-pipe green icing perfectly depicts lush-looking stems and blades of grass.
Source: Betty Crocker’s robot cake
3. Robot cake
One of our favourite birthday cakes for kids, you don’t need to be a scientist to create this birthday bake as it’s deceptively easy to make. Just a few sweets, smarties and a dash of creativity make for a remarkable robot cake that will go down a treat. No-one will ever know how easy it was to make!
Get the recipe: Annabel Karmel’s swimming pool cake
4. Swimming cake
Take your little one to the swimming baths regularly? This super-sweet cake will remind them of all the fun times you’ve spent splashing around together.
White chocolate makes for realistic swimming tiles and pink wafers bear a striking resemblance to a diving board. Try and make the figures look like your family members to make your little one chuckle.
Get the recipe: Sainsbury’s pigs in mud cake
5. Pigs in the mud cake
Got a child that’s obsessed with chocolate? Do they also gush over cute pigs? Then this piggy mud bath cake is ideal, for two reasons:
- Because it’s incredibly easy to make, and
- Because the pigs look like they’re having an absolute whale of a time.
Go on, make them as happy as these pigs are, with this kids’ birthday cake!
Get the recipe: Aldi’s baa baa cake
6. Lamb cake
Not only is this lamb cake absolutely adorable looks-wise, it’s equally delicious too. By simply piping some icing and dotting on a few marshmallows, you can transform a traditional Victoria sponge into a culinary masterpiece. The perfect surprise for your precious little lamb. (that one sounded cute though, right?)
Get the recipe: Betty Crocker’s lion cake
7. Lion cake
Mary Berry, eat your heart out. This stunning kids’ birthday cake is great for a younger child, and a bonus for you is that it’s ridiculously easy to make. With a highly convincing Cheerio-filled mane, it’s guaranteed to give your little one the most roarsome birthday. Talking of roarsome birthdays, we have the perfect lion card to pair it with.
Get the recipe: Jo Wheatley’s rainbow vanilla sponge
8. Rainbow cake
If you’ve been searching for the best birthday cakes for kids, then look no further. It’s time to pull out all the stops with this striking rainbow cake recipe from The Great British Bake Off winner Jo Wheatley. Children love colour and this cake certainly isn’t short of it! Decorating is relatively simple too – simply smoother with buttercream, smarties and then join together different shades of rolled-up fondant icing to create a stunning rainbow. Voila! jobs a good ‘un.
Get the recipe: Betty Crocker’s solar system cake
9. Solar system cake
Still after more kids birthday cake ideas? Fortunately for you, knocking up this space-themed birthday cake is not rocket science. Just a few 3D-shaped cake pops, some icing, sprinkles and sweet laces make up this highly impressive solar system. An out-of-this-world creation that’s ideal for space-obsessed kids.
Get the recipe: BBC Good Food’s mermaid cake
10. Mermaid cake
If you want to take your baking to the next level, this show-stopping mermaid cake is bound to wow. It will take centre stage at your child’s birthday party and win them over with all the effort you put in.
Ombre blue icing evokes a tropical-looking sea, while carefully piped buttercream and iridescent pearl sprinkles do a pretty impressive job of conjuring up crashing waves. Oh, and not forgetting the beautiful rainbow filling. Older kids will love this one.
Get the recipe: Lakeland
11. Football cake
Are they totally football mad? No matter what football team your little one supports, this football birthday cake is perfect for them! Pretty much all you need for decoration is white fondant and black icing although to make it a little extra personal you could attempt to add their favourite team’s if you think you’ve got enough artistic skill.
Get the recipe: Life Love Liz
12. Unicorn cake
If you’re looking for a cake that will really wow the guests (including the adults) then check out this unicorn cake! Not only is the fondant work colourful and beautiful but the insides match. The best thing is, while this birthday cake might first look like something only a pro baker could do it’s really not that hard, just give it a go yourself!
Get the recipe: Not Quite Nigella
13. Dinosaur cake
For the kids that are dinosaur mad, check out this adorable yet equally impressive dinosaur cake that looks like it came straight out of a bakery window. But it’s not all about looks and this particular recipe by Lorraine Elliott, aka Not Quite Nigella, is the ideal cake for anyone who is a big fan of peanut butter.
Get the recipe: Co-op
14. Upside-down ice cream cake
Another one of our personal favourite kids birthday cake ideas is this upside-down ice cream cake. This cake will look good at any birthday party and just the look of it will get party goers mouths watering. You can easily personalise this cake a little bit too and make the ice cream scoop look like your child’s favourite flavour. If you’re feeling daring, you could even try flavour the buttercream to it as well!
Get the recipe: Annabel Karmel
15. Pirate ship cake
Ahoy Mateys! All aboard this epic pirate ship cake perfect for yer child’s upcoming birthday. It may not be the original Jolly Roger but it’s a more than acceptable replacement that would take a pirate themed birthday party to the next level. And after everyone’s done eyeing up your masterpiece, just dish it out to the crew.
Now we’ve equipped you with some of the most unusual kids’ birthday cake recipes, it’s time to put your baking skills to the test. And if they don’t like it… don’t worry, that just means there’s more for you! For more tips and inspiration, head on over to our blog.
