It’s my birthday today!! Woohoo! Unfortunately, it’s Thursday and I have to work all day, so the celebration will be kept to a minimum with some pizza, wine, and good friends this evening. And as embarrassed as I am to say this… a store bought birthday cake. I’m just a terrible baker!
I’ve never really enjoyed birthday cake. The icing was always too sweet and hurt my teeth and cake was boring and dry. However, every year on my birthday, I have pineapple upside down cake. I cannot recall when I started having them on my birthday, but I can’t remember a birthday without one either. It is the perfect cake – fruity, sweet, salty, and moist. It’s not exactly the birthday cake you would expect a child to like, but I always did! My mom, nephew, and friends have all made this special treat for me, and yet, I’ve never made it for myself.
This year, I decided that at 39 years old, I should be able to bake myself a birthday cake! For goodness-sake, I can cook anything! I should be able to bake simple cake. So I did! I made it from scratch even – no mixes for me in my new found maturity. And do you know what? That Pineapple Upside Down cake turned out to be just god awful. Yes… absolutely disgusting. The batter didn’t rise and it was like a pineapple upside down brick. Although my boyfriend did manage to eat two pieces – which still grosses me out. In my defense (and really this isn’t much of a defense), all three can of baking powder in our house were extremely out of date, as I later discovered.
So it will be a Publix cake for me (which is the best store bought cake you can get). However, if you are not baking challenged like I am, here are 15 of the most delicious and sophisticated birthday cakes – worthy of an adult celebration! And if I could bake, I would me making one of these right now! Instead, I will be passing these recipes on to the bakers in my life in hopes of being invited over to try them. Oh and don’t worry, I intend on baking my pineapple upside down cake again this weekend – cross your fingers!
15 Grown Up Birthday Cake Recipes
Birthday Cake Recipe Index
- Strawberry Lemon Creme Crepe Cake by Taste and See
- Butterfinger Cake Recipe by Living Sweet Moments
- Cookies And Cream Cake by Preppy Kitchen
- Gluten-Free Birthday Cake by Wholesome Yum
- Gluten-Free Mocha Brownie Cake by A Lady in France
- Heavenly Lemon Chiffon Cake by Savvy Saving Couple
- Red Wine Chocolate Raspberry Cake by Happy Foods Tube
- Salted Caramel Layer Cake by Lights, Camera, BAKE!
- Lemon Ricotta Cupcakes by Making Healthy Choices
- Sparkly Celebration Vanilla Layer Cake with a Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting by The Culinary Jumble
- Rocky Road Cake by Preppy Kitchen
- Dulce De Leche Cake by Preppy Kitchen
- Chocolate Overload Layer Cake with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting by The Culinary Jumble
- Italian Creme Coconut Cake By Cooking with Kay
- Birthday Cake Cheesecake Recipe by Recipe This
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
15 Decadent Sugar Free Desserts
Dutch Baby Pancake with Lemon Berry Butter Syrup
Toasted Almond Pesto Zoodles with Heirloom Tomatoes
Happy Belated Birthday 🎉…and I totally get the too sweet cake thing. I am like you, I like my desserts more on the savoury or fruit side…unless someone wants to make me a sticky toffee pudding. Pineapple Upside Down cake works for me!!
Yes, I am definitely a fruit dessert person. I ended up buying myself this delicious Chantilly cake with berries in it. It was amazing.
Happy Bday!!! I’m totally with you on this! Cooking and baking are two whole different things! I also do cook just one “cake” a year, for my husby birthday and he like a simple white one… happy me… not too hard to make. Got to try this pineapple upside down one, looks delish!
I make my boyfriend a carrot cake for his birthday. I seem to have more success with those kinds of cakes.
Ok, that lemon chiffon cake is CALLING me. It’s a good thing I have a birthday next week! 🙂 I would never have thought of pineapple upside down cake as a birthday cake, but it IS incredibly moist, so I get that. I actually often ask for blueberry pie for my birthday for similar reasons!
This is a fantastic collection of birthday cakes! I don’t know where to begin, they all look so good!
I love making cakes of every kind! The chocolate overload cake looks heavenly 🙂
well happy birthday to you!! Great collection of cakes. I love your tradition of pineapple upside down cake, that is such a favorite of mine.
Happy belated birthday! These cakes sound super good! It’s hard to choose my favorite. I can’t wait to try one of them!
First off. . .happiest of birthdays to you. Secondly, pineapple upside down cake?!!! Such an interesting cake to be deemed special enough to be crowned your official birthday cake. I must say though I do love a good upside down cake with it’s delicious caramelized top. Sorry to hear that your attempt at baking one was a failure. I bet it had something to do with that expired baking powder. Let’s stick with that story, shall we? 😉
Yes, that is my story… and I’m sticking with it. LOL. I have never been much of a chocolate lover, but I love fruit and caramel. I think that it’s just the perfect combo of those things, plus it’s so buttery and moist!