Homemade Birthday Cakes & Frosting Recipes

The easiest frosting is confectioners sugar, butter and a little vanilla. Then add whatever flab=vor you want - melted bakers chocolate, a tsp lemon juice & a Tbl zest, the same for orange, etc. Add food coloring as desired.
2 sticks unsalted butter, 3-4 cups sifted confectioners sugar, 1 Tbl vanilla - upto 4 Tbl milk or cream. Use soften butter - beat, add sugar on slow speed so it doesn't end up all over you and yoru kitchen - add vanilla. for stiffer frosting use less milk, for glossier frosting use more milk.

For chocoalte add 2 - 4 squares unweetened bakers chocolate (adjust sugar for taste)
For lemon - add a Teaspoon of fresh lemon juice and a Tablespoon of lemon zest.

For cake I follow the recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook and adjust for the falvor (lemon, vanilla, chocoalte, etc.) the cupcakes that went over the biggest were the lemon ones that were just a fluke. I added soem fresh lemon juice and zest to both the cake recipe as well as the frosting and eveyone loved them. I think it was fresh tasting - a good option for
Spring!

have fun momma!

I personally like cupcakes better than cake as they're easier to frost and I have this cupcake stand I got at Target years ago. I use a pastry bag - but use a large plain round tip and the frosting kind of looks like a dairyqueen ice cream dish - a simple swirl.

My absolute favorite cake in the world (my brothers', too) is devil's food cake with 7 minute frosting. It is sugar, karo syrup (or cream of tartar), vanilla, and I'd have to check the rest.... but you cook it on the stove over a double boiler while beating it with a mixer... for around 7 minutes (of course). I noticed in my mom's old cookbook (Better Homes and Gardens) that there are variations you can do to the icing--like melting an ounce of chocolate in the frosting to make chocolate 7 minute frosting. I've never tried that.

When the frosting is just made and fresh, it is like marshmallow creme out of a jar... but I like it best the next day, after it has been sitting out exposed to the air a little, so it can get a little bit of crunch to it. LOVE it. It is like a little slice of heaven to me.

I've started making swiss buttercream. It's not difficult, and it tastes better and less sweet than conventional buttercream. There are a million recipes and youtube videos online. You will want to have a stand mixer for this, though. And use butter, not shortening.

My go-to cake recipes are from Rose Levy Berenbaum's The Cake Bible. But there is a good yellow cake recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. The cake has buttermilk and is used for a birthday cake. She also has several entries for wedding cakes, and I used her buttercream recipe from that one.

A really easy chocolate icing is ganache. Essentially, it's melted dark chocolate and cream. You'll want a food processor to chop the melted chocolate. You then pour in heated cream and process until the chocolate is melted. For frosting purposes, you could then hand whip this with a whisk to lighten it and get it to the right consistency. A ratio of 2 cups cream to 10 oz of chocolate should work.

Google the Martha Stewart maple walnut cake. I love maple. Also due to a health condition, I can only have a sliver of cake so I really wanted something unusual. This fit the bill.

Just a thought, I had been doing a variant of buttercream, butter/ cream cheese, confectioners sugar & vanilla for frosting.

Recently I tried the sort of icing that you get on those sugar cookies near the check out stand. It calls for 1 cup powdered sugar, 50 drops of food color, and enough milk/ vanilla to make it thin like paint (about a teaspoon).

you can spread it with a spatula, pastry bag, spoon, basting brush. It stays vibrant and dries hard, without cracking.

Best,
F. B.

I know you asked for homemade but I'll give you my go to doctored up cake recipe.

http://www.5dollardinners.com/lime-cake/

You can change the flavors up by changing the jello but the lime is the best so far. I've also used orange and tropical. It is sooo sooo good and the icing is delish!

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/rc9cu5v6/chocolate-cake-with-...

The link is for a chocolate cake with a cream cheese filling.
This is the type of cake I had growing up for our birthdays. Homemade. Don't know if it is the EXACT recipe my Mom used. But its GOOD.
LOVED it as a kid, and I have fond memories of it.
Or you can just Google Search "chocolate cake with cream cheese filling." There are different recipes.

I know you said cake, but I recently made these, and my god, they are yummy! Do use a whipped cream stabilized cream recipe though:

http://sweetapolita.com/2012/08/whipped-vanilla-dream-cup...

The recipe for cake and frosting on the back of the Hershey's(baking) Cocoa container is to die for!!!! I make it often and get rave reviews. It is so tasty and moist...and easy to make.

Happy birthday cake making!!

Would they like a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting?
It's not everyone's cup of tea but carrot cake is my favorite for my own birthday.

My favorite is Wilton's buttercream. If you go to their web site you can find it and they also offer variations. I LOVE buttercream, but not everyone does.