Food and Recipes Desserts Cakes 21 Fun and Easy Cake Recipes Kids Will Love By Jenna Sims Jenna Sims Jenna is a Digital Editor for Southern Living and joined the team in 2014. She writes, produces, and assigns content with a focus on email growth and commerce content. She covers a range of topics in the lifestyle space from holiday gift guides to new product launches to tips for cooking with your air fryer. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on November 5, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner While birthdays are great occasions to make a cake for kids, these easy recipes that kids will love are also great for an after-school snack or a "just because" treat. Even if there's not a special celebration happening, we guarantee no one will complain when they smell a homemade cake baking in the oven. From easy chocolate cakes to a cookie in cake form to a strawberry sheet cake and more, you can't go wrong serving up any of these cakes to the kiddos in your life. Whether they'll be helping you bake the cake, or will just be enjoying the finished product, these easy cake recipes are sure to be loved by kids (and adults too!). 01 of 21 Fudge Cake Alison Miksch; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Anna Hampton Recipe: Fudge Cake Mare sure to add parchment paper to the pan before adding the batter. It will serve as handles to easily lift the cake from the pan. 02 of 21 Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Micah A. Leal Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake You can never go wrong with a cookie in cake form. Adding colorful sprinkles on top of the icing makes it great for a birthday celebration. 03 of 21 Better Boxed Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Brian Hagiwara/Getty Images Recipe: Better Boxed Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting A few simple swaps, like using melted butter in place of oil and whole milk instead of water, give boxed cake mix a homemade taste. 04 of 21 Mississippi Mud Cake Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke Recipe: Mississippi Mud Cake Essentially, all you have to do to get this classic sheet cake into the oven is give it a few stirs. Plus, you just drizzle on the chocolate frosting so you don't have to spend any time making sure the finish is perfect. 05 of 21 Glazed Buttermilk Donut Cake Caitlin Bensel, Food Styling: Margaret Dickey, Prop Styling: Kay E Clarke Recipe: Glazed Buttermilk Donut Cake Any kid will love starting off their birthday (or any day) with this glazed donut cake. 06 of 21 1234 Cake Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner Recipe: 1234 Cake This easy cake recipe may convince you that you don't need to buy the boxed variety ever again. 07 of 21 Wacky Cake Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Wacky Cake Most of the ingredients for this easy cake can probably be found in your pantry, so you can serve up a homemade treat without having to make a special trip to the store. 08 of 21 Peanut Butter Cake Photography: Caitlin Bensel, Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Peanut Butter Cake There's peanut butter in both the cake and icing of this sheet cake. It's guaranteed to put a smile on the face of every peanut-butter loving kid. 09 of 21 Honey Bun Cake Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Rishon Hanners, Prop Stylist Heather Chadduck Recipe: Honey Bun Cake Yellow cake mix serves as the convenient base for this pastry-inspired Bundt cake. 10 of 21 Busy Day Cake Alison Miksch; Food Styling: Erin Merhar; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee Recipe: Busy Day Cake Just 15 minutes of prep time and 30 minutes of baking time means you can get this simple cake on the table in under an hour. 11 of 21 Strawberry Icebox Cake Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Melissa Gray; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford Recipe: Strawberry Icebox Cake No baking is required to pull together this five-ingredient cake. 12 of 21 Buttermilk Pound Cake Southern Living Recipe: Buttermilk Pound Cake If you want to make this cake and don't have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own using 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 cup of milk. 13 of 21 Homemade Yellow Cake Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke Recipe: Homemade Yellow Cake Yellow cake doesn't have to come from a box. You can pull the classic cake together from scratch in just 10 minutes. 14 of 21 Classic Chocolate Pound Cake Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck; Food Styling: Erin Merhar Recipe: Classic Chocolate Pound Cake Chocolate-loving kiddos will adore this decadent pound cake that has no shortage of chocolaty flavor. 15 of 21 Angel Food Cake Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke Recipe: Angel Food Cake A short ingredient list and 10-minute prep time make this cake a cinch to pull together for an afternoon treat. Just make sure to cool the cake upside down to help it come out of the pan without breaking. 16 of 21 Coca Cola Chocolate Cake Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner Recipe: Coca Cola Chocolate Cake You'll find Coca-Cola on the ingredient list for both the cake layers and the fudgy frosting. 17 of 21 Classic Birthday Cake Micah A. Leal Recipe: Classic Birthday Cake This easy take on a confetti birthday cake requires no layering. 18 of 21 Chocolate Bundt Cake Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke Recipe: Chocolate Bundt Cake While we love the look of this chocolate Bundt when served with edible pansy flowers on top, you can definitely serve it without. 19 of 21 Caramel Cake Jennifer Davick Recipe: Caramel Cake Swap it up from vanilla and chocolate by serving this classic caramel cake that requires just 15 minutes of prep time. 20 of 21 Texas Sheet Cake with Fudge Icing Recipe: Texas Sheet Cake with Fudge Icing This rich chocolate cake is covered with fudge icing while it's still warm from the oven. 21 of 21 Lemon-Lime Pound Cake Hector Sanchez; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham Recipe: Lemon-Lime Pound Cake Using a lemon-lime soft drink is the not-so secret ingredient in this simple cake. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit