When it comes to birthday cake, I tend to veer away from classic flavors in search of cakes that remind me of my favorite desserts. The apple crumble cake ($60 for 6 inches) from Cake Monkey is a caramel apple pie in cake form, filled with cider-roasted apples, rich caramel and a buttery crumble in between layers of tender vanilla cake. It’s surrounded in a smooth caramel buttercream that helps coax even more sweetness from the apples. Consider this the birthday cake for pie lovers. Or there’s a chocolate cake layered with both peanut butter and dark chocolate buttercream frostings and marshmallows. If you’re looking for a classic cake, Cake Monkey makes it, including triple berry, carrot and Funfetti. The bakery has a pickup-only location in the San Fernando Valley and a storefront in Fairfax. Both require a 48-hour minimum notice for whole cake orders.

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Karen Hansen’s pastry case overflows with rumkugle, kransecake, kringle and other Denmark specialties, including the Danish, here made traditionally by folding thin layers of pastry with butter 27 times. But as much of a draw as the pastries are, celebrations are really fueled by Hansen’s elegant cakes. They come in options such as apricot chocolate, banana cream, raspberry lemon mousse, and the Othello — a classic Danish birthday cake — but perhaps her most special is the princess cake. Somewhat of a rarity in Los Angeles, this Swedish torte delicately layers chilled vanilla custard with springy sponge cake, sweet-tart house raspberry jam and a crown of fluffy whipped cream, then covers it all in a pistachio-hued marzipan dome. Creamy and singing of almonds and berries, it’s always a crowd-pleaser. Good thing it’s available as an 8-inch round cake ($55) or a 16-by-11-inch sheet cake ($135) to feed a larger party. Need a quick fix? The princess cake — and a few others — are also sold by the slice throughout the day. You’ll sometimes find select whole cakes ready for walk-in purchase, but Copenhagen Pastry requests at least four hours of notice for same-day cake orders.

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With affordable prices, walk-in options and a slew of decorative frosting themes, one of the world’s favorite grocery warehouses is also a birthday-cake stalwart. As with the food court and its famous hot dog, you will need a Costco membership — or a friend with one — in order to purchase a cake, but the hurdle is well worth the reward. Prices range from $17.99 for 10-inch round cakes to $27.99 for half sheet cakes, whether filled with chocolate mousse or vanilla cheesecake mousse. Both flavors are decadent and nostalgic, especially when it comes to the rich, moist chocolate cake with whipped fudge icing. A selection of first-come, first-served cakes can be found daily in the bakery section: some plain, and others with roses, balloons, other frosting art or generic “Happy Birthday” notes. Custom orders can include written messages and names along with themes like candles, bears and rainbows. Orders should be placed at least three days in advance, and can be ordered online through the Costco app or in person via a paper form at the bakery.

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Pastry chef Sasha Piligian — known for pioneering L.A. cakes that represent the vanguard of landscape-meets-Lambeth decorating — just rebranded her micro-bakery as Ena. “Everyone knows me by my Instagram handle (@sashimi1),” said Piligian, who fell into cake making at Gjusta and Sqirl. A recurring summer cake is her olive oil cake ($115) with peach jam, lemon verbena custard and sour honey buttercream. A citrus chiffon has layers of strawberry jam, passion fruit curd and whipped cream. In her signature style, the cakes might be topped with minimal curves of piped frosting, sweet pea blossoms, gradient-colored yellow and orange raspberries and pink-hued finger lime caviar. “I think the cakes are sort of perfectly imperfect, rustic but also delicate, fun and whimsical but also very intentional.” Order cakes online at least one week in advance; pick-up and delivery options available.

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At Flouring the cakes look like works of art. Ube coconut and passion fruit varieties are inlaid with edible purple and yellow flowers, respectively, while some look as though their frosting is made of marble and others are almost a painter’s palette of colorful frosting smears and splotches. They can come layered, tiered or in sheet or cake-bar form. Owner Heather Wong’s cakes are just as delicious as they are beautiful, and they sometimes incorporate her own heritage with Chinese and Mexican flavor, as well as a broader global bent. Some of her signatures ($65-$80 for 5 inches) include the not-too-sweet black sesame crunch, the sweet-salty Italian pistachio, and the sweet ube cake enrobed in a coconut frosting so light in texture that it practically melts on contact with your tongue. Cake bars, mini pavlovas, cookies and select cakes are often available for walk-ins, but Flouring requests at least 72 hours for preordering their signature cakes.

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The century-old bakery in the heart of Little Ethiopia is no longer run by the Hansen family, but its new owners are committed to upholding recipes that generations of Angelenos have come to love. The cake shop ships nationwide on Goldbelly and is a trusted favorite for custom wedding and birthday cakes, with a celebrity clientele that includes the Kardashians, who made the bakery’s signature hand-decorated basket weave design go viral. For something classic, the lemon cake with lemon buttercream ($36 for 6 inches) filling reveals a sunshine-yellow interior that’s densely spongey and rich but not overly sweet. Cupcakes — including bite-sized mini cupcakes — are available if you don’t want to commit to just one flavor.

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Lark Cake Shop is a go-to bakery with birthday cakes in nostalgic homemade flavors: Chocolate mousse, red velvet, berry shortcake, carrot, coconut, Funfetti and icebox cakes are classics that are appealing to everyone — kids and adults alike. Same with the cupcake versions. Lark’s are clean-lined cakes made with local ingredients and decorated with simple flourishes that come across as elegant. (But there are some over-the-top custom options, too.) Its straightforward chocolate cake ($49) with chocolate mousse, whipped cream and ganache is one of the chocolatiest cakes anywhere. There are often whole cakes in the pastry case for anyone looking last-minute. Pick-up and delivery options available.

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Christina Tosi’s flagship L.A. location of her popular NYC-founded bakery blends bold, satisfying flavors with the best parts of your favorite nostalgic desserts, including a chewy, sweet-savory corn cookie inspired by Tosi’s family farm and her grandma’s famous cornbake and the gooey Milk Bar pie with an oat cookie crust. The best-selling birthday cake ($65 for 6 inches) is a gussied-up version of the vanilla confetti cake mix sold at most grocery stores, with three tiers of rainbow-dotted vanilla cake sandwiched between layers of cream cheese frosting, topped with sprinkles and a ring of crumbly birthday cake truffles. It’s also available gluten-free ($78 for 6 inches), along with flavors like quadruple chocolate and carrot-marshmallow with crispy cereal. Cakes are available for same-day pickup and can be delivered if ordered at least 48 hours in advance.

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Strawberry shortcake ($38 for 6 inches) is a popular Japanese dessert praised for its light texture and mild sweetness. It also happens to be the star of the show at this small Japanese bakery in Gardena. It’s a fluffy sponge cake layered with fresh strawberries and light whipped cream, perfectly balanced with a subtle sweetness. You’ll find additional options in the display case at Nagomi Cake House, including a chocolate cream cake topped with berries, a soft souffle cheesecake and a chestnut Mont Blanc, all available for preorder.

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This is the people pleaser. Phoenix Bakery’s now-iconic strawberry-and-whipped-cream cake has been called “L.A.’s most popular cake” for good reason. It’s light, not too sweet, packed with fresh berries and surrounded by a cloud of airy whipped-cream frosting with a border of sliced almonds for crunch. For generations of L.A. kids, including my own, this is the birthday cake. Dreamed up by the late Lun F. Chan as an extravagant expansion of strawberry shortcake, it has a double-layer base of chiffon cake (another L.A. invention). You can order tres leches and other types of cakes at the bakery, founded in 1938 by Chan’s brother, Fung Chow Chan, but nearly everyone comes in for the strawberry cake, which except for holidays is almost always available for walk-ins. And with prices starting at $29.95 for a 6-inch cake that serves five to six people, it’s also one of this city’s most affordable ways to make a birthday special.

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The Cuban bakery founded by Rosa Porto in 1960 has six locations across L.A. and Orange County and ships its refugiagos and empanadas nationwide so its legions of fans can bake the treats at home. In addition to sweet and savory pastries, breads and cookies, Porto’s also offers whole cakes befitting celebrations of all kinds, including a strawberry shortcake rimmed with buttery graham streusel and a tiramisu chiffon cake bordered with a ring of ladyfingers. But for something you won’t get anywhere else, order the Milk N’ Berry cake ($40.75). The sponge cake is thoroughly soaked in Rosa’s tres leches that’s sweetened with a touch of brandy — expect a pool of it to gather at the bottom of the cake around the whipped cream rim. Pour the excess liquid over a scoop of ice cream for maximum results.

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During the pandemic, Hannah Ziskin, already an accomplished pastry chef, realized her latent, savant-level talent for cakes — spiced, fine-crumbed layers stacked with uncanny combinations of mousses, preserves, custards and creams encased in buttercream and crowned with tasteful florals. Her take on domed princess cake is a staple now on the dessert menu at Quarter Sheets. It’s her seasonal creations, though, that qualify for birthday-cake status in my household. Check the restaurant’s website for a monthly changing menu of whole-cake options. You’ll find imaginings like cocoa chiffon with black currant Bavarian cream, blackberry preserves and chocolate cremeux ringed with Okinawan brown sugar buttercream, or olive oil cake tiered coconut custard, strawberry preserves and fresh strawberry custard surrounded by salted coconut buttercream. These beauties are an investment: Costs for a six-inch cake typically run between $120 and $140. For a special occasion, the evident mastery and quality of ingredients merits the splurge.

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Rose Wilde creates “California romantic” cakes in gripping flavors driven by her passion for whole grains and “root to blossom” ingredients: fig leaves, herbs, citrus, berries, stone fruit, honey. Current summer cakes ($135) include brown sugar or chocolate chiffon, and buttermilk, olive oil or pistachio cake, with fillings and frostings such as cherry jam, tomato leaf buttercream and yuzu ganache. Each is decorated in her organic style with fluid Lambeth piping, exuberant florals and the freshest produce. Orders require five days’ notice for pickup Wednesdays through Saturdays. Wilde also offers cake-decorating workshops, which consistently sell out.

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It’s rare to find hyper-customizable plant-based cakes, and rarer still to find them in flavors such as padan and calamansi. But in addition to ensaymadas, stuffed pandesal and coconut-topped cinnamon buns, the entirely vegan San & Wolves Bakeshop offers full cakes. Owners Kym and Arvin Torres prepare nearly every ingredient in-house, including dairy-free condensed milk, so they recommend ordering a cake at least two weeks in advance to guarantee its place in their busy baking schedule. Opt for 6- or 8-inch round two-layer cakes ($50-65), half sheet cakes ($200) or the extremely photogenic heart-shaped cakes ($55), with mix-and-match buttercream and cake flavors such as ube, calamansi, black sesame, pandan, chocolate and vanilla. With ample order-ahead time their cake decorators can deliver custom color palettes, famous characters and gently piped messages.

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