生日蛋糕为一种常见的蛋糕。常见的生日蛋糕为黑森林蛋糕、巧克力蛋糕等，用于庆祝生日。中国某些地区传统上会用寿桃包庆祝生日。

在古希腊，人们都信奉月亮女神阿耳忒弥斯。在她的一年一度的生日庆典上，人们总要在祭坛上供入蜂蜜饼和很多点亮着的蜡烛形成一片神圣的气氛，经示他们对月亮女神的特殊的崇敬之情。

后来，随着时间的推移，由于疼爱孩子，古希腊人在庆祝他们的孩子的生日时，也总爱在餐桌上摆上糕饼等物，而且加进一项新的活动，吹灭这些燃亮的蜡烛。他们相信燃亮着的蜡烛具有神秘的力量，如果这时让过生日的孩子在心中许下一个愿望，然后一口气吹灭所有蜡烛的话，那么这个孩子的美好愿望就一定能够实现。

The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthday celebrations in western European countries since the middle of the 19th century, which extended to Western culture. Certain rites and traditions, such as singing of birthday songs, associated with birthday cakes are common to many Western cultures. The Western tradition of adding lit candles to the top of a birthday cake originates in 18th-century Germany. However, the intertwining of cakes and birthday celebrations stretches back to the ancient Romans. The development of the birthday cake has followed the development of culinary and confectionery advancement. While throughout most of Western history, these elaborate cakes in general were the privilege of the wealthy, birthday cakes are nowadays common to most Western birthday celebrations. Around the world many variations of the birthday cake, or rather the birthday pastry and sweets, exist. There is no universal rule about the shape and color of a birthday cake – in recent years for example cakes take the form of animals or have high-quality drawings on them in order to fit the party theme. In India the most popular cake is Black Forest Cakes.