One of the best things about birthday cake is that it brings out everyone’s inner kid: if your cooking is generally of the get-dinner-on-the-table variety, birthday cake is a chance to have a little fun together, and to add some pizzazz to your cooking routine. And sharing birthday cake making with your family is a delicious way to celebrate a birthday together. The secret to keeping it fun is keeping your ideas simple.

The best thing about birthday cake? It’s very forgiving. The truth is that however your cake ends up, once it has candles a-glow and your party-goers are singing, your birthday kid will be thrilled no matter what it looks like. And that’s the true magic of a birthday cake.

Today, we’ve got 15 easy (we promise) decorating ideas for birthday cake that any family can handle together, plus ideas on how to get your kids involved...and at the end of this post, we’ve got a fantastic cake-decoration giveaway for you that’s a cake-walk to enter! (Note: this giveaway has now ended -- but cake is eternal, so please enjoy the rest of this post!)

How to involve your kids:

• First, power everyone up with a snack. Cake baking’s more fun when no one is hangry!
• Review some of our tips for keeping cooking calm and fun (For example: save cooking with kids for when your kitchen’s already in need of a cleanup. You’ll be less stressed about anything that lands on your floor and more able to enjoy the process.)
• Then, divide up your jobs. Smaller kids can dump ingredients you hand them into a bowl. They can also mix and sprinkle—check out the cookie-cutter sprinkle cake idea below, or spatter cake for decorating that’s kindergarten-friendly.
• Older kids can measure and design: cooking is great for honing kids’ math skills, as well as sparking their artistic side.
• Kick off with a great basic frosting recipe, or this surprisingly easy marshmallow fondant.

 
Here are some of the easiest ways to decorate cakes:

• Use cake toppers: a cake topper makes a simple frosted cake instantly exciting. Try plastic animals, pretty birds or learn how to make your own toppers out of chocolate.
• Go messy-on-purpose: a spatter cake lets you ice like Jackson Pollock, and a moon cake is an easy thrill for the would-be astronauts in your life. 
• Cover up: if you’ve got a paper doily and powdered sugar, you can have a gorgeous lace cake in about a minute. Use cookie cutters and fill them with sprinkles for easy shapes, use sprinkles for an embroidered effect or just cover the whole cake in sprinkles.
• Go natural: you can make a naked cake with any kind of flower, or use edible flowers (here’s a helpful list!)
• When in doubt, call in reinforcements: cookies and candy make a cake spectacular. Try this simple blossom cookie cake, or Twizzler flowers...or if your kid is into something a little spookier, these monster eyes (they're also a great base for a Minion cake!)

If you’re feeling fancy, you can use cookies to make a slightly more elaborate cake—try crumbled up cookies for construction cake, cookie towers for a castle cake, or crushed cookies for a garden cake. Or, why not let the kids do the decorating entirely themselves: here's our tutorial on how to throw a cupcake decorating party or a pizza party.

Have we got you wishing for a magical birthday cake? Enter our #CakesAreBetterTogether giveaway! Here’s how:

Share an image of your dream cake with us on Instagram or Facebook by tagging @bettertogetherbc and using the hashtag #CakesAreBetterTogether for a chance to win an amazing cake decorating prize pack, along with a cake plate that dreams are made of. Enter via comment (just tell us about your dream cake) or by sharing images of a cake you love. Contest is open to BC residents only, and all qualifying entries will be entered into a draw to win our prize pack. This contest kicks off on July 10th and the winner will be chosen on July 21st. Make your birthday cake wishes come true!