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Lifestyle

The Best Birthday Cake Alternatives For Those Without A Sweet Tooth

Birthdays are all about you. So, it’s important to celebrate with those you love and of course the things you love — specifically food. The most notable characteristic of a birthday party is the cake. The norm is obviously a birthday cake, ice cream cake, or cupcakes. But what if you’re not into cake? No judgment, there are moments when you don’t want a funfetti layered dessert, maybe opt for a potato cake instead. Here’s a list of savory and sweet birthday cake alternatives to celebrate with that’s not cake. 

Waffle Cake

For our breakfast lovers, this one’s for you. 

Stick with your favorite waffle recipe and layer your waffles with a bit of filling. Like user @cakelamb on TikTok, you can do your favorite icing (since it’s breakfast, I’d recommend a cream cheese frosting) with strawberries and blueberries for your filling and topping or go the extra mile with a lemon meringue-styled waffle cake.

Pizza Bundt Cake

Why order a pizza, when you can have a pizza cake? I rest my case. 

In a bundt pan, throw in some dough balls (elburritomonster on TikTok uses his own dough and cuts it to form balls, I think premade dough will suffice), pizza sauce, and garlic butter. Slice pepperoni and mozzarella into bite-sized pieces and add into the pan — mix all together, cover, and let the dough rise. After the dough mixture has risen, pop into the oven and bake until desired crispy-ness.

Once done, you have an amazing pull apart pizza cake.

Donut Cake

This is plain and simple. Buy your favorite donuts, stack them, and some candles on top. 

You can also be really fancy and create a donut tower with candies like @richellesfloralcakes on TikTok. Either way, it’s a sugary delight.

Fruit Cake

I bet you’re thinking of the basic holiday cake. Nope, this is all fruit, no cake. 

The best “cake” for this, is watermelon, but I think you can also carve a pineapple if you want a thinner “cake.” Decorate your fruity dessert with strawberries, grapes, and other fruits. 

Potato Cake

Potatoes galore! Not a joke, this cake is a combination of every potato form.

Instagram’s @poppy_cooks uses flattened hashbrowns as her cake and mashed potatoes as her filling and icing. So that it’s not all potato, she adds caramelized onions, bacon, and chives to her filling. I’d say go crazy with this one, there are so many flavors to incorporate from sriracha to multiple cheeses. 

Giselle Medina is the associate editor for Spoon University where she helps oversee food coverage of news, pop culture, trends, and celebrities.

In her free time, Giselle is an avid TV binge-watcher and will never say no to a Real Housewives franchise, but also makes the best chocolate chip muffins (at least that's what her inner circle says). She has a huge sweet tooth and is always on the hunt for a good chocolate chip cookie. Shoot her an email at gisellemedina@hercampus.com.