Birthday cake flavor is an artificial flavor profile which became popular in the 2010s and 2020s for a range of food items. Although birthday cakes come in many flavors, the flavor is meant to mimic white cake with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles, and was influenced by pastry chef confections such as the B'day Cake truffles from Christina Tosi's Milk Bar.
The flavor typically evokes a combination of vanilla, cherry, and almond. To achieve a "creamy" note, food scientists may include chemicals such as delta-lactones, Sulfurol, dimethyl sulfide or ethyl butyrate; the last also imparts an essence of berry. Writing in Slate, Heather Schwedel described the flavor as "so bizarrely artificial that it circles back around to being delightful." Less positively, writer Peg Aloi labeled it "the Axe body spray of food flavoring".
One of the first mass-produced food products labeled as "birthday cake-flavored" was a special edition Oreo cookie produced for the brand's 2012 centennial. Other birthday cake-flavored products include vodka, Cheerios, and ice cream sandwiches.
Notable birthday cake-flavored products
Birthday cake-flavored products from notable brands include: Introduced Product Category Manufacturer Notes References2010America's Birthday Cake ice creamIce creamBaskin-Robbins65th anniversary; revived in 20212012Birthday Cake OreosCookieMondelezLimited edition for 100th anniversary2013Good Humor Birthday Cake BarsIce creamUnilever2014Birthday Cake M&M'sConfectioneryMars Inc.2014Party Cake PeepsConfectioneryJust Born2017Birthday Cake Balm DotcomCosmeticsGlossierCollaboration with Milk Bar20183 Musketeers Birthday CakeCandy barMars Inc.Initially exclusive to Walmart2024Birthday Cake CappuccinoBeverage7-ElevenCelebrating "60 years of coffee"2024Baileys Birthday Cake LiqueurBeverageDiageo2025FatBoy Birthday Cake Sandwich PopsIce creamCasper's Ice Cream100th anniversary2025McFlurrySoft serveMcDonald's30th anniversary of McFlurry; exclusive to Canada2026Birthday Cake CheeriosBreakfast cerealGeneral MillsHonoring the United States Semiquincentennial
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