+1 to Texas sheet cake aka half hour cake. Make in a jelly roll pan not 13x9.

Sally's Baking Addiction has a recipe for a birthday sheet cake that's yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but I agree with the PPs that you can't feed a crowd from a 9x13. Maybe make one of those Texas sheet cakes?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Costco sheet cake.

+1

Really, it’s the only way to go. Splurge on good ice cream to make a splash, if needed.

Anonymous wrote:Costco sheet cake.

+1

The only way a 9x13” pan is going to yield 25-30 dessert servings is if you’re serving something very rich that people only eat in small servings, like fudge. Even two 9x13” pans would only yield fairly small pieces of cake if you tried to get 30 servings out of them, but it’s doable.

Costco sheet cake.

Barefoot Cotnessa Flag cake. You don’t need to decorate it as a flag. It’s bigger than the size you are requesting. 9x13 won’t be anywhere near enough.

I love the chocolate cake recipe that's on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box. It's delicious, not fussy, and uses pantry ingredients. It somehow tastes better after it has a chance to settle for a day or two, so feel free to make ahead. I agree you would need more than one 9x13 for 25-30 people.

Those are very small pieces of cake to feed that many people.
Maybe make cupcakes instead.

What does "birthday cake" recipe mean to you? White with sprinkles/funfetti-esque? Or broader definition?

I'm the Southern Living Cake List lady, so I can recommend a few depending on parameters.

Could you please share your most delicious tasting birthday cake recipe to feed a crowd of 25-30 people. Thanks