25 Best Cake Filling Ideas (+ Easy Recipes)

Make your next birthday or anniversary party extra special with these cake filling ideas.

After spending hours making and baking a cake, why not go all out and fill it with something delicious and surprising?

I’m sure everyone will be happy with a layer of regular frosting, but imagine their faces when they bite into your soft, moist cake and get a mouthful of zesty lemon curd.

Trust me, these cake filling ideas and easy recipes will take your cake game from great to out of this world!

Easy and Delicious Cake Fillings

1. Cherry Filling 

This cherry filling is a simple, six-ingredient recipe that takes no time to make and tastes great on everything.

You can add it to cakes, pies, bagels, cookies, and more. 

It has an amazing balance of sweet and tart and a lovely, rich color that looks amazing next to a bright, white cake.

That said, you can’t go wrong with cherry and chocolate cake.

2. Mascarpone Cream

Mascarpone has something special that makes it ideal for pretty much everything, be it sweet or savory.

It’s like cream cheese, just sweeter, less tangy, and much smoother. 

Mix it with heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste for something truly decadent.

The only challenging part will be getting it onto the cake – you’ll be very tempted to eat it all straight from the bowl.

3. Vanilla Custard Cake Filling

Custard isn’t for everyone, but my family adores it.

I love that you can flavor it however you like (with chocolate or dried fruit powder), but this recipe is for good, old-fashioned vanilla. 

It adds a rich, hearty, and somewhat nostalgic vibe to any cake you make. 

4. Raspberry Cake Filling

Ah, ruby red raspberry filling. Who wouldn’t love it?

It’s tart and tangy, full of raspberry goodness, and the texture is thick, sticky, and fantastic. 

Once people discover this filling, they’ll be tearing apart the cake to get to it. So, I suggest adding it to more than one layer! 

5. Strawberry Filling for Cakes Tarts and Desserts

This strawberry filling looks much like the raspberry filling above, and they even have a similar texture.

However, the strawberries give it a much sweeter, more springlike flavor. 

It’s super simple to whip up and shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes. Plus, it tastes fantastic on almost anything.

6. Orange Curd Cake Filling

Add a boost of citrusy flavor to your cakes with this orange curd filling.

It’s bright and tangy and tastes so much better than the word “curd” makes it sound.

If you’ve never made curd before, don’t let it scare you. All you need to remember is that it needs to be stirred constantly.

Keep it moving, and it will thicken in no time. I like to strain mine to make sure no little bits of egg are caught up in the mix.

Then you’ll be left with something incredibly flavorful and velvety-smooth.

7. Lemon Curd

Of course, lemon curd is probably the one you’ve tried before. It’s zippy, bright, and adds a big kick of lip-smacking goodness to your food.

Lemon curd is just as delicious as the recipe above, only brighter, zingier, and way zestier.

I enjoy it most in scones, but it works well in cakes and cupcakes, too.

8. Simple Vanilla Buttercream (American Buttercream Recipe)

I love whipped frosting, but I’m in the minority in my family. Literally everyone else goes for the buttercream.

Admittedly, it is fantastic, especially if you’re looking for something extra decadent.

This stuff is rich, sweet, and oh, so indulgent. And it’s just as good inside the cake as it is on top of it. 

Best of all, you can make it with only four ingredients, and you probably have all of them in your kitchen right now.  

9. Blueberry Curd

Here’s another tart and tangy treat that often gets overlooked because of the “curd curse.”

It has a lovely pinkish-purple color and tastes like pure blueberries.

The creamy texture is wonderful, too. 

10. Classic French Buttercream

As I mentioned earlier, I prefer whipped frosting to buttercream.

It isn’t that I don’t like buttercream; I do. It’s just so overwhelmingly sweet (which is probably why most people love it).

But if you’re like me, you’ll want to try this French buttercream instead. It’s not as sweet but just as light and fluffy. 

It also absorbs flavors well. So if you want to make it chocolate or strawberry, you can.

11. Ermine Frosting

Also known as “boiled milk” frosting, ermine frosting makes a delightful cake filling.

Like French buttercream, it’s light, fluffy, and not overly sweet. In many ways, it’s like whipped cream. 

It’s milky and lightly sweet, and you can use it in so many different ways.

It makes an excellent filling and frosting, of course. However, you can also dip strawberries into it. 

A dollop of ermine even makes drinks taste better! It’s kind of an all-purpose sweet treat.

12. Chocolate Ganache

Where curd might not sound great and can be intimidating, ganache sounds elegant and high-class, and it’s effortless to whip up.

You just need semi-sweet chocolate and heavy whipping cream. Seriously, that’s it!

You can make this with any kind of chocolate, and if you let it set, you can even whip it up to make a terrific and easy frosting that’s pipable!

13. Oreo Cheesecake Filling

Here’s an easy recipe for chocolate cake with an Oreo cheesecake filling. You can use the recipe as is or make the filling for something else.

It’s a sweet, slightly tangy option, as most cream cheese-based fillings are.

It’s also pretty rich, so be aware of that beforehand.

If you’ve ever had no-bake Oreo balls, that’s how this filling tastes. Depending on what cake you add it to, it could be even more decadent.

13. Homemade Marshmallow Fluff

Marshmallow fluff is thick, sticky, gooey, and yummy. Homemade marshmallow fluff is all those things but better.

Something about making it at home gives it an even better consistency.

It’s easy to make, too. It requires only six ingredients and takes 20 minutes to prepare.

It’s pretty high in carbs and calories, though, so make it a rare treat.

14. Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

If it weren’t for the texture, you’d never know there was cream cheese in this filling.

It tastes almost exclusively like coconut, and the smell is to die for.

If you’re looking for a super sweet filling that adds a little tropical flair, look no further. This recipe is the one you’ll need.

15. Chocolate Mousse Cake Filling

Chocolate mousse filling is light, airy, and as smooth as silk.

It’s fluffy and full of chocolatey goodness. However, it’s primarily all about the texture with this one. 

Few fillings (or frostings) feel as soft and light as mousse.

16. Pineapple Filling

Pineapple filling is fruity and fresh with a fun golden color.

It’s sweet but not too sweet and has a tropical tartness that’ll make any cake taste better.

Additionally, you can make it with fresh pineapple or canned pineapple. That makes it easy to find ingredients, even if you don’t live in a pineapple-heavy area.

It works well in fruity cakes (strawberry, raspberry, etc.). However, it tastes surprisingly good in chocolate and vanilla ones, too. 

You could even pair it with the coconut recipe above for something like a piña colada!

17. Bavarian Cream

Bavarian cream isn’t the simplest filling to make. However, it is one of the most rewarding, so it’s time well spent.

Somewhere between custard and frosting, its silky, pudding-like consistency and mild vanilla flavor work well in no-bake desserts. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t bake well (it gets too runny), so avoid it if you’re making a cooked dessert.

18. Baileys Irish Cream Mousse Filling

Thick, creamy, and fantastically light, this mousse filling is another must-try.

It features the warm, rich flavor of Baileys Irish Cream and uses only three ingredients.

It makes an excellent filling, but, to be honest, my favorite use for it is on top of cupcakes – chocolate coffee cupcakes, to be precise.

19. Banana Filling

Banana filling is light, sweet, and tastes just like bananas.

It’s phenomenal smashed between layers of white or strawberry cake mix. And even better in a chocolate chip cake.

You can also use this recipe to make an extra fruity banana cake if you like. After all, there’s no such thing as too much banana!

20. Whipped Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

All this talk of whipped frosting has me craving some, so I dug out this whipped chocolate buttercream recipe. 

It’s fluffy and light, almost cloud-like. It has plenty of chocolate flavor but isn’t super sweet like true buttercream.

It’s probably my favorite chocolate icing recipe. Luckily, it tastes just as good inside a cake as on top of it.

If you’re looking for an extra indulgent treat, dice some strawberries into it, too.

21. Nutella Buttercream and Cake Filling

This nutty, chocolatey cake filling is exceptional. It tastes like eating pure Nutella, but the texture is so much softer.

It’ll melt in your mouth. 

It’s rich and creamy, and you can easily adjust the consistency to your desired level by playing with the cream ratio. 

And believe it or not, it takes just 10 minutes to make five cups of the stuff.

22. Easy Vanilla Cake Filling

Easy vanilla filling is just what it claims to be: easy and packed with vanilla flavor. It uses only four ingredients and is slick and smooth. 

It’s sweet, but the cream cheese cuts through that with a hint of tang.

The recipe’s author compares it to the filling in Costco cakes, which is a pretty accurate description.

23. Passion Fruit Curd

If you want to try curd but aren’t sure it’s worth the effort, make this and get back to me.

After one bite of this creamy, bright yellow passion fruit curd, you’ll never want anything else in a cake again.

It works well on biscuits and toast and tastes great in cupcakes and cakes. It has an exciting, sweetly tart flavor that’s hard to describe. 

You’ll appreciate it if you like bright, fruity flavors.

24. Kahlua Espresso Buttercream

This four-ingredient buttercream tastes like the Baileys one above. However, this one is a bit more chocolatey. 

It takes practically no time or effort to make and is delightfully thick and buttery.

Put it between layers and on top of a chocolate cake and serve it with coffee. 

25. Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting

This thick, fluffy filling is halfway between buttercream and marshmallow fluff. And as you can probably guess, it’s insanely rich. 

It tastes so terrific that you could eat it by itself like ice cream. It also works well for turning a cake, no matter how simple, into something extraordinary.