If you're celebrating someone's birthday overseas, or you simply don't have excellent baking skills, why not send a virtual cake over the internet? They may not taste as good as the real thing, but a virtual birthday cake is a fun way to celebrate a special occasion if you can't get a physical one.

Let's explore the best virtual cake makers on the internet.

Virtual Cake Images and GIFs

If you're not looking for a full birthday greeting, you can send a virtual cake image or GIF. You could attach one to an email, or send it over any messenger app for an easy way to wish someone a happy birthday.

1. NameThatCake

NameThatCake does all the hard work by providing virtual cakes with your recipient's name on it. All you need to do is look through the cakes and pick out the one that matches the special person's name.

NameThatCake achieves this by hunting down and uploading photos of real cakes with names on them. The website claims that every photo they upload is copyright-free, so you need not worry about stealing someone else's photo.

NameThatCake also has cakes for mothers and fathers day, cakes with "I love you" on them, and cakes that have numbers on them for birth years. Once you find a cake you like, you can attach it to an email or even print it off in a letter to a friend.

2. BirthdayCake24

If NameThatCake doesn't have the name you're looking for, why not write your own? BirthdayCake24 gives you a nice selection of cakes to choose from, each with editable text to enter your recipient's name.

Some will allow you to edit the whole message, and some will even let you upload a custom photo to personalize your cake. Just enter what you want to change, then save the result to your PC or share the unique URL that's generated.

BirthdayCake24 also has an excellent selection of GIF images you can customize. Just enter the text you want on the cake, and the website will generate a fully-animated GIF that you can share with your friends. The website also features generators for happy birthday messages and invitations, so it's a useful one-stop-shop for all your celebratory needs.

3. Tenor

Tenor by itself isn't a birthday cake website. It's actually a huge database of GIFs designed for you to pick out and choose the ones you want. However, if you search for birthday cake GIFs, you'll find a lot of images explicitly designed to send to friends or include in a birthday greeting.

Once you find the cake GIF you want to send, click on it, then look for the black "Caption" button at the bottom right. If you click this, you can add a touch of personalization to your GIF before you send it. If you want even more control, try a GIF app to edit or annotate your image.

Happy Birthday Cake e-Cards

Fancy combining a card and a cake into one, easy-to-make package? Then be sure to check out these great e-card websites that let you create a card with a fantastic cake on it.

4. Paperless Post

Paperless Post, as the name suggests, aims to make the art of card-sending totally virtual. For example, it comes complete with a digital envelope that opens up to reveal the card within.

You can use Paperless Post for many different occasions, including setting up a "virtual party." However, they have a great range of birthday cake cards to choose from.

Some of them are free, and some require payment of "coins" to use. You can filter out the paid cards by clicking the "Free" checkbox in the filters on the left. However, Paperless Post will still attempt to charge you for additional elements, which you need to remove before you can get a genuinely free e-card.

5. OpenMe

If you prefer a completely free option, try OpenMe instead. It doesn't have the same style and glamor as Paperless Post, but it does have the advantage of never asking for a price tag.

OpenMe has a few interesting traits that make it shine. For one, OpenMe will actually email you when the recipient opens the card; no more wondering if they've seen it yet! If the recipient loves it, they can use OpenMe to send a thank-you reply back.

OpenMe also supports group signings. If you want to send a special birthday treat, you can "pass" the card around for different people to sign it. That way, you can get one big card with everyone's name in it for a more memorable card.

Of course, if you're only interested in birthday cake-related cards, you can perform a search to find them.

6. Hallmark

If you want the finesse and style that only an official Hallmark card can provide, you'll be pleased to learn that they have their own e-card range too. These include fun little animations that you can preview before you send. This is handy for finding the right card to match your recipient.

You can type your own message, which appears in a clear font. However, if you feel this is too digital for your liking, you can "add handwriting" to the card. This changes the font to some pre-set ones that look like you hand-wrote the card.

If you're bad with well-wishes, you can use Hallmark's expertise to help you out. Using the "Add a Hallmark Sentiment" button, you can select from one of many premade sentences to suit your recipient.

Unfortunately, Hallmark's easy card creator isn't free. They do ask for a $5 monthly membership fee before you can send your creation. As such, this might be best for someone who mails a lot of e-cards, rather than a one-time use.

Making Someone's Birthday Special

Sometimes you won't be able to send a real cake to someone on time. These digital "birthday cakes" aren't the perfect replacement but they are thoughtful enough. Now you know how to create a virtual cake and send it to whoever needs that special cheer.

If you want something more than just a cake, why not try our selection of birthday memes?