Diddy: My Birthday Warm Like ... Hot Apple Pie

Diddy's pals know him well ... they threw the mogul a surprise 46th birthday party Wednesday night and, in true Diddy fashion, plugged the hell out of the new apple-flavored booze he just launched.

Naomi Campbell, LA Reid and Andre Harrell threw the bday bash at Butter in NYC ... and Chris Rock, Ne-Yo, Trey Songz, Tyson Beckford and Maxwell all made the guest list.

The apple theme trickled into the decorations and the desert table, which hilariously spelled out ALL of Diddy's nicknames -- IN HOT APPLE PIES!!!