Healthy Smash Cake for Baby’s 1st Birthday

This simple smash cake is made with wholesome ingredients and sweetened with fruits only. It can be dressed up with Greek yogurt frosting for a baby’s 1st birthday, or served without for an easy and nutritious everyday treat.

Hello and happy 2022! I hope everyone has been safe, healthy, and happy this past year. It’s been a *minute* since I last posted, so here’s a quick recap of what’s been going on: I had a baby, and life got busy 😅. Obviously, there’s a lot more that could be said, but I’ll keep it simple since apparently nobody wants to read about personal stories on blogs anymore!

I’m super excited to share this recipe because this cake is like nothing I’ve made before. It contains no butter, oil, and refined sugars, instead, it’s made with wholesome ingredients and sweetened using fruits only. Even so, the texture is soft, moist, and fluffy, like a “real” cake!

I created this recipe for my kid’s 1st birthday, but babies and toddlers can enjoy this too (good for ages 6 months and up). For non-celebratory occasions, you can skip the frosting and have it as a snack or for breakfast along with some fruit and/or protein. I’m also going to put it out there and say that this recipe is adult friendly too–especially for those who don’t have a sweet tooth. I’m not saying that I’d like this to be my next birthday cake, but I’ve been eating a few slices alongside my daughter, and honestly, with a little jam or apple butter, it’s quite nice. (And if you make it with bananas instead of pumpkin purée you don’t even need the additional toppings. More on this substitute below.)

KEY INGREDIENTS

Barley + all purpose flours– for the most part, I try to feed my baby 100% whole grain foods since they’re more nutritious and filling, but since this is a “cake,” I used a combination of barley and all purpose flours to avoid something that was super dense and stodgy. I used barley flour because I had it in my pantry (and wanted to use it up), but it can easily be substituted with whole wheat flour or even all purpose flour.

Greek yogurt– in the absence of butter, Greek yogurt helps create a tender and moist crumb. Remember to use full fat or 2% (I prefer the former), otherwise, the resulting texture will not be the same.

Applesauce– is also used to create a light and fluffy texture, while also giving the cake a little sweetness.

Pumpkin purée– make sure to use 100% pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix which contains added sugar. If you don’t like pumpkin or can’t find it at the store, it can be substituted with an equal amount of pure butternut squash purée or 1 cup of mashed ripe bananas. I’ve made this recipe with all three options and they’ve all turned out great. Keep in mind that pumpkin and butternut squash are naturally much less sweet than ripe bananas. Use the latter if you want your cake to taste sweeter.

Heavy cream & Greek yogurt– the frosting is made by whipping heavy cream and Greek yogurt together without any sugar. The end result is a tangy, cream cheese-like topping. The Greek yogurt also helps keep the frosting stable and firm at room temperature.

BAKING & DECOR STEPS

One bowl– pre-baby, I wanted to do everything from scratch, use every technique and additional step to make my recipes as pristine as possible. Post-baby I’m all about making things quickly and easily. So this recipe uses one bowl for the cake batter, and one bowl for the frosting.

Cake ingredients at room temperature (or not)– if you have the time (and mind space) to bring all your ingredients to room temperature, that’s awesome. But if you can’t that’s ok. It doesn’t make a huge difference, especially to a baby.

Frosting ingredients, straight from the fridge– the heavy cream and Greek yogurt are best whipped straight from the fridge. If they’re at room temperature, it’ll take forever to whip to stiff peaks.

Baking tin/pan– I recommend using an 8 inch round tin or a quarter sheet pan to bake this cake. If you don’t have either of those, a 9 inch round pan, an 8 inch square cake pan, a 9 inch square pan, or muffin tins should work–just make sure to adjust the baking time accordingly. That being said, baking the cake in a quarter sheet pan results in the best texture in my opinion (meaning the lightest and fluffiest of them all).

Presentation– If you use an 8 inch round tin, you could simply swoop the frosting on the top for a naked cake look. Or if you want to make a mini layered cake like me, use a round cookie cutter to cut out two circles from the bake. If you want more than two layers, I suggest you bake the cake in a quarter sheet pan. Each layer will be thinner, but you’ll be able to cut out more rounds.

Make ahead– the cake layers can be made ahead. Wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The frosting can be made a day in advance and kept in an airtight container in the fridge.

My little one had such a great time digging into this cake at her birthday party. I hope your baby enjoys this recipe as much as mine! Happy baking!

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