So the big ONE year birthday was approaching, and I wanted the photo of my baby digging into his cake with frosting all over his face…but I had never fed him anything that wasn’t whole grain or that contained refined sugar, and he’d only had little tastes of dairy and whole eggs.
So how on earth do you make a cake without these things? Does everything you’ve done to give your baby a nutritious, healthy foundation go out the window because it’s his birthday? It doesn’t have to!
Here is a recipe for a healthy, but YUMMY first birthday cake! Best of all, it only contains a few ingredients and is super easy to make.
Cake:
2 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
6 medium, ripe organic bananas – mashed
1 cup organic applesauce (make sure it’s only apples and no sugar added)
1/4 to 1/2 cup organic milk of choice (goat, cow, soy, rice or almond)
Frosting:
8oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup maple syrup
Preheat the oven to 325 deg F (160 deg C).
In a bowl, combine the flour, wheat germ and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce with the mashed bananas and milk.
Pour the applesauce mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Pour into a greased pan and bake for around 1 1/2 hours. The cake is ready when a sharp knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator about 45 minutes before you’re going to use it. Thoroughly whisk together the cream cheese with the maple syrup. Frost the cake as soon as it’s cool, and serve it to your big one year old!
Another bonus: If there are any other kids there, even if they are under one, you can feel good about serving them this cake.
Mmm. Delish! Just made this and ate it in celebration of my daughter’s 1st birthday. She wasn’t so interested in it, but all the adults liked it 🙂
I’m so glad you all liked it!!!
Hi Holly! That recipe looks great. We’re going to be having family over to the house for my son’s first birthday, and I don’t know that I would be able to slip away and ice his cake. Do you think I could ice and refrigerate it ahead of time, or would it be likely to melt/lose shape? Thank you!
I think icing it ahead of time and refrigerating it would be fine- i haven’t tried it that way though, so I can’t be certain! If you do it, please let me know how it turns out!
Hi Holly! I was wondering if breastmilk would be an option for this cake? I want to make this cake for my son’s first birthday but he’s only had breastmilk.
Thank you!
Hi! That’s a great question! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, as long as anyone else who might try the cake doesn’t mind 🙂 let me know how it turns out! And thanks for the idea! Maybe I’ll try that when my baby turns one.
i dont have Wheat Germ is there any substitute?
what size of pan is this recipe for?
I used an 8×8 square pan.