Friday, September 23, 2016

Mommy Lifesaver - Healthy First Birthday Smash Cake

Mommylicious




First birthdays can be really daunting to plan (at least for first-time moms). Not to mention how challenging it is to come up with the perfect smash cake for the little one. Challenging, I say, because not only will your baby smash it and play with it, but he might also taste it or eat a big chunk of the cake. I wanted my son to have fun with the smash cake but I did not want him to have all the sugar. 

Since the introduction of solid foods, I was so careful not to add salt and sugar to the baby-food. Some babies do not have egg whites up until their birthday cake. And then cow's milk is off the list too. But just as your little munchkin turns one, he is suddenly allowed everything. But we, of course, do not want to introduce them to excessive amounts of sugar, egg whites, (cow's milk) butter and cream together on his first birthday. You would not want to live the whole day in fear of some unknown allergies spoiling your baby's birthday. 



I love the tradition of smash cakes and I feel the birthday cake is a significant part of any birthday party. 

As an advocate of all things healthy, I did not want my son to pounce on a big store-bought sugar-y cake. I wanted to know the ingredients list and have some control over it. So, I did my research and came up with a healthy smash cake idea. It is a delicious 2-tiered cake with simple ingredients. It has very little sugar as it derives its sweetness mostly from fruits like bananas and applesauce. 



Ingredients:

Cake-

1 cup flour (can use wheat flour instead)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 ripe banana
1 apple made into unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup milk (prefreabbly whole)
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (alcohol-free)

Frosting-
4 oz cream cheese
1/8 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:

Cake-


  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • You can use 2 small 4 1/2 inch spring form pans or 1 large 9 inch spring form pan. Grease the cake pans with butter and dust flour on them.  
  • Mix all the dry ingredients like flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
  • In a blender, blend the banana, applesauce, egg yolk, vanilla extract and milk. 
  • Mix the wet and dry ingredients in a bowl using a hand whisk. Do not over-mix. Make sure the batter is free of lumps.
  • Empty the cake mix into the pans.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the center of the cake. 
  • Place the cakes on a cooling rack while you prepare the frosting.


Frosting-


  • Use an electric hand mixture to whisk the cream cheese (room temperature) till it is light and fluffy. You can totally use whipped cream instead. Or add a little whipped cream to the cream cheese. It will all be yummy. 
  • Add the sugar and whisk some more. You can skip the sugar altogether if you want it to be healthier.
  • For fun colors, you can add any berry puree to the frosting like blueberry or strawberry or raspberry. Match it to your party theme. 


Assembly

If you have 2 small cakes you can place one top of the other and place frosting in the middle. If you have one large cake, cut out 2 smaller cakes from it using a glass or bowl. You can even have 2 different sized cakes and make an interesting 2 tier cake.

Put the frosting on all sides and give it the look you desire. Make it as colorful as you want. You can decorate the cake with anything, from sprinkles to fruits to cheerios. Match it up to the theme of the party. Your munchkin will love it anyway. I left my frosting white and added some cheerios and sprinkles. Just make sure you do not add anything that can be a chocking hazard for the baby.   




The ripe banana and the applesauce will make the cake moist, so you will not need to add butter. This healthy smash cake is going be a little dense, not quite like the fluffy store bought cakes. But this smash cake is healthy and yummy. 





We celebrated my son's first birthday last weekend and he just loved this cake so much. He played around with the frosting, munched on the cheerios, and ended up eating the cake like a pro. I guess he gets his sweet-tooth from his mommy!

The preparation time was about 1 hour. Seeing my son's face light up while eating the cake just made me happy beyond words. The experience was so fulfilling and all you want to do for your child is ensure that he is healthy and happy.  




This recipe is totally mommy and baby approved. You must have guessed by now that I love baking, especially for my family. For more simple recipes you can go here or here