Seeking Recipe for "Healthier" Birthday Cake

Brown rice syrup is a great gluten-free substitute for sugar and can be used in place of sugar in most cake recipes. You can find it at Whole Foods or any other organic/health food store. You can probably find a recipe using brown rice syrup online.

www.vitalita.com has a vegan dessert cookbook in which many of the recipes use brown rice syrup and maple syrup instead of sugar.

Thsi was given to me as a mufin recipe but ive used it for cupcakes. 1 box choc. Cake mix 1 can pumpkin mix and bake. They are super moist and yummy!!!! Great with coffee

When I joined weight watchers I heard about a recipe for cake that I decided to try. You take a cake mix and add a can of soda then cook it normally. I have had great success with white cake and Peach Fresca or Sprite. I have not had as much luck with chocolate with coke. The white cake comes out very moist almost like an angels food cake. I have done this with cupcakes and a bundt pan. I served it at a bridal shower and people raved. They couldn't believe that it was just cake mix and sprite.

Here are 3 I found for my daughter in Feb:

Sugar Free Applesauce and Banana Cake
8oz (2 cups) whole wheat flour
1oz (1/8 cup) wheat germ
1tsp baking soda
6 medium, ripe bananas - mashed
8 fl oz (1 cup) sugar-free applesauce
2-4 fl oz (1/4 to 1/2 cup) soy milk
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.

Wheat Free Basic Cake (also gluten free and egg free)
4oz (1 cup) sorghum flour
2oz (1/2 cup) potato starch
1oz (1/4 cup) tapioca starch
8oz (1 cup) sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
5 tbsp oil
1tsp vanilla extract
8 fl oz (1 cup) water
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C).
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, sugar, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine the orange juice, oil, vanilla extract and water.
Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, stirring well until the mixture is smooth. Grease and flour a 9" cake pan, then pour in the mixture. Bake for around 30 mins, until a sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Wheat Free Birthday Cake - Blackberry Cake (or Blueberries)
4 fl oz (1/2 cup) milk
4oz (1/2 cup) oil
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 apple, peeled and grated
4oz (1/2 cup) fresh blackberries or blueberries
1 lb (4 cups) rice flour
5oz (1 1/4 cups) tapioca flour
6oz (3/4 cup) sugar
2tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C).
Mix all the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another. Combine the contents of the two bowls. Grease and flour a 7" cake pan, then spoon the mixture into the pan. Bake for 20-30 mins, until a sharp knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Sugar Free Frosting with Yogurt and Pineapple
8oz (1 cup) natural organic yogurt
2oz (1/4 cup) crushed pineapple
First, you need to drain both the pineapple and the yogurt.
Draining yogurt takes some time - so you need to start the day before you need the frosting. Once the yogurt is drained, it has quite a firm texture - making it ideal for the job in hand!
To drain yogurt...
Place 4 layers of cheesecloth in a colander and sit the colander on top of a bowl. Pour the yogurt into the colander. Place the colander and bowl in the refrigerator and leave overnight.
To make your sugar free frosting, simply combine the drained yogurt with the drained pineapple, stirring carefully until mixed.

Tofu Sugar Free Frosting
8oz (1 cup) silken tofu
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence
3tbsp pure maple syrup
Using a food processor, whip all the ingredients together until nice and creamy.

*NOTE: I used the second recipe because my daughter had tested allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy AND Soy! :-(
I couldn't find Sorghum flour so I used Garbanzo bean flour. And it was great! Also high in Protein. I did use the yogurt icing, just not on Evie's little piece, and it was good, just drain it as long as you can. I got lots of compliments.

You can get all these weird flours from Whole Foods or the like, I used Bob's Red Mill brand. GOOD LUCK!

Try Cherry Brook Kitchens. They have a web site
www.cherrybrookkitchen.com

They have amazing pre-mixed items and such that you can get to make your life easier! It is all natural and allergy friendly, as well as they have vegitarian and vegan options too!

Hope this helps! Have fun, and congrads on her upcoming birthday!!!

I've been using agave nectar to sweeten things. It's low on the glycemic index and it's sweeter than sugar, so you don't need to use as much. You can purchase it at Kroger, Super Target and health food stores. It's usually near the honey. When baking, I've been using whole wheat or spelt flour and unsweetened dark cocoa powder if I want chocolate flavor. I've started reading Clean Eating and using a lot their recipes and they are very good. I have a recipe for an Orange-Infused Chocolate-Almond Cake from the Clean Eating magazine. If you would like it, send me a message and I'll send it to you. If you don't have a lot of the items on hand, it could be expensive to make. My son is almost six and we've been trying to make more healthier choices too.

R.,

There is a brand of cakes that is sold at Whole Foods called NAMASTE. It is gluten, sugar, ....everything free and they taste really good. You could make the cake and instead of using icing put fresh fruit all over it. Good luck.

B. S.

This isn't super healthy, but it is easy and better than making it the way the box says...

1. buy a box of chocolate cake mix
2. pour the powder cake mix and one can of diet coke in a bowl.
3. stir it up! (No eggs, oil, etc...)
4. pour in cake pan and cook like normal
5. top with sugar free whipped cream and fruit

It really is GREAT!

I am sure there are recipes out there, but in my opinion, why bother, she is going to be ONE!! she can't possibly eat the whole cake by herself, and she may not even want any at all. The fun of the "1st" birthday cake, is watching them dive into it hands face and all, but few actually eat the cake! Try going low sugar on the icing if you feel the need, cuz this is mostly what she will get in her mouth. My son, had to be helped to dive into his cake, didn't eat a bite, but man was there a mess of mushed up cake! My daughter daintily face first licked the icing off, then used her fingers, but again, ate no cake. It is a Kodak moment, and if there has been a healthy meal prior, she probably won't even want it!
Anyway, save the healthy cake for when she turns three, and gets her real appetite!
Just a thought, angel food cake with cool whip frosting might be a way to go? fresh fruit decorations? just a thought!

I don't know if you can make this cake in a regular pan in the oven or not, but in my Saladmaster brand pans I use a saucepan you use on the stove and use 1/2 pkg of chocolate cake mix, 1 egg, a finely chopped medium size potatoe, 1 carrot, and a radish, celery, or some cabbage (anything with moisture and then cook on the stove top for about 10 minutes and frost. It is a GREAT cake. No oil or water. The moisture comes from the veggies. You can't taste the veggies because of the chocolate flavor of the cake.

My daughter's birthday was this weekend. I normally buy organics and eat healthy, but I figured we'd semi-splurge this weekend. I made a white cake from the box and then made my own icing - just whipping cream and blended in some frozen strawberries and their juice. I made my daughter her own little cake and then made larger cakes for the guests. She had some fun playing with it, but didn't eat but a couple of bites.

I would recommend not spending a whole lot of time and money on her cake. I saw the healthy one at Target, but since she doesn't have allergies, I bought the $1.00 cake mix instead of the $4.00 and I'm glad I did.

My two cents. Good luck!

Just an FYI that Albertson's has wonderful cakes and if you purchase a cake for babies first birthday, they make a special little cake that is sugarfree for your baby.

I made my daughter an orange-zucchini muffin instead of cake for her first sugar tasting. The muffin, of course, still has sugar in it, but far less (the orange actually sweetens it). We had a regular cake decorated for all the adults and pictures, but the kids all got "cupcakes" that they loved. They were decorated with low-sugar decorations on top to match the cake, but they each enjoyed a muffin.

And my daughter ate her muffin... she picked off the parts with the frosting, but she ate the muffin. :)

Just a suggestion for a slightly healthier approach.

hey there! our son has food allergies and intolerances gallore, so go a different route with birthday cakes. the first "watermelon cake" we did was my favorite, it was a real showstopper of a display and easy to boot:
the "cake" layers were made from cross sections of watermelons (watermelon circles). the bottom ring was the largest, then a middle ring, then the smallest ring on top. around the edges of each ring and on top i arranged his favorite fruits: blueberries, strawberries, and bananas -- lots of bananas. then arranged whole bananas and strawberries & blueberries around the base. i carved "i'm 2!" into the watermelon rind of the largest layer, stuck 2 candles in a v from the ring above that, and placed a curious george figurine on top. it was a curious george party and the bananas fit right in! our son loved it (wanted to keep eating the fruit instead of opening presents!!), the partygoers thought it was just fantastic, and the pictures turned out beautifully with all the color!

HTH & happy birthday to your little gal!

This till has sugar in it - Do a pan sugar cookie, cut up fresh fruit (peaches, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi's...) and melt a little apricot or apple real fruit preserves and brush the top of fruit. She probably won't eat too much being only one. Happy Birthday.

I dont have a good recipe myself, but I have seen many times that you can substitute natural applesauce for oil, and it even helps sweeten it some. I hope you find the perfect one!! ~A.~

There's a recipe in "What to Expect the First Year" that's decent. I think you could probably find it online. Tastes kind of like something you'd eat for breakfast. I made full-fledged fat/sugar cream cheese frosting to put on the top so the adults might enjoy it! Not many adults went for it, but we had chocolate chip cookies that were distracting them from the cake.

I made my daughter carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for her first birthday earlier this month. I used a recipe from allrecipes.com, and included a can of crushed pineapple. She absolutely loved it (more than the box-mix white cake I made for her birthday party), and actually ate more than I was expecting. And she was way more into the cake than the frosting.

Hi, I am a very healthy eater but I love sweets so I have investigated this. There is a website called hungry girl.com. She makes cakes using a cake mix (from a box) and a can of diet soda. I don't know how you feel about giving your lil' one that but if you don't mind, since it's such a small amount, it is amazing! I make a cake once a week this way and you cannot tell the difference. It is very moist and light.

Some examples are:
Chocolate cake with diet coke/ or coke zero
Strawberry cake with cherry soda
Carrot with diet coke/ coke zero
Vanilla with diet sprite/ zero sprite

You just add one can to the mix and cook it like you would regularly. My whole family loves this.

You can also do Chocolate Angel food cake with a can of pumpkin. It's like brownies.

I dont have any actual recipe suggestions, because I am not a very healthy eating person. My reccommendation is to reconsider your decision. Live a little! Real birthday cake is not going to hurt her! Bite the bullet! It's just one day! It makes for a great home video to see that first taste of sugar! If you go with something healthy though, I guess that is okay too! You must be a great parent to be this concerned about your babies health, there is no wrong decision though, even a healthy "cake".

Whole Foods carries two brands of cake mix ( Target carries the latter) Oetker and Cherrybrook
Both excellent choices

Some healthy suggestions - use unbleached flour, brown sugar instead of white and vegetable dyes for frosting.

I have tried simple pound cake and cup cakes with these ingredients and both turned out pretty good.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!!

I made a banana cake with cream cheese frosting for my daughter this past April. She didn't eat much of it, although she clearly liked what she ate! In fact, many of the party guests liked it better than the chocolate cake I made for them.
I wouldn't stress too much over trying to avoid cake, just go back to your healthy ways the next day. Personally, I wouldn't use a box mix/canned icing because the last time I looked at a regular store, they all had transfats. Ditto with grocery bakeries.
Here is the recipe for the cake I made. (I put it into 4 smaller cake pans I found at Michaels and made 2 different 2 layer cakes). I did not add the nuts due to potential allergies.
Best Ever Banana Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

SERVES 16 , 1 9x13 pan (change servings and units)
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/8 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Frosting
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups icing sugar
Garnish
• chopped walnuts
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 275°.
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Stir in banana mixture.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
11. For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
12. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
13. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
14. Spread on cooled cake.
15. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired.

My mom is wheat and gluten intolerant, so she is constantly trying out new recipes that are wheat and gluten free (so no white flour). If you go to a store like whole foods, market street or central market they all have an isle where they have gluten free foods. They have tons of cake and brownie mixes, and even mixes for frostings. We haven't found one we don't like yet, and we are pretty picky. These are a lot healthier for you than your traditional cakes, and taste good too! The Bob's Redmill cookie mixes are delicious.

Hi R.!

I also try to give my daughter the best foods. I make her baby food and use organic ingredients as much as possible. All that to say, my daughter turns 1 in about a week and a half. I was thinking through the same thing as you about a healthy cake alternative. My sister in law said something to me that I hadn't thought about and my mom agreed with her when I talked to her about it. She said that on their 1st birthday they actually eat very little of the cake. They mostly play in it and get it everywhere. I, too, don't want my daughter exposed to white flour and sugar. After hearing that though, I am reconsidering and doing a basic store bought cake since the chances of her eating much at all are minimal. I have also heard that babies who haven't been exposed to white flour and white sugar don't actually like them at first.

I hope this is helpful to you, and if you still want to make a healthy cake, I hope you find a great recipe! I did consider a recipe out of my Everyday Food Magazine for Honey Banana cupcakes. I would substitute the flour with whole wheat flour. The one concern would be introducing the honey, which you can do at 1 year, but there may be a reaction. If you want the recipe, let me know and I will type it up and send it!

God's Grace to you,

Lisa :)

You could try using a gluten free flour for the cake and maybe use a sugar substitute like Splenda or something. If you search online, you can also find diabetic cake recipes that taste great, but contain very little to no sugar. Also, using low fat whip topping instead of regular frosting would help cut the sugar content a little. I hope this helps!

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/great-recipes.asp?food=no+...

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® cake mix (any non-swirl flavor)
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
30 to 36 flat-bottom ice-cream cones
1 container (12 oz) Betty Crocker® Whipped frosting (any flavor)
Assorted candies and decorations, if desired


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About Concordance™

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Make cake batter as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Fill 12 cones about half full of batter. Stand cones in muffin pan. Refrigerate any leftover batter until ready to fill and bake remaining cones.
2. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick carefully inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Frost with frosting and decorate as desired. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Fill cones about half full. Makes 36 to 40 cupcake cones.

Special Touch
Just for fun, serve these cupcake cones with a slice of ice cream "cake"! Spread softened ice cream in a square or rectangular baking dish. Cover and freeze. Let ice cream stand before serving to soften slightly. Cut "cake" into squares, and serve with cupcakes cones.
Variation
Make a big splash! Tint the frosting blue for water, and use teddy-bear shaped graham crackers for "people". Add gummy candy rings for inner tubes, gum balls for beach balls and striped gum for inflatable floats.

Well, first of all, when you're talking about basic cake....the sugary problems are more in the frosting than the cake itself which counts as starch and fat (although starch breaks down into sugar..cake is similar to eating cheerios or bread just with more fat added)
If you are concerned about health and sugar issues a good choice is angel food cake, cool whip and strawberries....not traditional, but a healthier choice.
If you want a traditional cake you can always make it with applesauce instead of oil, but again that is cutting back on the fat. If it is sugar intake that you are worried about you need to find a different alterantive for the frosting, like a light sprinkle of powdered sugar. I think it's just easier to go for it one day and enjoy, get back on track the next. Good luck with whatever you choose!