Baby's 1st Birthday Cake

A refined sugar free cake sweetened with fruit, covered in cream cheese frosting sweetened with agave nectar. Decorated with fresh berries

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cake

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Servings

Calories 501kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the 6" cake

85 g Dates dried
75 ml Boiling water
185 g Self raising flour
115 g Plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Baking powder
2 Eggs large
80 ml Vegetable oil
85 ml Milk
2 Bananas mashed
1 Apple grated

For the 8" cake

150 g Dates dried
130 ml Boiling water
330 g Self raising flour
200 g Plain wholemeal flour
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking powder
4 Eggs large
140 ml Vegetable oil
150 ml Milk
4 Bananas mashed
2 Apples grated

For the frosting

200 g Butter
400 g Full fat cream cheese
1 tsp Vanilla extract optional
4 tbsp Agave nectar or maple syrup

For decoration

Berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries) optional
Freeze dried raspberries optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

You can make either the 8" or 6" cake first, the instructions are the same for both, or make both cakes at the same time if you have enough oven space!
Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and grease and line two 8" cake tins, and two 6" cake tins (that are at least 2" deep)
Place the dates and boiling water into a bowl and leave them to soak for 15 minutes
Puree the dates and water together using a stick blender or food processor
In a large mixing bowl, weigh out the self raising flour, wholemeal flour, baking powder and cinnamon
In a second mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, vegetable oil, milk and date puree together. Add the mashed bananas and mix in
Add the grated apple and mix in
Pour the banana/egg mixture into the bowl of flour, and mix until combined
Divide the mixture between the tins, using scales for accuracy if you like
Bake the 8" cake for 40-45 minutes or until a thin skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Bake the 6" cake for 25-30 minutes or until a thin skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool fully
To make the cream cheese frosting mix together the butter and cream cheese until combined, then stir in the vanilla extract and agave nectar
Use a cake leveller or a knife to level off the cakes if they have domed at all, or the top of them is not flat
Place the first 8" cake layer onto a cake board, plate or cake stand
Spread cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake, then add the second 8" cake layer and cover the whole cake with the frosting
If you are adding the 6" tier, you will need to support the cake with dowels. This stops the cake from collapsing. Roughly mark out a 6" sized cirle on top of the cake. I usually hover a cake tin over it and mark a dent in the frosting using a butter knife. Then insert three evenly spaced out dowels into the cake, inside the marked circle. You will need to cut the dowels to size
Place the bottom layer of the 6" cake onto a 6" cake board and spread the top with frosting, then add the top layer. Place the whole 6" cake on top of the 8" cake
Cover the entire 6" cake in cream cheese frosting, making sure to cover the join between the tiers
Add berries of your choice. Please note that berries will run their juice into the frosting so don't add the berries if you're not ready to serve the cake yet
Chill in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up the frosting before serving
Store any leftovers in the fridge and eat within 3 days

Video

Notes

Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before you start baking.
The dried dates can be swapped for raisins, sultanas, cranberries or apricots.
If you use self raising wholemeal flour, you can omit the baking powder.
You can swap the wholemeal flour for regular plain flour or self raising flour. If using self raising flour, you can omit the baking powder.
The vegetable oil can be swapped for another oil like sunflower, coconut or canola.
Ripe bananas are best for this cake, as they are the sweetest.
I used regular sized eating apples for this cake. I like the pink lady variety as they are lovely and sweet.
The grated apple can be substituted for a similar fruit like pear or peaches. If you can't grate them, then mash them up or finely chop them.
I recommend using full fat cream cheese for the frosting as it is thicker and will have a better consistency.
I used agave nectar to sweeten the frosting, you could also use maple syrup or coconut nectar. Do NOT use honey if serving to children under one year old!
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition