Baby's 1st Birthday Cake (Healthy & Refined Sugar Free!)

Name: Baby's 1st Birthday Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 85 g Dates (dried); 75 ml Boiling water; 185 g Self raising flour; 115 g Plain wholemeal flour; 1 tsp Cinnamon; 1/2 tsp Baking powder; 2 Eggs (large); 80 ml Vegetable oil; 85 ml Milk; 2 Bananas (mashed); 1 Apple (grated); 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); 200 g Butter; 400 g Full fat cream cheese; 1 tsp Vanilla extract (optional); 4 tbsp Agave nectar (or maple syrup); Berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries) (optional); Freeze dried raspberries (optional)

14/02/2020 by thebakingexplorer 144 Comments

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When my little boy turned one I decided I wanted to make a healthy first birthday cake for him. So I developed this recipe for a Baby's 1st Birthday Cake. It is free from refined sugar, and the sponge is sweetened only with fruit. The cream cheese frosting is sweetened with agave nectar, which is a natural sweetener from the agave plant. It's very much like a banana bread, with a moist and denser texture. At my son's first birthday party both the kids and adults loved it! It's officially a kid approved healthy cake!

Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information

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.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Baby's 1st Birthday Cake

Make the date puree first by soaking the dates in boiling water for 15 minutes, then blending them with a stick blender. In a mixing bowl, add the self raising flour, plain wholemeal flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

In another bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, eggs and milk. To the flour mixture, add mashed bananas, the date puree and the oil/egg mixture.

Then add the grated apple, and divide the mixture between the tins.

Bake the 8" cakes for 40-45 minutes, then do the same for the 6" mixture and bake for 25-30 minutes.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

To make the frosting, mix together the butter and cream cheese, then mix in the vanilla extract and agave nectar. Level off the cakes with a cake leveller or a knife before you stack them.

Spread the frosting onto the first layer of cake, then add the second layer and cover the whole cake in frosting. As you are stacking another cake on top, add dowels for support so the cake doesn't collapse.

Also use a cake board underneath the 6" tier for extra support. Add the 6" tier and cover it in the cream cheese frosting. To decorate the Baby's 1st Birthday Cake, place berries all around the cake, and a 'one' sign of course!

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

Can this cake be made as one tier?

Yes! Check the recipe card at the end of the post, I've separated the ingredients for the 8" and 6" tier so you can easily make only one of them.

Can this cake be made into cupcakes?

I have had several readers make this recipe into cupcake and they have confirmed it worked well! I haven't tried it myself yet, but I'm confident it would work.

Can this cake be made gluten free?

I've not made this cake gluten free, but I'm sure it'd work well with a gluten free flour blend. You may need to add a little bit of extra moisture as gluten free flour can be drier, but this is a very moist cake anyway.

Can this cake be made vegan?

You can replace the eggs for chia or flax eggs if you need the cake to be egg free, and also use a plant milk to make it vegan.

More tips for making Baby's 1st Birthday Cake:

This cake can be frozen without the frosting for up to 3 months. Wrap it up well to prevent freezer burn.
I grated the apple to add it to the cake, you can also finely dice it if you prefer. I used pink lady apple as it's sweeter, but you can use any apple you like.
If you are making this into a two tier cake like I did, you'll need to insert dowels into the bottom tier, and use a cake board between the two tiers. This is essential for maintaining the structure of the cake and will stop it from collapsing.
I used agave nectar to sweeten the frosting, but you could also use maple syrup. Please do not use honey if your baby will eat this cake before they are over 1 year old, or if there will be any younger babies eating it. This is because honey should not be given to babies under the age of one, as it can cause serious illness.
I used a mixture of self raising and wholemeal flour, if you want to use all self raising then omit the baking powder. It isn't recommended that babies have too many whole grains, so I wouldn't recommend making this cake with all wholemeal flour.

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!

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