As a parent, a babies’ first birthday is one of the biggest events in your new families’ life. And this isn’t because your child has turned one and is “expecting” some big extravaganza. Rather, it is because you as a parent have “survived” their first year and all the poop-filled diapers, spit-up, and sleepless nights that goes along with it.
Obviously your child is not going to remember what you did, or didn’t do, to mark this day, and most likely, whoever ends up attending the party won’t really remember much of it either. It’s more about you, as the parent, and how it makes you feel to celebrate your child’s first year. From the outrageous decorations that you spent way too much time in creating/arranging, to the endless amounts of food that will probably only go half eaten, if we as parents feel like we went above and beyond, then it was a success. No matter what anyone else thinks.
And so the same can be said for the infamous “Smash Cake”. Outrageously expensive and destroyed in seconds, it’s generally the “picture” of the whole experience and not the cake itself, that makes for a success. However, for those of us who don’t want our little ones to eat sugar, or other preservative-filled foods, we can often be filled with anxiety over the best ways to capture this special moment, sans a true “Smash Cake”.
Well fortunately, creating your own healthy version of the Smash Cake is much simpler then you could imagine, frosting and all. And it doesn’t have to taste bad either! In fact, I created this version for my son who loved it so much that I still bake him muffins using this exact recipe – which he absolutely demolishes!
Hopefully this will help ease your anxiety leading up to your babies’ first birthday and you can mark this day down as a triumph!
(Disclaimer: these are all my personal feelings regarding my child’s first birthday, and may not be how everyone feels. I am one to put way too much pressure on myself, and probably way too much effort into needless things. With that said, I loved my son’s first birthday party and will most likely do it all again when the next one comes around. At least this time, I’ll know in advance that no matter what happens, it will be a success because I put lots of love into it!)
Healthy Smash Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 large Ripe Bananas
- ½ cup Organic No-sugar-added Applesauce
- 3 Tbsp. Coconut Oil (melted)
- 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ cups Whole Wheat Flour (or Gluten-free Flour)
- ¾ cup Oat Flour (grind rolled oats in blender, then measure)
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Directions:
- Mash the bananas in a medium bowl.
- In a separate large bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, and cinnamon together.
- Add the mashed bananas, applesauce, coconut oil, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated.
- Coat 4 mini tart pans + 6-8 muffin tins (or 2- 8” or 9?round pans) with oil.
- Spread the batter into the bottom of the pans.
- Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness.
- Cool the cakes before frosting. If you used the 8?or 9?pan, then use an overturned smaller bowl to cut out small cake rounds.
- Stack cake rounds on top of each other and let your baby smash away!
No Sugar Coconut Milk Frosting
This made enough frosting for the cake.
Ingredients:
- 1 can Full-fat Coconut Milk
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract (optional)
Directions:
- Put can in refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to use, open can and scoop off the top layer of coconut cream and place in a mixing bowl. Make sure not to shake the can, and avoid getting any of the coconut “water” in your bowl. (You can either drink the coconut water as is, or save for later use in a smoothie, etc.)
- Add the vanilla to the coconut “cream”, if desired.
- Beat the cream on high until desired consistency, approx. 3 minutes.
- Spread on cake, cupcakes, etc.
- Enjoy ?.
