So I am doing a one year birthday cake and smash cake and was looking for a "healthier" cake and possibly a "healthier" frosting. Any ideas?

Also, any ideas for a 1st birthday girl? They are not doing a big party since she won't remember it anyway but still wanted a cake. Her birthday is at the end of January so I am not sure what to do, she is pretty much leaving it up to me.

Hmmm...that's a toughie to find a "healthy" cake. Maybe you could try carrot cake or an apple cake made with applesauce in place of some of the oil. Or...a cake with pumpkin (that makes a cake moist and you could also use less oil).

HTH

Hmm when I think "healthy cake" I think of Carrot cake, it has veggies in it...lol
I'm not much help being the anti health food freak that I am.

As far as the ideas go, check out the party supply store/web site for 1st birthdays, that will give you some ideas for themes and decor for the cake.
http://www.partycity.com/category/birthday+parties/1st+birthday.do
http://www.kidspartyfun.com/pages/themes/1stbirthday.html
http://www.birthdaydirect.com/1st-birthday-party-supplies-c-33.html

I love matching cakes to the party decor, it gives you a lot of inspiration to work with.

Dude, it's cake. It's unhealthy. That's why you're not supposed to eat it every day and why a serving is not a huge wedge. It's not going to make your kids fat to eat a small piece of birthday cake on special occasions. If they ate it every day, yeah, it might.

I follow the good old fashioned food pyramid, of course I've made a few adjustments, I switched the salt to the bottom, did away with the veggies, added a pie section (for fruit of course) and sub'd coffee for the bread.

I almost always replace the oil with applesauce. Just note that it makes the cake a little bit more crumbly, but it make it way less heavy in the stomach. I personally love boxed devil's food cake. It's not as rich as milk chocolate, the applesauce works great with it, and since it's not so rich, the frosting and fondant balance it out nicely.

As for frosting, I don't think it can get much healthier. =( But if you want to do something, I would suggest to avoid shortenings with and without transfats and stick to recipes with real butter. Butter is a medium chain fatty acid and so is much healthier than shortening and regular vegetable oil, which are short chain fatty acids.

But true... birthday cake is usually not ever thought of as "healthy". Even if you use the most unhealthy stuff, the kid should be fine. (As long as the parents don't let her eat too much.) =)

I also suggest a theme she might recognize. A favorite toy? A shape she recognizes? An animal she knows. Something that she'll know what it is. Or something on the cake she'll recognize. =)

Good luck and HTH.

Maybe a ganache will be healthier than butter? Don't know, will be trying it for the first time this week.I'm just thinking about eliminating the fats and sugar, this is chocolate and cream instead. (antioxidants and milk, what could be better?)

Thanks for all the help! She actually found a recipe (I will paste it at the end) for me to use and said she is okay with buttercream frosting. I will be doing a "Goodnight Moon" theme, maybe half black and white and half vibrant primary colors with things from the book. Hopefully all goes well!

8oz (2 cups) whole wheat flour
1 tbsp 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.

That cake is going to be NASTY. Sorry, but just reading the ingredients I can tell you that it's gonna taste like a bran muffin and likely be very dense. YUCK!

I agree with pterrell. If the mom insists you use the recipe, you might have to doctor it up a little. The bananas will add some flavor and moisture but I'd add some vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste to make it taste better. I'd also use regular apple sauce. Grant it...it is smash cake so the baby propbably won't eat that much of it so using regular applesauce won't hurt her (I'd get clearance from mom first on this one, though).

HTH

Oh...where are the eggs in the recipe

Can't we come up with a better name for wheat germ, it sounds like something I would need antibiotics for..lol

That's funny about the wheat germ. . .

The problem with this cake is that I have to buy ALL those ingredients because I don't have any of them and probably won't use them again. . .

Don't I want it to be a little dense because I will be carving it into a moon shape?

I won't be eating the cake and she won't be eating the cake and I think the baby is used to food like that. I will be using cream cheese icing so maybe that will help?!

Thanks so much for the help and advice. . .

If I had my choice for the food pyramid it would consist of chocolate, veggies (I know!), cake, and dessert!

LOVE the goodnight moon theme idea. Wish I'd thought of it - my kids love(d) that book. What are you doing? Window scene with stars & moon would be very neat!
I made a cake (for my son's 1st birthday for daycare) very similar to the recipe the Mom gave you. Adults wouldn't enjoy it, but the kids aren't exposed to very much sugar in their first year (a good thing, I'd say!) so it's just perfect for them...

What about not doing "cake" how about banana bread? You can cut the sugar alot and you can use a wheat flour. Not really expensive to make... It is usually really dense so I think if you let it cool and maybe refridgerate it you can totally carve it. A cream cheese frosting sounds good with it...what cha think? good luck... happy caking

All I can say is ... ew

Ok, not all I can say - but at least like you said nobody but baby will be eating it!! - and she doesn't care! Have fun making it though - the cake may not taste good but it can look awesome!

My DH's aunt makes a cake with a recipe similar to this and brings it to all the family gatherings. She frosts it with some kind of "healthy" peanut butter frosting. It is, um, can I say it nicely? Guess not. It's BAD.

This aunt won't let her kids eat anything that she considers unhealthy. Funny thing is, whenever they're out of the house, they're snarfing any sugary thing down they can get their hands on. They eat way more sugar than my own kids who are constantly surrounded by cake.