7.05.2011

Happy Birthday Cake! - Apple Spice Cake

So... Call me overbearing, call me paranoid, say I denied my child a certain rite of passage, I don't know - but I just didn't feel like loading my child's tummy up with sugar in commemoration of her first birthday.  Who decided that's what you are supposed to do, anyway?

We've done baby led weaning, which has been a-mazing, and I have always made sure to nurse Silver before offering her food since breastmilk or formula is supposed to be the prime source of nutrition for babies until they're one.  That being said, I'd say Silver is about 75-85% breastfed and the rest is made up of snacks of solid food (mainly veggies and fruit).  Since her diet has been fairly limited I thought it might be traumatizing to her tummy to load it up with so much sugar all at once.

And so... The quest went on to find a birthday cake I would be capable of making myself.  WholesomeBabyFood.com had quite a few recommendations, one of which especially stood out to me because it didn't sound too incredibly complicated :)  And there was no sugar or eggs - PERFECT.

I tweaked this recipe a bit:

Apple Spice Cake

1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves (I used Pumpkin Pie Spice because I was out of cloves)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-3/4 cup spelt flour
1 tsp ginger

Mix the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a nonstick 8 x 8-inch baking pan or one sprayed with a non-stick spray, in a 350° F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it tests done.

As with any "non traditional" cake, the batter for this cake will not seem "right" so don't panic!

I used an oversized muffin pan so I reduced the cooking time quite a bit.


For the frosting I mushed up a banana and combined it with some pureed strawberries.  It didn't look too shabby (at least I don't think)!  :)

I sawed off the top of one of the oversized muffins with dental floss and then used a cookie cutter on one of the other muffins to cut out a little flower to put on top.


NOTE:
If this is your first time cooking with molasses (as it was mine) it is kinda stinky and smells like soy sauce.  At first I thought it must be bad or something but then googled and found out this is normal.  :)  I expected it to be sweet smelling...

Things I might have done differently:
I'm thinking I should have remembered to add the chopped dates I had in the fridge.  Might have made a nice addition and made the cake seem sweeter and a little spice-y.  Or I might have left out the cinnamon and just used the Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Either way, it still turned out quite delicious.  And Silver LOVED it.


More on the party to come!  :)

3 comments:

  1. Happy 1st Birthday Silver. The cake looks and sounds really YUMMY to me. Thanks for sharing.
    Smiles, Paula

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  2. Anonymous6.7.11

    The cake was absolutely perfect. What a lucky little baby Silver is. What a party her mama put on!! Love, Maui

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  3. UPDATE:
    this cake froze and thawed back out wonderfully! i might even say it tastes better coming right out of the fridge.

    ReplyDelete