Healthy Smash Cake | No Sugar Added

Before I dive into this recipe for a Healthy Smash Cake with no added sugar, I just have to say that I CANNOT believe that my baby girl is officially one!! This has been the fastest and most amazing year ever (even during a global pandemic), and it feels like Marie came into our lives just yesterday while at the same time it feels like she has been with us forever.

Healthy Smash Cake No Sugar Added #firstbirthday #smashcake #tararochfordnutrition

Healthy Smash Cake with No Added Sugar

The recently released Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that children under 2 consume no added sugar in their diets. This is due to the high nutrient and energy needs our little ones have compared to their overall size. That means, we need to get as much nutritious foods into our kiddos as we can while exposing them to a variety of tastes and textures as their preferences develop. This led me to develop this recipe for a Healthy Smash Cake with No Added Sugar.

This cake has a banana-bread flavor, which makes sense considering it is sweetened with bananas! The frosting is homemade whipped cream with a little freeze-dried strawberry powder added for a slight pink hue and subtle strawberry flavor.

Healthy Smash Cake No Sugar Added #firstbirthday #smashcake #tararochfordnutrition

Healthy Smash Cake Ingredients

This cake is very simple to put together and doesn’t require many ingredients. These are all items we regularly have on hand!

Almond flour: This is made from ground almonds. It contains nutritious fats and a little protein, making it more nutrient dense than traditional all-purpose flour. This flour is also naturally gluten free!

Oat flour: Oat flour is made from ground oats (you can easily grind your own in a food processor or high powered blender at home!) and is a whole grain, making it rich in fiber and other nutrients. If you need this to be gluten free, make sure you purchase certified gluten free oats or oat flour.

Bananas: Bananas are naturally sweet when ripe and contain nutrients like potassium, fiber, vitamin B6 and vitamin C. Bananas give this cake a lot of its flavor!

Eggs: Eggs help bind the cake together while also helping it rise. Eggs are rich in nutrients like choline, lutein and zeaxanthin (antioxidants that are beneficial for eye health).

Vanilla extract

Ground cinnamon

Baking powder

Salt: It’s currently recommended that all children limit added sodium, so this cake only contains a small amount of salt.

Healthy Smash Cake No Sugar Added #firstbirthday #smashcake #tararochfordnutrition

Healthy Smash Cake Tips

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  • This cake is made in the blender, which makes it quick and easy to put together and limits the amount of dishes to do.
  • I use 3 small cake pans like these to build a taller (but still small) tiered cake.
  • You can bake this cake one day in advance and frost a few hours before you plan on serving the cake. This will ensure that the cake is completely cool so that the frosting doesn’t melt.
  • To get the tiers to stay together and not slide around while baby is gobbling this cake up, I put a thick straw in the center and cut it down to the same level as the top of the cake.
  • You can frost this cake with plain or flavored whipped cream. I flavored the whipped cream by adding a little bit of freeze-dried strawberries that I pulsed in the food processor to make a powder.
  • If you want to add toppings to the cake, you can add some fresh berries, some freeze-dried fruit powder, or sprinkles. We didn’t add any toppings and Marie loved every bite!
  • I put the cake on a small cake board like this so it was easy to transfer from the cake stand to Marie’s high chair.

Healthy Smash Cake No Sugar Added #firstbirthday #smashcake #tararochfordnutrition

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Healthy Smash Cake No Sugar Added #firstbirthday #smashcake #tararochfordnutrition

Healthy Smash Cake | No Sugar Added


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  • Author: Tara Deal Rochford
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 1 smash cake 1x
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

This Healthy Smash Cake has no added sugar! It’s sweetened with bananas and has a base of almond and oat flour. This smash cake is baby and mom approved!


Ingredients

Scale

For the Cake:

½ cup smashed ripe bananas (about 1 medium banana)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 cup almond flour

½ cup oat flour*

For the Frosting:

¼ cup Freeze dried strawberries (makes about 1 TB powder)

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream


Instructions

For the Cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spritz 3 4-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray of choice. 
  2. In a blender, combine the ripe bananas, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Process until combined.
  3. Next add the almond and oat flour to the blender. Blend and scrape down the sides as necessary.
  4. Pour the batter evenly into the 3 prepared pans and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  5. Allow the cakes to cook for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan. And cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:

  1. While the cake is baking, grind the freeze dried strawberries into a powder by blending in a food processor. 
  2. To make the heavy whipping cream into whipped cream, blend the cold whipping cream with 1 tablespoon of the strawberry powder in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until the mixture forms soft peaks. Don’t blend too long, otherwise you will turn the cream into butter! This takes about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Frost the cake with the strawberry whipped cream and top with desired toppings.

Notes

*To make a 1/2 cup of oat flour, grind a 1/2 cup of oats until they form a flour like consistency in a food processor.

You can make the cake a day in advance.

Because whipped cream needs to be refrigerated, I recommend frosting it as close to the serving time as possible.

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cake

Healthy Smash Cake No Sugar Added #firstbirthday #smashcake #tararochfordnutrition

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  1. Could I use all oat flour or does that not work the same? I am wanting th cake to not be as dense. Baby boy isn’t used to eating large pieces of food and I want watching him smash the cake to be an enjoyable experience. Ha Not stress inducing. Most of the nonsugar added muffins I make are dense and I am sure he will be fine, but still.

    • Hi! Sorry for the delay in response! You can absolutely try it with only oat flour and report back how it turned out. I haven’t tried it that way so can’t guarantee results. Would love to know how it turns out!

    • Hi Sarah! I haven’t tested the recipe this way, so you could absolutely try it but let me know how it turns out. It sounds like it would be tasty! 🙂