Smash cakes. Who even came up with this idea? Sometimes I think it's just more pressure on the parents, but I fell for it anyway. It took me a while to come up with a cake recipe that I was comfortable having my 1 year old son eat. I'm one of those moms that does not want my children to eat sugary desserts for a long as possible. Even though I know it's his birthday, and it could be something special, I'd still rather not. That is why I made this cake recipe. It worked out perfect for both him and I.
My husband is Brazilian so I wanted to have a Brazilian themed birthday party for my son. My family is from Oregon and no one has every traveled to Brazil before, besides myself, so I wanted them to be able to experience a little bit of the Brazilian culture.
No not all of the food was vegan. Most of it was not. Of course I had vegan options since myself, my son, and couple other family members are. We had a variety of Brazilian food, from brigadeiros, beijinhos, pão de queijo, pastel de queijo, pastel de palmito, torta de palmito, coxinha, and more. Some were made vegan, and others were not. Luckily my sister-in-law made me some torta de palmito (heart of palm pie) that was vegan. It is my favorite dish! I'll have to share the recipe sometime.
Anyway, everyone loved the food and had a great time celebrating. But back to the cake. I had a hard time coming up with a naturally sweetened frosting for the cake, so I had the thought to use dairy-free yogurt instead. My son absolutely loves all sorts of dairy-free yogurts, and usually has one a day.
Recipe:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dairy-free milk
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 1/2 cup canola oil)
1 Tablespoon apple-cider vinegar or white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 cup raspberries
Frosting:
Dairy-free yogurt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients, 1 3/4 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Do not add the 1 tablespoon of flour, reserve this to add to the raspberries. In a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients; milk, agave, canola oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, and lemon extract. Pour the wet mixture in the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir together until just combined. Do not over mix the batter. Mix together the raspberries with the 1 tablespoon of flour until the raspberries are covered in the flour. Gently fold the raspberries into the batter.
Fill your cupcake wrappers about 3/4 of the way with the batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out dry. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.
It took my son a while before he would eat the cake. Once my husband gave him a taste of the "frosting" he had no problems digging in.
We made a special announcement to our family and friends at the party: Benjamin was going to be a big brother! I was 3 months pregnant at the time of his party.
This was the reaction I got from Benjamin when I showed him the first ultrasound, and told him he would be a big brother....
Don't worry, he's actually a ridiculously good big brother. Always wanting to give him hugs and kisses, and quick to let me know when little brother is crying. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Enjoy your baby friendly smash cake!