Yesterday my baby girl turned one year old, and I can’t believe it!
One year old already?! How did this happen?
In preparation for Abby’s birthday, I worked two weeks on a smash cake recipe that’s vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, dye-free, and refined sugar-free — and it was no easy task! I’ll admit I almost caved and added eggs and confectioner’s sugar, but I was determined to start Abby’s second year of life on the right foot.
Some of you may be thinking I’m being too strict and should let Abby have a typical birthday cake, but I don’t want to give her extremely sweet desserts this early in life because taste buds change depending on their flavor exposure. I want Abby to start off liking fruits and vegetables, not craving sweets and refined flour. But no judgments here — if you want to give your baby the real deal, go for it!
I will say, however, that even though this cake is more dense and moist than cakes containing oil, the flavor is pretty fabulous. I used strawberry puree instead of the oil and saved some of the strawberry juice for the icing, which gives this cake its natural strawberry flavor. To make the cashew icing pink, I added a few drops of beet juice to the blender, and I decorated the top of the cake with powdered freeze-dried strawberries sprinkled over a stencil.
This cake is slightly sweetened with coconut sugar and maple syrup, but if you are making this cake to serve to adults, you could easily increase the amount of maple syrup or agave in the icing to sweeten it more. Also, if you’re not avoiding oil, I recommend substituting half of the strawberry puree in the cake with canola oil. Including oil gives the cake a lighter crumb and softer texture. I figured Abby wouldn’t be too picky, so I left out the oil for her smash cake 🙂
I found a set of 3 4.5-inch diameter cake pans at Harris Teeter, which was perfect for my mini smash cake. You could also pour all of the batter into an 8-inch pan or double the recipe for a larger cake or 12 cupcakes. The icing recipe makes more than you need for the smash cake, but the leftovers make a great fruit dip!
I used a plain white version of the cashew icing between the cake layers because I had some left over from a previous recipe, but you will have plenty of strawberry icing for the whole cake if that’s what you want to use. Be sure to plan ahead though, because the icing spreads the best when allowed to set in the fridge for a few hours. Also, serve within one or two hours of icing the cake, because the icing tends to darken in color over time.
- ¾ cup raw cashews, soaked in warm water 2+ hours
- 1 T. strawberry puree/juice (blended from thawed frozen organic strawberries)
- 1½ t. lemon juice
- ½ t. vanilla extract
- 2-3 T. pure maple syrup or agave
- 5-7 drops beet juice, or a few beet slivers
- ¼ cup nondairy milk
- Pinch sea salt
- ------------------------------------
- ¾ cup oat flour (You can make your own by blending quick oats in a food processor, but I used Bob's Red Mill)
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 1 t. baking powder
- ¼ t. sea salt
- ½ cup strawberry puree (blend thawed frozen organic strawberries, drained)
- 1½ t. vanilla extract
- ¼ c + 2 T. nondairy milk
- First, make the strawberry icing: blend the first 8 ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Taste and add more sweetener or beet juice, if desired. Transfer to a small air-tight container and place in the fridge to thicken.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 4.5-inch cake pans or one 8-inch cake pan with coconut oil.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another small bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry, and combine until a fairly smooth batter forms.
- Divide batter among cake pans and bake 20-22 mins. Allow cakes to cool in their pans about 15 mins, then invert onto a sheet of wax paper or a clean baking sheet.
- When cakes are completely cool and icing has thickened (this may take 2-3 hours), transfer one cake to serving plate and ice top, stack next cake on top of that, and repeat. Finally, ice entire 3-layered cake.
- If desired, crush a freeze-dried strawberry into a powder and sprinkle it over number stencil to decorate your cake.
- Serve immediately, or keep in an air-tight container in the fridge up to 3 days. To keep the icing looking fresh, however, do not ice the cake until within about 2 hours of serving.
This cake is so moist and delicious, your guests (or kids) won’t know it’s actually good for them! I made the smash cake for Abby, then doubled the recipe and replaced half of the strawberry puree with canola oil to make one dozen cupcakes for my guests. I topped each cupcake with a strawberry quarter for decoration, and everyone really liked the recipe . . .
especially the birthday girl!
She was confused at first!
She liked it so much, she cried when Daddy started to take it away!
She even fed some to me 🙂
Happy Birthday, sweet girl!
This looks great! Do you think I could sub blueberries for the strawberries! I have a little boy. 🙂
Yes, that’s a great idea! Please let me know how it turns out!
Hi Erin… just wondering if you used blueberries instead of strawberries? I was thinking of doing the same thing and was wondering how it came out
I haven’t tried blueberries, but I would expect it to turn out! Thinking about trying it for my son’s first birthday.
I’m going to try applesauce in place of the fruit puree…
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you! Fruit puree and applesauce should give you similar results. Keep in mind that since the cake lacks oil and eggs, it will be more dense and a little gooey rather than light and fluffy. My daughter loved it though, and I felt good about giving it to her. I hope you were able to make it work!
something must be missing from this cake recipe? completly flat 🙁
what the heck are t and T?! Abbreviations in recipes are so annoying.
Lowercase t = teaspoon, uppercase T = Tablespoon. Sorry for the confusion!
Is there any substitute for the cashews?
The first thing I would try is coconut cream. I’ve also had success making cream cheese frostings out of the vegan versions that are out there (Kite Hill is my favorite), but that’s also nut-based.
I’m interested in trying this recipe out! Can you use breastmilk in this recipe if serving it just to baby?
I don’t see why you couldn’t! I’ve never cooked with breast milk, but it’s a great idea for baby in terms of nutrition. Let me know how it turns out!
Thank you for coming up with this great recipe! I’m going to try it for my son’s birthday cake. He’s allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs and bananas and it’s been challenging to find a recipe for his 1st cake!
Thank you for this recipe!
I’ve made this 2 Times and it was so apreciate by The Kids and adults too.
IT is so delicious! 💚
So glad to hear it! I have a 7-month-old, and I’m definitely going to make it again for his 1st birthday, even though it’s pink 🙂
Do you think I could make everything the night before and put in the refrigerator? Then just ice the cupcakes the day of… or should I just do it the morning of the party?
I would think you could make the cake and icing the night before like you could with any other cake. I don’t see how that would be a problem. 🙂
I’m wondering if I can use almonds instead of cashews?
Almonds can’t usually be subbed for cashews because they aren’t as creamy when blended. You could try making an icing out of coconut cream if you’re trying to avoid cashews.
Hi there, did you ever end up trying this recipe with blueberries? I was thinking to make the strawberry cake but then sub the strawberries with blueberries for the icing since I have a little boy. Let me know, thanks!
I haven’t tried blueberries yet, but I’d think they would work! I’m actually working on a chocolate smash cake with an avocado icing for my son. So far the test cakes have been great! Now I just need to type up the blog post.
Hello is there anything to substitute with nondairy milk and coconut sugar I m trying to avoid this things when making with cake?
Any kind of milk should work, and granulated sugar, maple sugar, erythritol, or any other granulated sugar substitute should work as well. No guarantees though, because I haven’t tried them!
This smash cake was a hit! I don’t own small cake pans so made it in a load pan thinking I could cut it in half and layer it…only 1/2” thick so ended up making a second round and doubling it. Flavor of both cake and icing were fantastic!
Great! I’m so glad it turned out well! Thanks for posting 🙂
did this recipe for my babys smash cake. not the frosting. turned out really well.
Great! Glad to hear it! 🙂
can’t find coconut cream anywhere only coconut milk! trying to sub cashews I couldn’t find those either omg OR BEETS! 😢
Oh no! If you have full-fat coconut milk, you can chill it in the fridge, then use the top half of the can (the coconut cream rises to the top).
Would coconut oil or rice bran oil work instead of Canola oil? I’m not a fan of Canola oil
There’s actually no oil in my recipe, except I used coconut oil to grease the cake pans. I agree with you about canola oil!
I’d love to try this cake however my son is fine with eggs, could I add one or two to get a more traditional cake texture? Would I reduce the fruit puree? Thank you!
Sure, you could try it! I’d reduce the puree and add the milk slowly until you get the right consistency. Good luck!
Is the beet juice necessary or just for color
It’s just for color — totally optional!
Do the strawberries have to be frozen, or can you simply puree fresh organic strawberry? What is the purpose of using frozen?
The frozen strawberries release more of their juices because the freezing process breaks many of the plant cells and concentrates the strawberry flavor. You could certainly use fresh, but you may need to add more liquid depending on the juiciness of your berries.