Low-Sugar Smash Cake (Egg Free)
I can’t believe it was already over a month ago that we celebrated my niece’s first birthday! School and work have clearly been getting in the way of me keeping up with recipes and blogging. So here we are, better late than never, with the recipe for Margo’s Low-Sugar Smash Cake. If a baby is getting an entire cake to herself, it ought to be healthy and we certainly didn’t want to give her tons of sugar.
This recipe is only sweetened with bananas and applesauce. However, coming up with a sugar-free frosting is a bit more challenging. Instead of my conventional buttercream that consists of pure butter and sugar (delicious, but not even close to nutritious), I did a simple whipped cream. Typically when I make whipped cream, I use heavy cream, vanilla, and a touch of powdered sugar, but this time, I used pure maple syrup instead. If you want to go completely sugar-free, you could omit the syrup as well. It won’t taste very good (I tried it), but Baby probably won’t know the difference, especially if he/she has never had sugar before.
How to Make Low-Sugar Smash Cake
Making this Low-Sugar Smash Cake is very simple. Start by preheating to oven to 350 degrees and grease three 4-inch springform pans with coconut oil. Place a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of each pan. Next, make a flax egg by whisking three tablespoons of hot water with one tablespoon of ground flax seed. Set the mixture aside to set up. It will be somewhat gelatinous when it’s ready. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and sea salt in a large bowl. It may be helpful to sift the ingredients in a mesh strainer to remove any clumps of flour.
Mash the banana and add it to a medium bowl along with the unsweetened applesauce, milk, flax “egg”, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Evenly distribute the batter between the two cake pans and bake for about 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of each one and if it comes out clean, they are done.
Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes before releasing them from the pans and placing them on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Frosting the Cake
When you’re ready to frost your Low-Sugar Smash Cake, remove the layers from the freezer and unwrap. If they formed domes during baking, use a sharp, serrated knife to level them so that they stack nicely.
A Note on Heavy Cream
When working with heavy cream, it’s critical to check the ingredients! Many conventional brands contain extra ingredients such as mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 80, and carrageenan (which can lead to stomach upset and inflammation in some individuals). Thankfully, brands such as Organic Valley don’t use such ingredients. Their regular, pasteurized heavy cream contains nothing but cream. They do have an ultra-pasteurized version that also has gellan gum added as a stabilizer for longer shelf life, but thankfully none of the other ingredients commonly found in cream.
To make the whipped cream frosting, pour the whipped cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (A hand mixer could be used instead.) It’s helpful to chill the bowl and beaters ahead of time. Mix on medium high speed until stiff peaks begin to form. Then add the maple syrup if using. Continue whipping until the cream is thick and fluffy.
Place one cake layer on a 6-inch, round cake board and place it on a turn table or cake stand. Scoop some whipped cream on top and spread it around. Place the next layer on top and scoop on some more whipped cream and repeat with the final layer. Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting around the top and sides of the cake. If desired, fill a piping bag with whipped cream to pipe a boarder around the top an bottom.
Make sure the Low-Sugar Smash Cake stays refrigerated until it’s time for baby to demolish it! Enjoy!
Treats to accompany the Low-Sugar Smash Cake…
Since baby will likely be digging to this cake on his/her own, it might be a good idea to have a more conventional cake at your party. Here are some recipes for cakes that actually contain sugar and will taste a little better than baby’s healthy version.
- Chocolate Cappuccino Cake
- Chai Tea Latte Cake
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake
- Irish Chocolate cupcakes
- Spiced Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Low-Sugar Smash Cake
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- 3 4-inch springform pans
- 1 6-inch round cake board
- Turntable
- Small offset spatula
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 Tbsp hot water
- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour organic
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp Spice House cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Celtic sea salt
- ⅓ cup mashed banana about 1 banana
- ¼ cup +2 Tbs unsweetened applesauce organic
- 1 cup Organic Valley whole milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup Organic Valley heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup optional
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease three 4-inch cake pans with coconut oil or butter. Place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of each pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk the flaxseed with hot water. Set aside and allow it to set up slightly. This will act as an egg.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and sea salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the banana, applesauce, milk, flax "egg", and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
- Evenly distribute the batter between the three cake pans and bake for about 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean when they are ready.
- Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes before releasing them from the pans. Then allow them to cool completely.
Frosting
- Place the bowl of a stand mixer and a whisk attachment in the refrigerator to chill for a few minutes.
- If they cake layers puffed up during baking and have domes, use a sharp, serrated knife to level them so they stack nicely.
- Take the chilling bowl and beater and put them on the mixer. Pour the heavy cream into the bowl and mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks begin to form. Then add the maple syrup if using.
- Continue whipping until the cream is thick and fluffy.
- Place a 6-inch cake board on a turntable and set the first cake layer on top. Scoop some whipped cream on top and spread it around with an offset spatula.
- Place the next cake layer on top and scoop whipped cream on top of that layer as well, followed by the final layer.
- Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting around the top and sides of the cake. If desired, fill a piping bag with whipped cream to pipe a border around the top and bottom.
- Store cake in the refrigerator until it's time let let Baby demolish it!
Delicious!
Thank you!