Libby's 1st birthday party is on the 22nd and I want to make cupcakes that are tasty but not too unhealthy. I am thinking something with banana and/or applesauce and maybe carrots, zucchini and/or pumpkin or sweet potato. Then a yogurt/cream cheese frosting.
Do you ladies have any recommendations? I've found some vegan recipes and this one, that I am considering, but I hate to have to try all of these beforehand to make sure they're actually edible for my guests.
https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=141535
Some others I've found:
https://integrativemom.com/recipes/healthy-birthday-cake/
https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=975173
(If I use the last one I need to find an organic devils food cake mix...which I think they have in the natural food section at our local grocery or probably at Whole Foods).
What did/will you ladies do? Libby never has processed food or sweets (other than naturally sweet foods like prunes or sweet potatoes) and I'd prefer to keep it that way, even when celebrating her 1st birthday!
Re: "Healthy" or low(er) sugar cakes for 1st Birthday?
I don't know if this is exactly what you're looking for, but whenever I'm trying to moderate my sugar intake, I go to these message boards (I'm not really a South Beach-er, but they do have excellent recipes for cutting out refined sugar).
These recipes both use Splenda, but you could probably figure out how to substitute honey or simply cut it out altogether if you felt like it:
Healthy Pumpkin Cake (this has applesauce in it as well)
Pumpkin Pecan Bread with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (you could take out the pecans if you don't want nuts)
Since you asked what we're planning on doing, it will probably just be a fab banana cake that I make, which does involve real sugar (but uses less than most cakes because of the bananas).
I'd love the recipe for this, if you don't mind sharing!
Not at all! It's DIVINE. I actually don't really like banana flavored things, but I make an exception for this cake.
I posted it on my blog a while back - here's the link. A bit of an unusual recipe (it's slow cooked and the put in the freezer) but the end result is sooooo worth it. The slow cooking gives it a sort of crunchy, almost caramelized top which I know sounds strange but is unbelievably good.
Oh, and the recipe I posted does still have a fair amount of sugar in it, but I've discovered that you can cut it back a bit if you want (depending on how sweet/non-sweet you like your cakes).
I bake with applesauce a lot, but I also do a lot of chocolate (aka a lot of chocolate in the recipe), which I'm not sure if you're trying to avoid or not? If so, I can share some of those recipes with you (I'd have to type it out...otherwise, I'd just link it already).
Otherwise, I find that with any cake recipe (and cake mixes), you can completely cut out the butter/oil and use applesauce (1-for-1 substitution). Doesn't work as well with cookies though but it still works You'll just end up with cakesters more so than cookies. I usually also halve the sugar too.
this is my all time favorite carrot cake recipe. i believe my mom has made it with half the sugar (i think she used 3/4 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup brown) but i guess you could do a trial run with splenda and see how it tastes?? she also used applesauce instead of the oil and it turned out well.
for Miss A's birthday i ran out of time and did not do a low sugar recipe - just let her splurge
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Thanks Lisa! And want to try your banana cake recipe too. Like you, I am not a big fan of banana-flavored stuff (and candy? Ew.) but I do like banana bread and am intigued by your cake recipe too.
FWIW, I am not against any sugar, I just know I want to make a cake that isn't TOO much sugar (like boxed or conventional or store bought where the icing is PURE sugar!).
I made a banana bread last night that is 1 c. butter, 2 c. sugar, 4 c. flour, 4 eggs and 8 small bananas and it came out SO good and moist that I wondered if I added some sort of cream cheese frosting and baked them in muffin/cupcake pans if it would work for a birthday celebration. It's dark though, so I think it would be more "muffin-y" rather than your cake, which looks so light and "cake-y." I'm gonna try making your recipe but as cupcakes rather than in a cake pan.
That said, we're expecting kids ages 3-6 and I worry that they (and their parents) might be like "WTF kind of birthday cake is this?!" Maybe I should just make Libby a special cupcake/small cake and order a store bought cake?
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
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Here's a recipe for cream cheese frosting that uses Greek Yogurt...
https://www.food.com/recipe/yogurt-cream-cheese-frosting-437720
I am thinking I'll try that with vanilla yogurt...and see if it is birthday cake worthy.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
Don't be fooled! It doesn't look like it, but it's a fairly dense cake.
Let me know how the cupcakes turn out! I've been thinking of doing that for ages but have never gotten around to it. Be careful not to overfill the tins - the cake doesn't rise a huge amount but it does puff up and if it runs over then you lose the delicious crunchy topping (which I discovered when it accidentally happened last time I made it as a cake ).
my plan too and I don't even have the excuse of running out of time (yet).