Guess whose birthday is just under a month away? Hard to believe, but this little girl is turning 3.
Last year, after two major healthy-cake failures, at the last minute I caved in and made a boxed cake for her birthday. I was out of time and desperate.
When I looked at the ingredients on the box, I was sick to my stomach and vowed to make her a healthier cake for her next birthday (and all future birthdays).
Boxed cake mixes are filled with ingredients you don’t want your child ingesting: preservatives galore, hydrogenated oils (trans fat), neurologically damaging artificial colors and flavors, and more sugar than flour. Oh, and of course the flour is white, bleached flour.
Oh, but those boxed cake mixes are moist. So easy to perfect. So very tempting. But not worth it. Keep your mind focused on what’s important here, friends.
Homemade cakes are intimidating. I’m not a baker by trade. I don’t have years of standing in a grandmother’s kitchen watching and learning the art of baking. But what I do have is determination, the will to learn, and a passion for feeding my family the healthiest, most nourishing foods I can.
This old dog is willing to learn new tricks, so I turned to my trusty old friend, The Joy of Cooking. It’s my go-to cookbook when I need to learn technique.
I studied the cake section like a student hell-bent on getting an A. I wasn’t going to give up until I understood the basic components of making a cake. Then I’d worry about the healthy part.
Once I was thoroughly confused, but ready to try a cake from scratch, I started developing a recipe.
In case you aren’t convinced, here are the benefits of making your own healthy cake from scratch:
- No artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, refined white sugar, or trans fats like the boxed cakes.
- You can avoid white flour in favor of a whole grain flour.
- You can greatly reduce the amount of sugar.
- You have the ability to use organic, cultured butter (and use less of it).
- You can use high-quality, farm-fresh eggs. (I get my eggs from this farm. I highly recommend finding a local farm for much more nutritious eggs)
All of these things add up to a much healthier birthday cake than the standard. But is it possible to include all of these components and still have moist cake that tastes good?
After last year’s healthy-cake disasters, I had no idea. Now I know the answer is yes. This cake is moist and delicious!
I knew I was going to go for a banana cake as using bananas is a great way to naturally sweeten baked goods and reduce the amount of sugar used. I added chocolate chunks because Meghan loves chocolate.
I think this cake would be great with chocolate frosting, but I wanted to use strawberry because a pink cake matches the theme of her birthday party better. Priorities, right? It works nicely–like a banana split!
I know this post is getting lengthy with explanation, so let me get right to the recipe.
A Healthier Birthday Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
This is a whole grain, lower sugar, healthier-than-most cake that is great for healthy birthday celebrations!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, sifted (if you can’t find ww pastry flour, substitute 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, unbleached flour)
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), room temperature
- 1/2 cup Sucanat
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large ripe bananas, mashed (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt (I used whole milk, but low fat or non fat would work, too)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
For the Strawberry Frosting
- 8 ounces organic cream cheese (dairy or non-dairy)
- 1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed, with a little bit of the liquid
- 40 drops liquid vanilla stevia, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9 X 1.5 ” round cake pans by lining the bottom with parchment paper or lightly greasing and flouring. {I used parchment paper and think it is the easiest method! The cake pops right out of the pan.}
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, beat the butter on high until it is smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add in the Sucanat, beating on high another 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla together. Add them to the butter and sugar, beating until they are combined.
- To your wet ingredients, add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until combined. Now add 1/2 of the mashed banana and beat until combined. Keep alternating flour and banana until they are all mixed in. Then, add the yogurt and again beat until combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks. The mixture will seem thick.
- Transfer 1/2 the mixture to one prepared cake pan and the other half to the other. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow cakes to cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pan and allow to cool on the racks completely. {If you used parchment paper, first use a knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan, then invert the cake onto the rack. Pull off the parchment paper and you are in business!}
To Make the Frosting
- In a food processor, pulse the strawberries until you have a smooth puree. Add the cream cheese and sweetener and pulse until combined and the frosting is a spreadable consistency.
Notes
- You can use maple syrup or honey in place of the stevia in the frosting. Just add a small amount and taste as you go. The frosting will be a bit thinner, but still delicious.
- Prep Time: 35
- Cook Time: 30
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 18
- Sodium: 274
- Fat: 19
- Carbohydrates: 42
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 5
Help! I am making this cake today for my LO’s celebration….
Could I use regular organic sugar? If so, how much would you think (since it’s a different consistency than Sucanat)?
Thank you!
I usually sub sucanat 1:1 for regular sugar, so I’m guessing it would be the same amount. I’m sorry if I got to this comment too late–we’re on vacation currently. 🙂
So true!! It’s been so exciting for me to discover during these past 2 years food blogging that so many of the younger moms are getting wise to “processed” food and turning the tide. I love it!! 🙂
Here’s to REAL food!! It tastes SO much better!
It makes me sad when people make boxed cake mix cakes and call them homemade…unfortunately it is usually the cheapest and quickest “answer” for busy moms…
I am hosting a birthday dinner for my sister and brother-in-law on Monday, and I am thinking this might be the perfect addition to the menu! I’m pretty sure my brother-in-law won’t mind the pink once he tastes it!
A+! I can´t believe what nutritious ingredients and little sugar you used in your recipe. And it looks so moist! When my daughter turned 2 I made a Swedish strawberry pancake cake without any sugar which I thought would be the only cake ever served in my household but next time I´m giving yours a go. 🙂
oh I want that now. Wish I could have it at your kitchen table.
🙂
I wish you could, too! 🙂
i just read your post about artificial colors and the effects it has on children and it really is an eye opener for those who have no idea that food can cause those issues. that cake sounds soo good 🙂 i love making homemade cakes!
wow that frosting looks incredible! what a super mom!
That cake looks awesome! I love the strawberry frosting 😀 I bet it tastes great too. That’s the thing about real food. Bananas and strawberries taste good together, boxed mixes that aren’t supposed to go together are probably gross together, haha. Meghan’s very lucky to have a mom that cares so much about what goes into her body. Really, no one seems to care anymore and it’s so important 🙁 The timing on your post was awesome. My sons birthday was actually yesterday! I’m sure I’d love this cake any time of year though 😀
Happy birthday to your little guy! 🙂
I completely agree with you on the boxed cake mix. I just sat down last night with my oldest (who has a birthday coming up, too) and some recipe books and told him to pick a cake recipe that sounded good. He picked a chocolate cake with chocolate cream center with raspberry frosting. Thank you, Dreena Burton. Love her cookbooks! This looks delicious, too. Almost good enough to have for breakfast. Almost! Happy early birthday, Meghan.
Oooh that sounds like a great pick! I’ll have to check out Dreena Burton’s cookbooks!
This is so great Maryea! It looks delicious and SOOOO much healthier than store bought or boxed cake mixes. Happy 3rd birthday to Meghan!! And I know how you feel about giving them processed unhealthy foods. Anytime we go somewhere and Carter eats something that is as colorful as a neon rainbow, I cringe just thinking about what is going into his body. I have a friend who honestly feeds nothing but processed foods to her son. When we go to the pool together, Carter always sees his cookies with blue frosting and sprinkles and all of a sudden, his Larabar doesn’t look so appealing. It’s so frustrating because I really try to avoid that stuff most of the time. I’m okay with it at birthday parties or the occasional amusement park trip, but other than that, keep it away!!
The worst part is I know the exposure is only going to get worse as they get older. I just hope that I can educate Meghan and she’ll make good food choices on her own–at least most of the time!
Looks delicious!!! I’m sure she’ll love it 😀 Chocolate chip cake with strawberry frosting-Mm Mm Mmmmmmm
What a beautiful looking cake!
I have tried 2 scratch cakes now and they have been a nightmare and tasted awful! I am very excited to try this cake out only I will have to change out the pretty pink frosting for a blue frosting, thinking blueberries will work nice for that!
My 2 youngest have birthday’s coming up and I absolutly will not buy a boxed cake. The ingredient list is disgusting and makes my stomach turn too.
Happy soon to be birthday to you cutie! Great job on the cake. 🙂
Blueberry frosting would be great, too!
Oh, that looks like a great cake. It is now on my to-do list. Thank you, Maryea!
This cakes looks fantastic! I’m so glad you had better results with your cake this year. I struggled with baking with unrefined ingredients for years and then one day the lightbulb went on and it all made sense! Happy Birthday to your little one!
you make me VERY tempted to bake M’s bday cake in a couple months. I have just always had issues with cake. It almost always turns out too dry for me.
I think it’s totally worth the effort. This cake wasn’t even that hard and I can feel soooo much better about what I’m putting in her body.
I totally agree with you on the boxed cake mixes!! I cringed at the thought of the college students I work with making them for friends and co-workers. I just can’t imagine ever going back to that type of dessert mix! I wish everyone knew how unhealthy they are!
Oh yum! Today’s my birthday – will you come make that for me??? 🙂
Ha ha I wish I could! 🙂
You did it, I give you an A!!! –I should try this just for fun, I love seeing your ingredients all set out, I can do those and not feel bad about it! Mmmmm! What a cutie pie you’ve got there!!!!
YUM! That looks so good!
That cake looks delicious! Love that its healthy too!