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
Wow, this cake looks so delicious. Can’t wait to try this. Adding this to my favorites.
Hi
Would this be good placed in myffin tins and without any frosting? Also do you have the calorie count? Thanks
Hi Julie, I do think this would work in a muffin tin as cupcakes, even without the frosting. I updated the recipe card to show the calories. Each serving is 282 without the frosting, 351 with the frosting. I hope you enjoy!
This looks amazing!! Would another frosting like a strawberry whipped cream frosting work? My son doesn’t like cream cheese. Thanks!
Yes I think another frosting would work great!
My daughter’s 5th birthday is coming up in just a few days. This time she specifically requested a pink princess cake so now your cake is in the making. Can’t wait to taste it!
Mmmmmm I love this cake! Happy birthday to your daughter!
I made this cake for my brother’s birthday and while it tasted good it defiitly didn’t turn out like the picture. The cake was really really dense – not fluffly looking like in the picture. Any thoughts? I had 3 large banana’s that I started with but actually measured and they only came out to 1 cup so I added more to get the other 1/2 cup – that is the only thing I did different – could that be the reason? Also, the frosting never was think and I even added a whole 2nd package of cream cheese. I did use fresh strawberries instead of frozen. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks,
Mandy
Did you use whole wheat pastry flour specifically? Using regular whole wheat flour would make a much more dense cake. Overmixing can cause a dense cake, also. Those are the main things that come to mind when I hear it came out dense. Sorry! 🙁
Hi,
I’m a new reader and I just love your recipes. I wanted to try this as cupcakes for my daughter’s second birthday. I’m wondering if I make this ahead of time without the frosting if it will keep in the fridge for a couple days. And then add the frosting the morning of her birthday.
I do think you can make it ahead of time, but I’d say one day would be best. I’m sure it’d still be fine a few days ahead, but it won’t taste as fresh.
I am going to try making this for my birthday tomorrow! Do you have any suggestions for a clean chocolate frosting recipe? Or coconut frostings? I’ve looked around but I would trust your judgement so much more!
Sorry I’m a little late on my reply here–you may have already made the cake and frosting. I have made chocolate frosting from avocados, cocoa powder, and maple syrup. I don’t remember the ratios I used, but basically just whipped the avocado and added cocoa powder and sweetener to taste. Let me know what you ended up using and how it turned out!
Hi Maryea! I am making this cake tomorrow for my son’s second birthday. I can’t find Stevia, so I’m wondering how much Agave Nectar I should use instead. Thanks!!
Do you mean you can’t find sucanat? That is what I used in this recipe, not stevia. Since agave nectar is a liquid sweetener, I can’t say how much to use in place of the sucanat as the dry/wet ratio will be changed. Instead of agave nectar, I suggest using a dry sweetener instead. You can use brown or white sugar or coconut sugar. If your only option is agave nectar, you can try 1/2 cup, but maybe cut back the yogurt to 1/8 cup. I really can’t say if it will turn out well with the substitution though. Please do let me know what you try and how it works out!
I’m sorry for the confusion! I meant the Stevia used in the frosting. You mention that if you can’t find Stevia, another liquid sweetener could be used and I plan on using Agave Nectar. Again, sorry I wasn’t clear in my original comment!
Whoops! I should have known you were asking about the frosting. I would start with 2 tablespoons and then add more if you think it needs to be sweeter. I have a recipe for another frosting that I use maple syrup and I use 4 tablespoons in that one. Here’s that recipe if you want to take a look: https://happyhealthymama.com/2011/01/healthy-carrot-cupcakes-with-maple-cream-cheese-frosting.html
Sorry about the confusion. 🙂
No problem! I ended up using 3 tablespoons of Agave Nectar and it turned out great. Thanks again!