Made with fresh blueberries, this 1st Birthday Smash Cake recipe is easy, allergy-friendly, and made without added sugar…there isn’t even any in the natural blueberry frosting! You can bake the cakes a day ahead if needed and let your birthday kiddo smash it—or share it with friends and family.
Smash Cake Recipe
Smash Cake RecipeMany of us, myself included, want a festive and fun first birthday cake—but we also want it to be on the less sweet side since our babies aren’t used to big doses of sugar. This smash cake recipe fulfills all of those desires and boasts a bright blueberry natural frosting too!
Ingredients in Healthy First Birthday Cake
This 1st birthday cake includes whole grain flours, bananas, blueberries, and cinnamon for a flavorful, yet really simple cake. It doesn’t include any added sugars, so you can let the natural sweetness from the cake shine through. It’s a perfect first cake for a baby!
Eggless Cake Recipe
I regularly get requests for egg-free recipes, so I wanted this cake to be made without eggs, but taste as good for those kids who can have eggs too. It holds together nicely and has a good texture without the inclusion of eggs.
How to Make this Smash Cake Recipe Step-by-Step
This cake is very easy to make, even if you aren’t a regular baker. Here’s a look at the steps involved.
- Start with very ripe bananas. The browner they are, the sweeter they will be!
- Add to a blender and blend into a puree.
- Add to a medium bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- Prepare your 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- Divide the batter between the pans.
- Bake and let cool in the pans.
What’s the texture of this cake like?
This cake is moist and fairly sturdy for being made without eggs. It is a little denser than a standard birthday cake due to the banana and whole wheat flour.
How sweet is the cake?
This cake doesn’t have any added sugars, so the sweetness comes from the bananas and blueberries. It’s not very sweet like a traditional cake, but it has a pleasant flavor that both of my older daughters enjoyed when they taste tested it.
TIP: Do not expect this to taste as sweet as a store-bought birthday cake because it’s not!
How to Make Natural Frosting with Blueberries
Here’s a look at the general process involved in making the blueberry frosting.
- Gather your ingredients. I like to use the freeze-dried fruit from Trader Joe’s, though Whole Foods has a similar product too. (photo 1)
- Place the freeze dried fruit into a blender or spice grinder. Blend to make a fine powder. (photo 2)
- Add the rest of the ingredients and the powder to a medium bowl. Beat. (photo 3)
- Spread some of the frosting onto one cake. (photo 4)
- Top with the second cake and add more frosting on top. (photo 5)
- Frost the sides to finish. (photo 6)
TIP: Plan to frost the cake on the same day as you want to serve it. It can hang out in the fridge for a few hours as needed. Let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow it to soften up a little as it will firm up in the fridge.
Can I make the frosting a different color?
You can! You can use any kind of freeze-dried fruit that you like such as strawberries to make a pink color. Raspberries may be too tart, but you can certainly try and see what you think.
Make-Ahead Birthday Cake
You can bake the cakes a day ahead of when you plan to serve it if that helps you to stay on top of your celebration to-do list. Simply let them cool completely in the pans, then store in the fridge in airtight containers or zip top gallon bags. (I put the cakes still in the pans right into zip top bags and stored them that way—so easy!)
1st Birthday Cake for Girls
This is a pretty cake for a birthday girl, especially one that loves fresh berries. You can change up the color by using different freeze-dried fruit if you’d like.
First Birthday Cake for Baby Boys
My boy isn’t quite ready for his first smash cake yet, but I thought of him while making this cake and I love that this cake would be so fresh and flavorful for a first birthday. For a girl or a boy!
Tips for Making the Best Smash Cake Recipe
- To make this dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil instead of the butter in the cake and plain or vanilla nondairy Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese in the frosting. (If using vanilla nondairy yogurt, omit the vanilla extract.)
- To make this gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten-free flour instead of whole wheat.
- To make this with homemade oat flour: Blend 3/4 cup rolled oats in a blender or food processor for about 30 seconds until they resemble a flour. Measure out 1/2 cup of your oat flour and proceed with the recipe.
- You can also use freeze-dried strawberries instead of blueberries to make a pink frosted cake.
- To make this as a larger two layer 8-inch cake, do the same steps but bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Sweeten frosting to taste if desired with 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey.
- You can make the cakes a day ahead. Let cool and store in the fridge in airtight containers.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this first birthday cake if you try it, so please comment below to share!
Print
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:
Print
PinDescription
Plan ahead to let 4 bananas ripen to have brown spots to ensure that the cake has plenty of natural sweetness.
Ingredients
- 4 very ripe medium bananas with lots of brown spots
- 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup melted butter (or plain whole milk yogurt)
- 1 cup blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 6-inch cake pans with nonstick spray and line with rounds of parchment paper. Grease again with nonstick spray.
- Add the bananas to a blender. Blend into a puree. Measure out 1 1/2 cups.
- Add to a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Stir together gently.
- Divide in half and pour into prepared cake pans. (You’ll use about 1 1/2 cup batter in each.)
- Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cake comes out cleanly.
- Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool completely in the pan.
- Make the Blueberry Frosting.
- When ready to frost, place one cake, parchment paper removed, on a cardboard cake round or plate. Top with 1/3 cup of the frosting. Remove the parchment paper from the second cake and place on top of the frosting. Place the rest of the frosting on top and spread over the top and around the sides.
- Sprinkle on additional freeze-dried or fresh blueberries if desired.
Notes
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting: Add 1 cup freeze-dried blueberries to a blender or clean spice grinder. Grind into a powder. Add 1/4 cup of the powder to a medium bowl. Add 12 ounces cream cheese (softened at room temperature), 3 tablespoons butter (softened at room temperature), and 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extra. Beat until very smooth with a hand-held electric mixer.
To make this dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil instead of the butter in the cake. For the frosting, use plain or vanilla nondairy Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese and omit the butter. (If using vanilla nondairy yogurt, omit the vanilla extract.)
To make this gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten-free flour instead of whole wheat.
You can also use freeze-dried strawberries instead of blueberries to make a pink cake.
To make this as a larger two layer 8-inch cake, do the same steps but bake for 18-20 minutes.
Sweeten frosting to taste if desired with 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey.
You can make the cakes a day ahead. Let cool and store in the fridge in airtight containers.
So do we use fresh blueberries in the cake part and freeze dried in the icing?? I am little confused with this.
Yes, you stir 1 cup fresh berries into the batter of the cake. Then you use 1 cup freeze-dried berries to make the frosting purple.
I’m not a big baker. Can you please explain what you mean by parchment paper rounds? How and where does parchment paper get used?
Place the pans onto parchment paper. Trace with a pencil or pen. Cut out, just inside the line and trim so they fit into the pans. Add each parchment round to the pan, then spray with nonstick spray. Add the batter and bake. I hope that helps.
Hi!
I was wondering if I can just use the recipe for the cake but turn it into cupcakes instead.
Thanks!!
P.S.: I tried your banana cupcakes and spinach and eggs muffins and everyone loved them! Your recipes are awesome
I’m so glad! You could do that, but I worry they would be fairly dense as cupcakes. Maybe try these Healthy Banana Cupcakes and add berries?
Hello! I’m wondering if I could dry out blueberries in the dehydrator instead of buying freeze-dried blueberries for the frosting. What are your thoughts?
I think that would work if the dehydrated berries are dry and will crumble up, versus being chewy.
My sons birthday is in a week. I tested this recipe and the blueberries ended up being really tart. Is there something I can do to change/prevent this?
Which blueberries, the ones in the cake or the frosting?
The ones in the cake
I think the only way to make sure those berries are sweet is to taste them when they are fresh and make sure they taste sweet to you. There’s a big range of how berries taste so that would be your best bet.
For the frosting, can I use frozen blueberries?
I haven’t tried it that way and it will not create the same flavor or color. I suspect it would wind up runny and potentially it might separate.
Thanks! I will try to look harder for the freeze-dried ones. Some food are harder to find overseas. But I’m really excited to try this. It will be the first cake I will ever bake.
Hello! Have you tried it with frozen blueberries? We just picked some beautiful ones at our family cottage but my daughter doesn’t turn 1 until mid-September so I was hoping to freeze them and use them. Thoughts?
I think that should work just fine! They may make the batter seize up a bit if you go directly from the freezer due to the coldness (which won’t matter when baking, but it would make it harder to spread the batter in the pans), so maybe let them sit out at room temp for a bit so they are just very slightly thawed. I love the sound of using ones that you picked yourself!
Thanks! I am going to try it once before to see how it turns out. We picked A LOT of blueberries!
Hi,
This looks amazing. I am having a hard time however finding oat flour…I don’t want to spend $35.00 on it. Can the oat flour be left out? Or is there something I can use to substitute instead? Also, how many freeze dried strawberries or blueberries do I need for the frosting? Is a 1 ounce bag enough? Thanks.
For the oat flour, add rolled oats to a blender or food processor and grind into a flour. And yes a 1 ounce bag should be enough to make the frosting. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Can we use oat flour insted of wheat flour
I haven’t tried it with all oat flour so I can’t say for sure, but let me know if you try it!
Hi!
You mention I cab do this ahead of time. We’re spending the little one’s first birthday on vacation and the kitchen doesn’t have many tools. Do you think it’ll last 2 days on the fridge before serving? Or Do you think it’s too long? Thank you!
If you want to do that, I recommend you want to frost it if possible and wrap the cakes in plastic wrap well and make the frosting and store it in a zip top bag. Remove as much air as possible because air may turn it a smidge gray after that amount of time in the fridge. Let the cakes come to room temp for a bit so they soften and frost soon before serving if you can. I worry that if you make and frost the whole thing that far ahead the frosting will dry out and discolor a bit over that length of time. Let me know if I can help more!
I have twins and I’m planning on making two 4 inch cakes (two layer, so 4 pans). Do you think I should see how it turns out with the same amount of ingredients listed above? And how long do you think I should bake them? I’m testing the recipe today for their birthday in two weeks. Thanks!!
I think you could try it with the amounts listed here. Aim to have each pan about half full. I haven’t tried it that way so I can’t say for sure. I would guess the baking time to be about 16-18 minutes but you’ll want to keep an eye on them after about 14 minutes and check for doneness with a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center. (If this recipe isn’t enough batter, let me know and I can help you scale it to 1.5) Let me know how it goes!
Thank you! Getting ready to try it out now!
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
You can make a day ahead. See the info in the Notes.