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.
- 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!
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Plan ahead to let 4 bananas ripen to have brown spots to ensure that the cake has plenty of natural sweetness.
Ingredients
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.
I made these in muffin for my son’s first birthday and he loved them! He has an egg allergy so I loved that these are egg free and that you put directions on how to make many other recipes egg free. My question is if you have done much baking with baby cereals? I want to provide the added nutrition, especially iron. I substituted baby oatmeal for the oatflour in this recipe and it worked but I think it turns out a little dry since baby cereals absorb so much liquid. Any suggestions?
I’m glad they worked well as cupcakes! I haven’t baked much with baby oatmeal but if it was a little dry, I’d recommend either reducing it slightly—so maybe try 1/3 cup—or use the 1/2 cup and increase the butter to 1/3 or 1/2 cup. Let me know if you try either of those options! (I’d probably do the reduction first.)
Hi Amy! I am making Thai smash cake for a party Saturday and I noticed when I’ve made it before the frosting sort of oxidizes with the air. How do I keep that from happening if I make it Friday for Saturday? Thank you!
Regards,
Aprylle
Hi! You can try putting it into a zip top plastic storage bag, removing as much air as possible and sealing it. Without air, it should stay the original color (at least mostly!). Enjoy!
Yum! The cake came out great (I made a smaller smash cake with a couple extra cup cakes so I could taste in advance.) Here’s my question: can I make the frosting today (Tuesday) for a party on Saturday? Will it keep fine in the fridge? I’d frost the cake on Saturday but I’d like to give my son a cupcake today (his actual birthday!) Thanks!
★★★★★
So fun! Yes, you can totally make the frosting today. Put it into a plastic storage or freezer bag, remove all the air and seal. It will be good. (I just did this with a strawberry version and it was fine for 5 days!) You’ll need to let it sit at room temp so it softens a little before you want to frost the cake, so keep that in mind. Happy bday to your boy!!!
Can I make this cake 4 days ahead and freeze it until the day of?
Yes, I think that should be fine. Let the cakes cool completely and wrap in plastic wrap to freeze.
Hi Amy, I tried doing the frosting just as you wore it but instead use coconut oil and yougurt as alternatives for the cream cheese and butter. I did it twice and the first time I didn’t notice the yogurt had to be room temp and so the coconut oil solidified making clumps everywhere so I redid it making sure to follow it step by step. I finished it and it was liquid. It had the same consistency as the yogurt. I mixed it and mixed it so I tried to add another tablespoon of coconut oil and it never worked. Maybe the ratio of yogurt is not the same as that of the cream cheese? Maybe it’s supposed to be less yogurt. I was wondering what you thought. Sadly I have to find another recipe ASAP for my baby’s first birthday tomorrow. It did taste pretty good!
Oh I am sorry that my notes in this weren’t clear—the coconut oil was meant to be a sub for the butter in the cake, not the frosting as that would make it more liquid. For a yogurt frosting, just use the nondairy Greek yogurt and berries. That should be thick enough to spread on like frosting!
Hi! Fresh blueberries and freeze dried blueberries are not available in the Philippines. Can I use canned blueberries or frozen blueberries instead for the cake? And can I also substitute canned/frozen to the freeze dries for the frosting? Thank you!
You can use frozen blueberries in the cake but I would probably make the frosting without any berries—if you added frozen or canned, you’d be adding a lot of moisture and would make the frosting much runnier than freeze-dried. I hope that helps!
Hi Amy! I’m so excited to make this cake!! Do you think I could add sweeteness by adding dates to the recipe? Do you know if the flavor of dates would go well with bluberries and bananas? Thank you so much!
Hi! Yes, I think the flavor would be great. I would suggest that you soak them (maybe 1/4-1/2 cup) for about 30 minutes, then drain them completely and blend them into the bananas. That should work well!
Hey there! I’d like to make this recipe as cupcakes. What would you recommend? Thanks.
I haven’t tried this as cupcakes, but I would think they’d take 18-22 minutes or so—look for the edges to be lightly golden brown and the top to be set and a cake tester to come out pretty cleanly when inserted into the center. Follow the rest of the instructions as directed. Let me know if you try it!
Hi! I know your comment is from last year, but I was curious if the cupcakes worked out for you. I’m thinking of doing the same.