If you’re looking for a special first birthday cake—or second, or third birthday cake!—you’ll love this Vanilla Oat Smash Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting. It’s moist, flavorful, and super delicious, but it happens to be made without refined sugar or gluten, so it’s a little healthier for your birthday girl or boy to dig into. And, it’s easy to make it look stunning, without the need for any cake decorating skills!
Healthy First Birthday Cake
This smash cake recipe comes from my friend Sarah of Punctuated with Food. She made it for her youngest daughter Ruby when she turned one and has been making it ever since for other occasions too! “While we’re not particularly rigid about limiting sweets, especially when it comes to special occasions, I instinctively look for ways to keep treats as wholesome as possible. When I stick to that philosophy, I find we enjoy celebrations even more, having enjoyed something special to eat without crashing too hard in the minutes and hours that follow.”
1st Birthday Smash Cake Recipe
This healthy first birthday cake is made with whole grains and natural sweeteners, but it is joyfully gratifying to eat for both babies and their parents, should they not actually smash it all! The texture is light and delicate but the flavors are bold —hearty oat, floral maple syrup, and tangy yogurt. It’s lovely even without the fruit, though I think the fresh berries make it extra special.
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Remind me, what’s a smash cake?
A smash cake is a smaller cake meant for a baby turning 1 to eat, smash, and generally make a mess of all by themselves. It’s a fun tradition to mark a big milestone and this version of a smash cake is an easy one to make at home—and have it look beautiful and ready to dive into! So while you can adjust this recipe to make a layer cake to feed all of the guests at a party, the main recipe is for a small three layer 5-inch cake.
Ingredients in this First Birthday Cake
Here’s a look at what’s inside this simple cake.
- oat flour (purchased or made by grinding rolled oats into a powder in a blender)
- eggs
- butter
- maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- a little baking powder and salt
How to Make this Vanilla Oat Smash Cake Step-by-Step
The process for making this first birthday cake is simple. Here’s a look.
- You’ll need three 5-inch cake pans for this recipe to make a small smash cake. (You can also make a standard-size two layer cake if you prefer. See the note at the bottom of the recipe.)
- Strain the yogurt in a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth or paper towels for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
- Stir yogurt together with maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Gently stir together oat flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, melted and slightly cooled butter, and vanilla extract.
- Divide between greased cake pans and bake. Let cool and frost and stack, or store in an airtight container overnight until ready to frost and serve.
- Top with berries!
Gluten-Free First Birthday Cake
The oat flour in the smash cake recipe is made from finely grinding rolled oats in a food processor or blender. You can buy oat flour if you’d like to skip a step. And if you need the cake to be gluten-free, simply buy certified gluten-free oats. You can try making this with whole wheat flour if you prefer—though check for doneness closer to 12-14 minutes and stir very gently to avoid overworking the batter—though it’s very moist and delicious with the oat flour!
Can I make this birthday cake ahead of time?
Sure, this is a great first birthday cake to make in advance, especially if you’ll be busy celebrating your new toddler on their big day. Simply bake the cakes and make the frosting the day before. Store the cakes, once fully cooled after baking, in an airtight container (in one layer at room temperature). Store the frosting in an airtight container in the fridge.
What kind of yogurt is the frosting made from?
The frosting is made with whole milk plain Greek yogurt, strained to remove a bit more of the liquid, a little maple syrup, and a touch of vanilla extract. It’s slightly tangy from the yogurt and super simple to make. (Just drain any liquid in the yogurt container before measuring it out.) And there’s no need for cups and cups of powdered sugar to make it thick and spreadable!
Does this first birthday cake contain sugar?
It does contain natural sugars from maple syrup. Your little one’s first birthday is a big celebration, so it’s only fitting that they have a really special cake to mark the day! (Though this is so good you might hope that they don’t in fact smash it so you can have a piece for yourself!)
Do I have to top with berries?
You can do whatever you want after frosting! Leave it plain, top with sprinkles, or add a candle. It will be delicious no matter what!
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PinDescription
This fresh smash cake has a base of rolled oats and is simply decorated—so your little one can dig right into the deliciousness. This recipe is baked in 5-inch cake pans to create a small, personally sized cake for your newly minted toddler!
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Greek Yogurt Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh berries, to garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the Greek Yogurt Frosting.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 5-inch cake pans, and coat lightly with flour, tapping out any excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Carefully turn cakes out onto a cooling rack until room temperature and fully cooled.
- Place one cake on your serving plate. Top with about 1/3 cup of frosting, spreading it in an even layer just past the edges. Add the second, repeat with frosting, and then repeat with the third cake . Use an offset spatula or knife to scrape off the frosting overhang for a “naked” cake look, or use additional frosting to coat the entire cake.
- Top with berries and store in the fridge if needed until 30-60 minutes before ready to serve. Let the birthday kiddo dig in!
Notes
Greek Yogurt Frosting
Place 1 cup whole milk yogurt in a sieve or fine-mesh strainer lined with a double layer of cheesecloth or paper towels with a bowl underneath. Let sit for 30 minutes or up to overnight. Transfer the yogurt to a bowl and stir in 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extra. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To Make this Cake Ahead: You can bake the cakes up to a day ahead. Let cool fully on wire racks and store in an airtight container. Frost soon before serving. You can make the frosting up to a day ahead as well.
To Bake this as a Regularly Sized Layer Cake: Double the ingredients and bake in two 8-inch round cake pans. Bake and frost as directed.
To make oat flour: Place rolled oats into a blender. Cover and grind until resembles a fairly fine flour. Measure the amount needed for the cake after grinding.
Karen
Hi!
I’m currently looking into healthy smash cakes (as I’m not much of a baker) and your recipe looks like the one! But I was wondering if I can add a mashed banana or coconut oil to make the cake more dense/moist? Just thinking of incorporating foods my boy currently enjoys.
Amy Palanjian
The cake is very moist and dense as it is and I can’t say about those additions since I haven’t tried them. You could decorate the top of it with sliced bananas though!
Natalie
My cake turned out really crumbly and broke into pieces! Where did I go wrong? It tastes delicious though!
Amy Palanjian
Did you make any changes to the recipe? It may have been baked a little too long?
Tara Hudson
Food photography is a separate art form, so far I’m not doing very well, but I read a lot about it and your blog helps me improve my food photo skills!
★★★★★
Judy
Hi! Can I bake this cake in 5in glass pyrex bowls? If so, how might I have to adjust baking temp and time? Look forward to making this for my little one’s first birthday!
Amy Palanjian
I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure, but this might give you some clues on what to watch for with the timing!
https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2018/03/29/glass-or-metal-or-stoneware/
Shraddha Naik
Hi, can i make this with honey instead of maple syrup that is used in the recipe?
★★★★★
Amy Palanjian
You can!
Hannah
Hi there I cannot seem to find the recipe for the yoghurt frosting? Am I blind?! 🙂 Can you please tell me where to find it? I am hoping to make this for my girls first birthday tomorrow!
Amy Palanjian
It’s at the bottom of the recipe in the Notes section!
JoAnn
When the yogurt is sitting for 30 minutes or overnight do you keep it in the refrigerator at this time or after this time is finished?
Amy Palanjian
Yes, keep it in the fridge.
Mugglet
This sounds fantastic. Could I use cream cheese instead of the yoghurt for the icing? If so, I assume it wouldn’t be necessary to strain it first. My little girl’s first birthday party tomorrow and really keen for her to get to eat some cake.
Amy Palanjian
Absolutely! This is typically what I do for a cream cheese frosting:
Beat together 1 8-ounce package cream cheese (softened at room temperature), 2 tablespoons butter (softened at room temperature), 2-3 tablespoons honey, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with a hand-held mixer. Pipe or spread onto cooled cakes.
Eva
Looved the icing recipe! I didn’t use the cake recipe. I had planned to make banana bread as the cake. So I just slather this icing over it and done! Super easy to make. Everyone loved it including picky dad. Will make it again for sure. Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Amy Palanjian
Hooray and I love the idea of using the icing with banana bread!
Erin
Thanks for replying so fast! If I redo it I am going to double the recipe so I can fill the pans a bit more. I used whole milk greek yogurt from trader joes. It also seemed like 1 cup was not going to be enough. I had to use coffee filters because I didn’t have a cheese cloth…maybe it wasn’t strained enough
Amy Palanjian
That sounds like a good idea given the pan size. You will need to bake them a little longer but use a cake tester or a toothpick in the center and stop baking when it comes out cleanly. (You should also be able to tell when the center gets firmed up.) You could add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the batter to help it rise more but I think the main issue was likely that there simply wasn’t enough batter. If you don’t have cheesecloth, a thin kitchen towel might help strain it a little better. (I’m surprised that it was runny though, but I’m crossing my fingers that the second go turns out better!!)
Erie
I used 6 in pans and my cake didn’t rise. There was barley enough batter to fill two cake pans. And then my frosting was extremely runny. This was a major fail for me. The taste of the cake was great and I’m considering trying it again 🤔 is the cake in the picture from a single recipe or was it doubled?? Wondering how mine could have been so off
Amy Palanjian
Hi! Making this in 6 inch pans would make the cakes thinner since they are wider than 5 inch pans and would need more batter. Did you make any other adjustments? If you used Greek yogurt and strained it, it should be thick. I’d love to help if you have any other info you can share!