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.
You’re not supposed to cook honey…
For what reason? I haven’t heard that and bake with honey all the time.
What can you substitute for the honey since babies shouldn’t have honey?
Kids over the age of 1 can have honey, so we’re assuming that they will have just turned 1. If you’d like to substitute it, you can try brown rice syrup.
Can these be made as cupcakes? Any difference in the recipe? I’m a non-baker looking for something super easy for my upcoming 1 year olds bday. Thanks!
Hi! I haven’t tried these as cupcakes, though there is a single cake option at the bottom of the recipe card. I can certainly test them as cupcakes if you have a little time!
I’ll wing it and see how it goes. I’m going to make it on Wednesday 5/23.
I tested them this morning to make sure you don’t have to wing it! I did 3 tablespoons of the batter in each paper cupcake liner and the recipe made 8 cupcakes. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (I did 20 minutes). The rest of the recipe is the same. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for the help! I’m making them in the morning and will report back!
I don’t suppose anyone has tried this with blueberries in the batter? Just curious as I think my girl would be a huge fan of that. Thank you!
I haven’t tried that but I suspect it would be delicious. I wouldn’t add more than 1/2-1 cup to make sure the batter holds together still (and I’d use fresh so they don’t bleed into the batter too much)—please let me know if you try it out!
Could this cake be made a week in advance and frozen?
I think that would work well! Be sure to let it cool fully and wrap it well first. Thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature.
I tried this with coconut sugar and found it needed a lot longer to bake for some reason. Any ideas why?
I’m not sure—it honestly could just have been a difference in ovens or the pan. I hope it turned out okay otherwise!
Can I use Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour instead of Oat Flour?
Also my baby is allergic to egg whites, can I use egg replacer (the powdered ones)?
Hi! I haven’t tried using the gf flour but I’ve had great success baking with that type of flour so I’d love to hear how it goes if you do try it. I also haven’t tried using an egg replacer—does it typically work well in baked goods? I mostly use flax eggs (ground flaxseed and water) as egg replacers but I haven’t tried that variation on this recipe.
We made this today and both our birthday boy and the adults loved this cake! Thank you!
★★★★★
Hooray and happiest birthday to your boy!
Hi Im looking to try this recipe for my baby boys first birthday. I wanted to decorate it ombre style (and I know that Ombre works well with buttercream) 1. Do you know whether buttercream would compliment this recipe. 2. Do you know whether ombre style work with your frosting recipe above? – would much rather go with the healthy alternative! 🙂
3. As a third option If I go ahead with frosting for sandwich and use buttercream for decorating would that also work?
Sorry for so many questions I hardly bake and want to make sure it turns out well. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Hi! I see no reason that buttercream wouldn’t work for this if you want to go that route. I do think you could do the ombre effect with this frosting, though I haven’t tried it. And yes, you could use this frosting in the middle and buttercream on the outside. One note on buttercream: I used it for a cake for my older kiddo in the spring and it was humid and the frosting started to slide down the cake since it sat at room temperature for a bit. So keep that in mind (and stick it into the fridge!) if you make it much ahead of when you plan to serve it. I’d love to hear and see how it goes and happy almost birthday to your boy!
Thank you so much for your reply. Will let you know how it turns out 🙂
Hi I used all purpose flour because I couldn’t find oat flour. Is that the reason why my cake
Came out sort of hard? I used 5 inch pans, and I baked it for 15 minutes. I preheated to 350 and then bakes it for 15 mins. Should I go look for oat flour or can I do something differently with all purpose flour? This was a trial bake. Thank you
Hi! I haven’t tried this with all purpose flour so I can’t say for sure, but I would mix it very gently to avoid overworking the gluten and check for doneness around 12-14 minutes. I know it has a softer texture with oat flour (you can grind oats in the food processor or blender if you can’t find packaged oat flour—see the step by step info for details!)