A Smash Cake for My Granddaughter's 1st Birthday
My daughter recently asked me to make a "smash cake" for my granddaughter's 1st birthday party. I was thrilled!
Introduction: My daughter recently asked me to make a "smash cake" for my granddaughter's 1st birthday party. I was thrilled! She sent me a Pinterest link with a recipe. I searched through multiple recipes and developed one to suit our preferences. She wanted to avoid refined sugars, and I thought many of the recipes were a bit bland, so I added some natural sweeteners and spices.
Thrifted Aluminum loaf pans.
The Cake Pan Dilemma: I didn't have any small round cake pans, so I headed to Amazon and ordered two 6" round pans. They will definitely come in handy for other occasions. Unfortunately, the pans were delayed, and I couldn't find any small pans locally. Luckily, I had some small loaf pans that I picked up for a quarter while thrifting, and I decided to make those work.
Batter divided among loaf pans.
Recipe: Ingredients:
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup flour (you can use whole wheat; I used all-purpose)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
1 large ripe banana
About 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup whole milk
About 1/4 cup real maple syrup (less if you prefer less sweetness)
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour your pans.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
In a food processor or blender, blend the banana, applesauce, milk, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans (small loaf pans or 6” round pans).
Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the pans. Check for doneness with a toothpick; when it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Let the cakes cool in the pans on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges and pop them out to finish cooling.
Ready to frost!
Frosting: I whipped up some heavy whipping cream with a touch of maple syrup for flavor and used it to frost between the layers and the surface of the cake. My daughter added some flowers and a candle, and Bam! We had a beautiful smash cake! The cake tasted a lot like banana bread, and my granddaughter enjoyed it immensely!
Ready to be enjoyed!
On Pinterest, several recipes use berries in the frosting, which I think would taste great too. Remember, whipped cream frosting doesn't keep well for multiple days, so I frosted the cake the morning of the party.
Benefits of This Recipe:
No refined sugars
Quick and easy to put together
Just the right size when finished
If anyone is interested in the nutritional breakdown of this recipe, I’d be happy to calculate it upon request. Just drop me a message below. I hope this inspires you to create your own smash cake for a special little one in your life!
Happy baking!
