1 y/o birthday "cake"...what to do?

[shinaabikwe]

My baby girl is turning 1! We are going to celebrate at my mom's house with her extended family...she will be the only little one present.

My family is in the "its ok to give a baby refined sugar anytime" camp but myself and my spouse are not down with that...but I don't want to make a big deal out of it at this event. I told my mom I would make cupcakes for the party that she and everyone else can eat...but I need a recipe!

So I want to avoid massive amounts of sugar and dairy since she has been acting allergy prone but not be too way out crunchy weirdo so I don't have to deal with my family's comments and just have a good time.

Something with whole grains and fruit would probably be good (so really more like a muffin but we will call it a cupcake to appease the family). Also without the other major allergen no-nos (nuts, honey, etc)

Any ideas? I am at a loss and we are celebrating this weekend!

[CoBabyMaker]

Can I ask why you are avoiding honey? Are you open to using agave, maple or Sucanat?  I understand wanting to avoid those things but I am not sure it would taste ok to others without.

[wannabesmc]

Isn't the rec no honey for 18months? There's something that makes it not recommended for the first 12-18 months. With her DD seeming to have allergies I can totally see not wanting to risk it - especially not for the kid's own b-day party! How sucky would that be for her to miss her own party because she reacted to something in her own b-day cake?! ON that note, I have no rec's to give, but I do LOVE agave as a sweetener - bakes well, too.

[Mammajamma]

I always thought the honey thing was only for the first 12 months?

[mommaklo]

Pretty sure rec to avoid honey first 12 mos or so because it can be tainted with botulism and babies guts arent ready to kill it off with what acid they have.....but I would guess baked would be ok. Xylitol is awesome, you just haveto go easy with it bc you can get loose stool (so no cupcake binging for anyone! )

I would use a mix if u are wanting to go gluten free, if not, I really like spelt flour, half white, half wheat, or what ever, i feel like its way more nutritionally sound than wheat. And chia seeds can be a replacement for egg, try searching it.....Hope this helps, I will be in the same dilemma in less than 2 mos, especially with the slack concern about sugar.

[cristeen]

For the record, baking does not kill botulism.

But, the standard recommendation is 12 months, and you'll find around here that many of us don't even hold to that.

All that being said, I really stressed over the 1 yr "cake" - and in the end he never even tasted it.  He was far more interested in the whipped cream frosting.  He didn't get a single bite of the cake.  But he was smeared head to toe in the frosting. 

[Koalamom]

I love the wacky/crazy cake recipe.  It is dairy, and egg free and I sweeten it with maple syrup.  It is a chocolate cake.  I recently make it with GF flour and it worked amazing too.

[Mammajamma]

that is a relief ( about the recommendation being to 12 mo) I did start all of my kiddos on it earlier ~ but not that much earlier.

[shinaabikwe]

Yeah I thought I had read/been told by med expert something closer to 2 years old for honey, maybe it was 18 months?. She actually probably has had tiny bits of honey here and there as we do feed her tastes of things that we have/. I actually have been giving her wheat/gluten all the time and she has been ok with that, the thing that made me paranoid was a couple of incidences involving eggs and not wanting to risk any kind of reaction or creating more intolerance issues too early.

My family likes to give babies a little suger filled processed ingredient filled cake of their own so I have to think fast to provide a different alternative. I love them dearly but as I am the youngest child (and the only critical/free thinker when it comes to health and diet!) they tend to like to ignore my statements about avoiding giving junk to my baby in her early years!

[A Mom's Love]

My mom made dd a mini pumpkin spice "cake."  You can use a muffin recipe or quickbread recipe.  She baked it in a mini bread pan, It was dairy-free.  I don't remember if it was also egg & wheat free.  I don't remember what she used for frosting.  Something with soy in it.  It was over 5 years ago.  : )  At any rate, that little cake was just for dd since she had a milk allergy.  The grown ups had chocolate cake.  Hehe!

[ohmmomma]

We just celebrated my son's first b-day last week w/ the same idea about not wanting a refined sugary b-day cake.  So I made carrot cupcakes, chock full of carrots, shredded coconut (no added ingredients), crushed pineapple, w/ mix of whole wheat and white flour.  Contained eggs and oil, but no dairy in the cake.  I did use sugar, however, I could have used agave instead which is a much more complex sugar and breaks down much more slowly in the body (and is suitable for diabetics!)    I knew that my son would not eat much of the cake anyways.  I did make a cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes, but did not give any to my son.  You could top your daughter's cupcake (if you go that route, a lot of work in the making, but so easy in the serving!) w/ mashed banana instead if she likes that.  I used a recipe for the carrot cupcakes from allrecipes.com w/ a few modifications of my own.  EVERYBODY loved them!   I hope you find an idea that works for you!  LET US KNOW WHAT YOU END UP DOING!  

[HappyWoman]

How about a cous cous cake? It's very simple to make, it is dairy/egg free, and it is sweetened with apple juice or amasake (brown rice sweet beverage). You could make it in either muffin tins, like individual cupcakes, or you could put it in a cake pan/pie dish. It's yummy too.

This recipe calls for strawberries, but you could use any other fresh fruit (blueberries, apples, pears, etc.), or you could use dried fruit (apricots, cherries, etc. - just soak them first before using.) Another way to go is to have an assortment of colorful fresh fruit and arrange in a pretty pattern on the top.

http://www.food.com/recipe/no-bake-strawberry-couscous-cake-420604

[texmati]

I made a banana muffin recipe shaped like cake-- subbing half the white flour with oat flour (which I do anyways). I was suprised that lots of people asked for seconds of the muffin cake instead of the other cake that I made for 'everybody'. I whipped cream for the topping of that cake.

[cara7]

a lot of people have mentioned using agave, but in my research, i have found that agave is not well regulated and that it can contain a lot of corn syrup.  i used to use it like crazy but not anymore.  don't know if anyone else has heard this.

[kenaichicken]

We deal with this problem with our failies as well. I have decided to make a beet cake. If you Google it you can find some recipes. I've made it a couple times before and it's amazing; beautiful red, full of fiber and naturally sweet with all the beets. I also have halved the sugar in the recipe and it is still yummy. Maybe you could add some coconut to the recipe to up the sweetness, naturally. I think carrot cake cupcakes sound fine too. Good luck!