bday "cake"???

Pineapple-Carrot Cake

This is our favorite cake. It is moist and flavorful and just sweet enough. It's perfect for baby's first birthday. Use Ener-G Egg Replacer if baby is not eating eggs yet.

2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup maple syrup, honey, or brown rice syrup
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup oil
1 3/4 cups crushed pineapple, drained
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
2/3 cup minced walnuts or pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300º. Oil a 9-inch springform pan. Beat together eggs, sweetener, yogurt, and oil until smooth. Stir in pineapple, carrots, and nuts. In sepa-rate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture gently into carrot batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 60 to 70 minutes, or until knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Frost cooled cake with Pineapple-Yogurt Frosting (recipe follows) or Cream Cheese Frosting (page 114).

Yield: 8 servings

Note: Crushed pineapple comes in 20-ounce cans containing approximately 2 1/4 cups pineapple. Save the remaining 1/2 cup pineapple to use in the frosting.

Pineapple-Yogurt Frosting

When the liquid or whey is drained from yogurt, it becomes firm like cream cheese. Mixed with fruit, you have an easy, sugar-free frosting.

16 ounces plain yogurt
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes

Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth. Place a dish underneath to catch drippings. Pour yogurt into center of colander. Let yogurt drain in refrigerator overnight.
Place yogurt cheese in bowl. Gently mix in the pineapple. Spread frosting over cooled cake. Sprinkle with coconut.

Yield: 2 1/2 cups

Note: You could use 8 ounces of cream cheese instead of the yogurt cheese.

Applesauce Cake
This moist, spiced cake is easy to make and vegan too.

1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds
2 cups whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a 10-inch round cake pan or 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. Beat oil, maple syrup, and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in applesauce, raisins, and walnuts. In separate bowl, sift remaining ingredients together. Dough will be stiff. Spread into prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until cake pulls away from edges of pan and knife inserted in center comes out dry. Cool on rack. Serve cake plain or with whipped tofu topping. It's also delicious frosted.

Makes 12 servings

cathe, just an fyi, i made that applesauce cake a few weeks ago when you posted it and it was AWESOME. we all ate some and then dh devoured the rest.

Here's a couple of other recipes if you want a more traditional vanilla or chocolate type cake:

Vanilla Cake
This moist cake contains no eggs.

2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup safflower oil
2/3 cup maple syrup or brown rice syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/2 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy) or water
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 375º. Oil 9-inch cake pan. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. In separate bowl, beat remaining ingredients. Add to flour mixture and beat until smooth. Pour into prepared cake pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out dry and edges are golden. Cool on rack before removing from pan and frosting.

Serves 8

Carob Layer Cake
My daughter, Emily, wanted a chocolate cake for her 3-year-old birthday party. Since I try to avoid giving her food with caffeine in it, I baked this cake instead. It was a huge hit with the kids and adults.

1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup carob powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup melted butter or corn oil
2/3 cup water
1 1/4 cups maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, or honey
1 tablespoon apple cider or brown rice vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 350º. Oil and flour 2 8-inch cake pans. Sift the flours, baking soda, sea salt, carob powder, and nutmeg together. In small bowl, beat egg whites until firm but not dry. In large mixing bowl, beat butter or oil, water, sweetener, vinegar, vanilla, and egg yolks until completely blended. Beat flour mixture into wet ingredients. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Divide the batter between the two cake pans. Bake about 30 minutes, or until tester inserted in center of cake comes out dry. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Serves 12

Note: I don't like sugary frostings so here is how I like to serve this cake. Spread a thick layer of strawberry jam between the cake layers. Mix a teaspoon of agave nectar into 8 ounces of crème fraishe and spread it over the top of the cake letting it drip down the sides. Decorate with fresh strawberry halves.

Variation: For those avoiding eggs - you can use Ener-G Egg Replacer instead of the eggs. Add the equivalent of two eggs when you would add the egg yolks and ignore the instructions pertaining to egg whites. Or, you can use 3/4 cup water instead of 2/3 cup and just ignore any instructions pertaining to eggs.