Healthy 4-Ingredient Smash Cake: Sugar Free + Gluten Free
I’m in complete denial that Shepherd is ONE! Although I did my darnedest to soak up every moment with this sweet boy it flew by. What a sweet year it was though adding a boy to the mix. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Shep turning one than with a fun safari-themed party with his favorite people. And celebrate we did!
Gluten-free + Sugar-free
One of the first things I started thinking about for his first birthday party was the smash cake. I knew I wanted to find one that was gluten-free AND sugar-free. Shep hasn’t had any added sugar and I want to postpone his first taste of sugar for as long as possible. But unfortunately, I couldn’t find a smash cake that met my standards.
So of course I took it as a challenge and created my own! I tried a couple of different versions but ended on one that is sweetened with just bananas. This smash cake has only FOUR ingredients and super easy to make.
My next challenge was what to do about frosting. Frosting is essentially sugar and since I am trying to delay it as much as possible I started thinking about healthier options. Using coconut whip cream popped into my head and although it does have some sugar added I love that it is lightly sweetened and is perfect for a healthier alternative.
Cake toppers:
I found these adorable animal figurines for the cake topper + decoration for our safari theme birthday party. You can find them on amazon here, here, and here. They were the perfect addition to make the cake extra special. This gold one candle was the perfect size too! We accidentally threw away this candle the night before the party so we had to improvise and use a regular candle. I was a little disappointed but I’m glad I was able to snap some photos beforehand.
A few tips:
I used two souffle/ramekin dishes and they were the perfect size for a smash cake.
To keep the cake from sticking to the dish, grease well and also add parchment paper to the bottom. I just used the dish to trace a circle with a pencil on parchment paper and cut it out.
Let the cakes cool completely before removing from the dish.
Put the cakes in the fridge before you frost them to firm up. This will make it easier to cut the tops off for a smooth surface and to frost.
Healthy Smash Cake
For the cake:
2 small bananas
1 tbsp almond butter (or peanut butter)
1 tsp baking soda
1 ¼ cup almond flour
For the frosting:
So Delicious Cocowhip
Directions for the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare dishes by greasing with coconut oil and add parchment paper to the bottom of the dish (see tips for how I did this).
Mash bananas in a bowl.
Add the almond butter and mix together well.
Add the baking soda and almond flour and stir until well combined.
Pour the batter into each dish and bake for 13-16 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Let cool completely before removing the cakes from the dishes.
Directions for frosting:
To make it easier to frost, add cakes to fridge overnight or for at least 2 hours.
Then very carefully, cut the very top layer off the cake to have a smooth service for stacking and frosting.
Add one cake to a plate or stand and add coconut whip cream. Then place the second cake on top and add more coconut whip cream.