Since we decided against having a fab first bash, I took on more things into my plate and decided to be the most enthusiastic mother around. I mean that's what moms do anyway, plan 100 things and achieve hopefully 99.
The thrill of baking him his first cake made me do this and it's just one of those things I wanted to check off my own mommy bucket list. So I scoured the internet for baby friendly recipes which seemed to suggest that sugar in any form (honey, maple syrup, icing sugar..) is permissible just because they have already or are going to graduate from babyhood.
It's probably just me and being sticky about sugars and food colouring in general and I resisted that, preferring to do everything from scratch.
So here goes, my first smash cake made without sugar, preservatives or food colouring. 100% baby safe.
Applesauce recipe
Core and deskin 2 apples, simmer in water over the stove for 20 minutes till fork tender. Blend with 2 tablespoons of water till smooth.
Red cabbage food colouring recipe
Shred 1/8 head of red cabbage, fill pot with enough water to submerge red cabbage and simmer for 15 minutes over slow fire. Remove red cabbage and reduce remaining liquid to 1/3 volume. Cool for later use.
Cake recipe
4 ripe medium bananas.
1/2 cup applesauce.
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups whole wheat flour.
2 cups oat flour (grind rolled oats in blender)
1/2 cup applesauce.
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups whole wheat flour.
2 cups oat flour (grind rolled oats in blender)
Mix all ingredients and bake at 180 degree celsius for 45-50 minutes.
Frosting recipe
3 packages of philadelphia cream cheese
Red cabbage food colouring
Mix in colouring till desired shade.
The cakes were clearly a tad dense but were evenly baked at least!
After frosting, I tried to even out the frosting as much as possible!
My plans of having a lilac hued cake ended up being dashed, it was pink. And the piping killed me.
All in a day's work, quite literally.
The happy camper and the mess he created.
Not too bad eh, for a first taste of cake? The hubba and I definitely had fun with this shoot though we were both knackered at the end of it.
And...we outdid ourselves with not one but TWO smash cake opportunities. :P Talk about being ambitious. The hubba took to the kitchen and surprised us with this!
Thank god for a villa holiday and a pool to make things look so pretty!
And the unimpressed bub.
I'm glad we pulled through and did all we can within our tight budget for these two smash cake opportunities. The photos turned out great and we have a ton of memories to last us...if anything, both cakes were well received by the adults!
