I'm baaaack!

Well, that was quite the hiatus. If you don't know me, you'd wonder where the heck I've been. If you do, you know that I've been navigating my way through the first year of motherhood. It has been the most incredible year of my life. Our little gal brings so much light and joy to our lives and the lives of her family. It is such an honor to be her mommy. 

Last weekend we hosted her first birthday party, which also happened to be her Golden Birthday party. This because she turned one on the 1st. Did your family do Golden Birthdays? It was always such a big deal in my family, I'm shocked when people say they've never heard of it. My Golden Birthday was my 9th birthday, and I'm pretty sure it was the very best day of my childhood life. My mom (crazily) let me invite EVERY single girl in the 3rd grade to my SLEEPOVER. What the hell was she thinking?! 

Anyway, in the same spirit of going over the top in honor of the Golden Birthday... I did. The theme was gold. I hate to admit it, but I've actually had a Pinterest board for 1st birthday inspiration since August of last year- she was 3 months old. Seeing photo after photo of beautiful dessert tables on Pinterest made me want to make that the focal point of her party, so that's what I decided on. We had lots and lots of dessert, raspberry lemonade (with vodka for the non-children), balloons, crepe paper, a happy birthday banner, a ton of presents and most of all, enormous love for the birthday girl. 

I decided to make Sloan's smash cake myself, as I didn't want her to have too much sugar and end up getting sick or super crabby on her special day. I searched and searched for recipes on the internet and turns out, there are lots of other mommy bloggers out there who also felt passionately about sugar-free first birthday cakes. The recipe I decided on is from the blog Fit Mama Real Food.  The only change I made was I used half whole wheat flour and half all purpose. 

The cake turned out very well. I was sure that it would have that "there's no sugar in that cake" taste, but it really didn't. As you can see, the recipe calls for a ton of bananas, so it's got lots of natural sweetness without added sugar. Sloan did not hesitate to dig right in. My favorite part of watching her smash the cake was when she pushed the two layers apart and picked up the entire top layer of cake to take a bite. That's my girl! It was a great day and one I will remember forever. 

PS- all of the amazing photos were taken by my very lovely and talented sister, Emily. Thank you, Auntie Em!

No sugar smash cake: 

*I used a 6" cake pan for a two layer cake and it worked out perfectly.

Ingredients:

• 4 or 5 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup natural no sugar added applesauce
• 3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

Mash the bananas in a medium bowl.

In a separate large bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, and cinnamon together.

Add the mashed bananas, applesauce, coconut oil, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated.

Coat your pan(s) with oil.

Spread the batter into the bottom of the pans.

Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes.  Check with a toothpick for doneness.

Cool the cakes before frosting.  

No sugar cream cheese frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) no sugar added apple juice concentrate
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Method:

Soften the cream cheese.

Whisk the cream cheese with the apple juice concentrate and vanilla extract until creamy.

http://www.fitmamarealfood.com/babys-first-smash-cake-healthy-no-sugar-banana-cake/