Allergy Free Baby Smash Cake (Low Sugar)

Name: Allergy Free Baby Smash Cake (Low Sugar)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 29 min
Ingredients: 1/3 cup cassava flour (55g); 1/4 cup tigernut flour (25g); 1/4 cup ground flax seed (30g)*; 2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional); 1/8 tsp pink salt; 1/3 cup water; 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup; 2 Tbsp avocado oil; 1 tsp apple cider vinegar; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 cup coconut cream, refrigerated overnight**; 1/2 Tbsp pure maple syrup (optional)

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This allergy free baby smash cake is perfect for a baby's first birthday. It's a miniature cake, made from a blend of grain free flours and frosted with a low sugar coconut cream frosting. In addition, this healthy smash cake is eggless, nut free, dairy free, soy free and corn free - covering all common allergens.

Way back when my middle child turned one, I scoured the internet for a "Katie approved" baby birthday cake. While I found a few decent recipes, none met my standards. So naturally, I just created my own allergy friendly baby smash cake.

This smash cake recipe has been a family favorite for years. It's been my go-to recipe, not only for celebrating my kid's first birthdays, but also for minor celebrations like gender reveals and half birthdays.

What makes this healthy smash cake unique is that it's allergy friendly, paleo and vegan. Meaning, this cake is free from gluten and grains, it's eggless, nut free, dairy free, soy and corn free, refined sugar free AND made without vegetable oils.

All that, and yes, it DOES taste good!

showing the inside texture of this eggless, nut free and gluten free smash cake

Best Baby Smash Cake

I may be biased, but this is the BEST baby smash cake! It's made with wholesome ingredients, tastes good but isn't too sweet, is free from top allergens and is easy to make.

Here's why you'll love this smash cake recipe:

paleo friendly - made with real, whole foods
vegan - free from animal products
gluten free and grain free - made with a combination of tigernut and cassava flour
egg free - uses ground flax as a binding agent
dairy free - no butter or milk
low sugar - sweetened with just a little maple syrup
miniature - the perfect size for a baby's first birthday

Ingredients

Here's what you need to make this low sugar smash cake

Cake

cassava flour - I love Otto's naturals organic cassava flour. It's made from organic dried and finely ground cassava root. It's a great gluten free, paleo friendly baking flour. You can learn more about it in my cassav a guide. The best swap would be oat flour, although I have not personally tried it.
tigernut flour - despite it's name, tigernut flour is completely nut free! It's a wonderful paleo baking flour with a naturally sweet, nutty flavor. It's made from tigernuts, which are small tubers. They're peeled and roasted, then ground into a fine flour. Learn more about it in my tigernut g u ide. The best swap would be almond flour (not nut free).
flax seed - needed to bind the ingredients for the cake. The best swap is ground chia seeds.
baking powder - I like to make my own paleo baking powder, but any type will do.
cinnamon - optional for flavor.
salt - this enhances the flavors of the cake. I love Redmond's Real Salt since it doesn't contain any additives or pollutants and has trace minerals.
water - to thin the batter
maple syrup - to lightly sweeten the cake.
avocado oil - this healthy oil helps with the cake texture.
apple cider vinegar - helps with the rise and texture of the cake.
vanilla extract - added for flavor.

Frosting

coconut cream - just the cream from a can of full fat coconut milk.
maple syrup - optional for sweetening the frosting

ingredients in allergy free baby smash cake

How to Make an Allergy Free Smash Cake

To make this smash cake, first gather the necessary ingredients, two mixing bowls, a spatula, whisk, three 4" springform pans and parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix. In a smaller bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir with a spatula. Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes.

Next, line the springform pans with parchment paper. Stir the cake batter once more and place equal amounts in each springform pan. Use your spatula to push the batter to the sides and create a flat, level cake surface (the batter is thick).

cake batter in 4 inch round springform pans, ready for the oven

Next, place the cakes in your oven and bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes.

After baking, remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the springform pans for 5 minutes. Then, remove the cakes and place them on a wire cooling rack to cool.

Once the cake has fully cooled it can be frosted.

Decorating a Smash Cake

Frosting

First off, every cake needs some sort of frosting. Agreed? My favorite type of low sugar, paleo frosting is made with coconut cream and maple syrup. (See recipe for details.) In fact, you can omit the maple syrup and just use coconut cream for the frosting if you'd prefer.

A simple online search for "paleo frosting" can give you other healthy frosting recipe ideas. Just look around for one with ingredients you like. Also, store bought frostings are always an option. Just be sure to look closely at the ingredient list.

Natural Food Dyes

To add a bit of natural color to the frosting, try using superfood powders. Here are some easy ideas:

pink: beet root powder
yellow: turmeric root powder
green: spirulina or matcha
purple: maqui berry powder or acai powder

For the photos shown in this recipe, I used beet root powder to add color to the inside of the frosting.

Decorations

Cakes look pretty naked with just white frosting. In my opinion, the best smash cake decorations are fruit (I used raspberries) and seeds (I used poppy seeds). But, there are so many fun topping options:

fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries...)
dried fruit (dried mango, raisins, cranberries, blueberries...)
freeze dried fruit (raspberries, strawberries, apples)
flaked or shredded coconut
chocolate chips
naturally colored sprinkles
poppy seeds or chia seeds
sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
cinnamon

Storage

This allergy free smash cake needs to be stored in the fridge. Place the frosted cake in a cake container or large storage container. It will keep moist and is best eaten within a couple days.

FAQ

What's the texture of this baby smash cake?

Now, just a forewarning, although this cake rises, it IS dense compared to a "normal" cake. If you want to meet all of the requirements (allergy free, paleo and vegan) then you're not going to get a perfectly fluffy, airy, light cake.

However, that's not to say it doesn't taste good! This baby cake is both healthy AND delicious. Every member of my family loves this recipe and I've made it many, many times.

How many people does this smash cake serve?

This healthy baby smash cake is meant as an individual cake (for a baby to smash), but it would serve 4 if you plan on making it for another occasion (perfect for a family dessert).

How big should a smash cake be?

The whole purpose of a baby smash cake is for a baby to smash it. Right? So, you don't want one that is overwhelmingly large. Furthermore, babies are usually given a cake at their high chair, which doesn't leave room for a full sized cake.

Typically, smash cakes are small cakes, no bigger than 6" round. Some people use cupcakes, rather than making an actual cake.

For this recipe, I used three 4" round springform pans. You can find them on Amazon for fairly cheap. Plus, they are a convenient size for making individual desserts for other occasions.

More Allergy Friendly Recipes

If you're looking for more baby and kid friendly recipes check these out:

Enjoy!