Paleo First Birthday Cake
/
I try not to be completely militant about sugar with my children, lest they binge on Coke and Skittles the moment they're free from my care. Typically birthday parties qualify as an occasion when I allow some conventional sugar to be consumed... However, not by a one-year-old. In my opinion, the digestive and neurological systems just aren't equipped to effectively handle processed sugar at 12 months. So, it has been tradition that my kids get a Paleo cake on their first birthday (that means, gluten-free, dairy-free, and no processed sugar).
This recipe is my adaptation of a version by Melody Lyons of The Essential Mother. And, it's damn good.
So much so, that at my son's party, guests were forgoing traditional cupcakes to have a slice.
INGREDIENTS
Cake
4 C carrots, grated
1 C steel cut oats
3 C almond flour
6 pastured eggs
2 tsp pink salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp Saigon cinnamon
4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 C maple syrup
Frosting
2 cans chilled coconut milk
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp vanilla
PROCESS
Cake
Preheat the oven to 325.
Prepare two 9 inch cake pans with avocado oil or coconut oil, and put a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of each.
Combine almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Sir in the carrots and steel cut oats.
Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Divide among the cake pans and bake for about 27 minutes.
Frosting
Chill coconut milk in the fridge overnight or for several hours. Chill mixer bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Scoop out the cream on the top of each can, leaving the water below.
Use an electric mixer to whip on high until desired consistency is achieved.
Add vanilla and maple syrup slowly.
Spread over cakes after they have cooled, or store in the fridge for up to two days.
*To make this smash cake size, before frosting your cake, place a dinner bowl on top of it to act as a template, and cut around it.