First Birthday Cake - Charlestown, MA

Ya' know, I think most mindful mom's bump into this and I feel like the most popular 1st birthday cake is a vegan carrot cake. Seriously, I think I know about 20 kids who had this for there first birthday cake. heheh...

If you're interested I have a great vegan cookbook named "How it all Vegan". I know that there is low-sugar egg and dairy free recipes for carrot cake, chocolate, vanilla etc...there are probably a few variations of each.

They are all good. I've made them with a whipped banana filling (also, from the book). It's all pretty good and healthy.
I think people understand that a one year old has special diet needs and seeing that it is there birthday - the cake should accommodate them.

If you are interested in some recipes, or any one in particular, please let me know and I'll e-mail you some recipes.

You could make an applesauce cake with a creamcheese frosting. Yum for everyone! Also try and think if she has had any baked goods ever...like banana bread or a bite of muffin? Those all have eggs in them;) Have fun with it!
T.

Hi K.

If chocolate is ok, here's a variation on the box mix that eliminates the eggs.
use 1 box of chocolate cake mix (not with pudding in the mix).
add 1 can of pumpkin pie filling (14-16oz can). Mix and cook to directions on box. The batter will be very thick to work with. You will not taste the pumpkin flavor at all. I did this for my daughter's day care class and they LOVED it. It's really simple with 2 ingredients and takes away the potential for allergies to the eggs.

Enjoy
Ali

I know your concerns. I was there once. I fed my baby girl all vegan diet and no sugar till her first birthday. I was nervous about the cake as well. I wasn't going to give her any but everyone said oh she has to have her own cake. So I made it myself. I bought an organic mix and just used soy milk and pure cane sugar. I don't remember if there was an egg in it or not. But I just gave her a small piece. And she was fine. I have a little guy who will be turning one next month who followed the same diet. I will probably do the same for him. I am sure all will be fine. If you live near a health food store. Some will have vegan cakes. Stores like wild oats and whole foods. Google them see if there are any near you. Also some bakeries now are special ordering cakes like that. There is more of a demand these days. You could check that out. Hope this helps. Have fun!

Doctors say kids should not have certain foods like eggs until the are 2 in case of allergic reaction. However my first son had a regular cake from Shaw's which I am sure had egg in it for his 1st b-day & even had some sweets baked with egg (I did not give it to him, other family members like the nana's, grampy's and auntie's oh also the dada gave him behind my back)! But now that he is 2 and has had more egg products and eggs themselves is not allergic at all. I also have him peanut butter at 1 year of age all the time which is a no no but he is fine! Are you or your hubby allergic to egg at all? Then go ahead and get a regular old cake that EVERYONE can enjoy. FYI if you order a cake at Shaw's your daughter will get her very own cake!!! Also why are you wanting to find another recipe with no sugar in it. For goodness sake it is her 1st b-day the big ONE celebrate with a sugary cake for crying out loud. I don't like my son having much sugar at all or any other junk food for that matter! I am very strict against that however once in a while will not harm him or deprived him and for his first and second b-day I let him go crazy and have whatever he wanted (not enough to cause a belly ache though). He had a blast! The next day we were back to his "healthy" low sugar not much junk food "diet" its not a diet it is the normal way to eat.

When my daughter turned one . I was scared of that stuff to.Once I saw how much fun she was having it was fine!!!(there was tons of red dye in it and everything...I was freaking)But she did great! Is she allegic to eggs if so In the natural section in your grocery store is a brand called "Cherrybrook Kitchen" it is peanut,dairy,egg and nut free!! My son has several severe food allergys all of which i found out about when he was 4months old (he is now two) and he does well with it.`
The doctors tell you that you should wait to introduce the things that most people are allergic to lessen the chance of a reaction. but there is only 2 eggs in a cake she should be fine. I guess my point is that you can develop an allergy at any age so give her the cake and wait on the scrammbled eggs...lol

cake scan be made by substituting with splenda which tastes close to sugar and they give u the info to substitute right on the package. my dad is diabetic and cant have any sugar so thats how i make it. as for the eggs u can use a substitute for that or make your daughter scrambled eggs to try. its soft enough to chew and a little wont give her a big reaction if she is allergic to it. If she doesnt have any other allergies she should be fine

Hi K. -
You can always substitute the egg with flaxseed. Here's the recipe:
Add 1/2 cup gournd flaxseed to 1 1/2 cups cold water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 3 minutes. Cool. Keep in a closed jar in the frig and use in baking recipes, substituting 1 tablespoon for each egg.

As far as the sugar, if you google "sugar-free cake recipe" you should be able to find one. Here's the link of one I found: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,186,148160-241193,00.html I bet maple syrup would work well with this recipe as the "liquid sweetener". I have made several cakes using alternative ingredients. There are lots of good recipes out on the web. Good luck!!

Hi K.,

Congratulations! I remember trying to plan my daughter's first birthday cake over the summer. Unfortunately, I don't have an actual recipe, although, someone had given me the suggestion of having a cake for the adults and older kids, and cupcakes for the younger kids. I was told that as far as allergies are concerned, it's the egg white that if there is an allergic reaction, not the yolk. I actually made cupcakes with the yolks instead of the whites to give me piece of mind. My daughter never had a problem with any reactions, and plus, it was cute to watch her poke and dissect the cupcake. Of course, do what makes you feel comfortable. You can always check with your daughter's pediatrician too if you have concerns with food reactions.

Good luck, and Happy Birthday to your daughter :)

Hi K.,
Since I was going to be giving my kids eggs at age one, I decided to give them eggs at one year minus a few days. I generally tried out the allergens a bit before the next doctor's appt anyhow. This way I wasn't introducing eggs the actual day of the birthday. Congratulations on making it through the first year. My kids loved cupcakes, messy but yummy when my oldest took hold of the cupcake by the frosting and stuffed the rest in her mouth quite happily. :)

OK, I am sure you will get lots of feedback about your specific question, mine is that both of my kids did fine, but that doesn't mean that yours will, but I havne't had any friends with kids have theirs react to the first birthday cake in any unusual way. If you are worried perhaps you could give her just a bit of egg previous to the cake just to check specifically if she has a reaction to it. Then if something does happen you will better be able to narrow down the cause. The main reason that I am writing is to warn you that the blue food coloring in the frosting turns their poop bright green. I have seen it time and again. After all of the kids in my daughter's class attended a Sunday party with a cake with only a bit of blue frosting, the teacher reported the next day that they all had the same very distinctive green color, you could tell it was food dye. It did not affect the kids in any other way, but I have seen it happen every time since, and other mothers know what I am talking about when I mention it to them. So, just a word of warning so that you don't get really worried when you see the very peculiar color! Good luck and enjoy that first birthday party :) K.

K.,

Your daughter really isn't going to eat much of the cake at all. It's really for us as parents and for them to make a mess of. I wouldn't worry to much about the egg either. The amount of it she might get is so minimal it isn't worth the worry.
And if you want her to blow out the candle you need to work with her for at least a week before hand so she can do it.

Good luck and enjoy,
L. M

Hi K. - I really wouldn't worry about the egg thing with the cake.. like a previous post said, just giver her a little piece and she will enjoy tasting the frosting for the first time! Both my girls played with the cake, stuck their fingers in and smeared a lot of frosting all over their tray and themselves! The look on their faces whwn they do this is just priceless and so worthy of celebration. Whoever told you this probably also thinks that if you eat peanut butter while pregnant your child will have a nut allergy - yeah. :) Take it with a grain of salt. I think all natural ingredients like a little sugar, and the ingredients in something like Breyer's ice cream are WAY better than eating chemicals like Splenda. A little sugar for your daughter's first milestone birthday is fine. Enjoy the party!!

I doubt she will react to the egg, especially baked in a cake - much less allergenic when baked. Also, many babies I know have eggs younger than a year and are fine. She would have to be very allergic to react to them baked in a cake - and you can't avoid eggs forever. =)

I have several cake recipes that use 1 1/2 cups of sugar or less - not sure if that's alot to you or not, but message me if you want them! Also, if concerned about sugar, you can find recipes that use alternate sweeteners - not artificial ones like splenda, but real ones like agave nectar or honey or maple syrup.

Cherrybrook Kitchens (Market Basket or health stores) is an allergy free mix that tastes pretty good.. if you want scratch recipes, let me know, I have a few too...

K., if your daughter has not displayed any "allergy" type symptoms to foods that you have given so far, I wouldn't worry too much about the eggs in the cake. Do you know anyone that is "allergic" to eggs?? not a comon allergy. As far as the sugar thing, it's her birthday, relax and let her have the sugar in the cake, --- it's not rat poison!!! We all grew up eating eggs and cake not to mention the rest of the stuff our parents gave us as kids -- before the "overlyconcerned" revoloution, and we're FINE!!! relax, your little girl is going to grow beautifuly and enjoy her birthday, I hope you enjoy it too. L. C.

For my son I made banana bread (joy of cooking recipe) and I used 50/50 all purpose flour and whole wheat flour and I cut the sugar by a 1/3 or in half. Then for frosting I used stoneyfield Farm Organic Banilla yogurt and I mixed infants rice cereal to thicken it. My son LOVED it! He had his whole face in it and went to town. I put the whole loaf in front of him and I had to take it away because he was eating so much!

PS-His cousin was there sharing his birthday with him and they gave him regular store cake and he didn't like it....

Le us know what you do :)

Hi K.,
If she has not had eggs she will not have an allergic reaction the first time she introduced to it plus when eggs are cooked the protien that causes an allergic reaction breaks down so you really have nothing to worry about but there are egg substitutes in the baking section at the grocery store if you really don't want to use eggs or you can make your own substitute with water and whole flaxseed heat it on the stove until it gets gooy. You can add apple sauce to your cake and reduce the sugar you put in it but really what fun is that. One piece of sweet yummy cake and frosting isn't going to do any harm to your daughter most 1 yr olds don't get that much cake or frosting into their mouths it mostly gets spread around and smeared on their face and hands.

My son has an egg allergy, but I didn't find out about it until well after his 1st birthday. I got a regular store-bought cake. He took about 2 bites and that was it for him. No allergic reaction at all.

Can't offer any advise on cake alternatives, just wanted to let you know how things turned out for us.

Happy almost 1st birthday!

I know it's winter, but my summer baby really enjoyed his Carvel ice cream cake. I got mine at Shaw's supermarket and the bakery even wrote a birthday message on it.

Make a yummy cake for everyone and let little one have a bite. I wouldn't alter a whole cake for this occasion, because she should only be getting a bite or two. No need for her to have a whole piece. She will probably just stick her fingers in it and play with it more than eat it. I also wouldn't use splenda, it isn't natural and who knows what it really is. You could also give her a tiny bit of icecream, too. Try to find one with natural ingredients like Breyers, usually it is just milk, cream, sugar. Don't stress too much about the cake and have a wonderful and fun first birthday with your daughter. Congratulations!

K.,

I made a trifle for my son's first birthday cake. It was angel food cake, vanilla yogurt and fruit. I served it with sorbet, which is lower in sugar and milk products. It was a big hit and easy to make.

-M.

K.,

Get your camera ready!!! Give her a regular first birthday cake!!! Never give children splenda, not good for kids. Just enjoy her birthday!

My kids had not really had any egg by the first birthdays and neither reacted to their cakes. As for the sugar, they dont' really eat that much cake, they spend more time playing in it, really. I have always subscribed to the theory that sugar (cake, cookies, etc) should be kept to a small amount and my kids look at those things as a treat not a staple food. First birthdays are milestones, times to enjoy and make memories and have those pictures of a first very messy, very cute piece of birthday cake, enjoy it!