Looking for Alternative to Cake for 9 Month Old

I myself doubt that he would eat enough at 9 months to harm him. I would maybe fix a white cake or yellow. Just my suggestion.

If he hasn't any intolerances with those foods so far, go ahead! He won't know it isn't his actual birthday anyway and Grandparents will be able to enjoy the experience too!!

A., go ahead and give that baby cake. If you don't want to do the whole first cake thing because you are saving that for his real birthday then consider doing cupcakes or the giant cookie thing. Either way, he will be able to tolerate the sugar. It's not like you're going to actually let him eat the whole thing, right? Babies that age usually play with it more than they eat it anyway. Relax and enjoy!

A giant Jello Gigler! There are fun, cute and yummy. You can use the same recipe as on the package for the giglers and use a cake mold or whatever to shape it. I have done this for a number of years because my duaghter doesn't like cake! It is easy. Use a small amount of oil and or some wax paper to help remove it from the pan and Ice it with cool whip and use food coloring to add color. I used a stencil to write on one with colored sprinkles one year! I have hidden "Treasures" in a plan sheet cake (Small dinosaurs) at one party. I have made layered ones and topped with whip cream and fruit! My prize one was a hill with a pond at the base, complete with turtles jumping fish and dancing fairies on the top! Iused cocnut that I dyed green for grass! They are fun and easy to do all you have to do is visualize the image you or your kid would like and figure out what it will take to make it. Jello, Cool Whip, and Fruit! Not only healthier than cake more fun and unique!

what about little parfaits? you could puree the fruit for his and for any other small children. then layer with whipped cream and or yogurt.

Cake is fine for a 9 month old. Your baby will probably just play with it more that he'll eat it.
No matter what you decide to make...the feeling of it in his hands and between his fingers will be the best part to him. The mess he'll make is the fun part for you!

make a muffin mix or sponge cake. they are lower in sugar an then use splenda for the icing if you are worried about the sugar. He'll be fine. I wouldn't use nuts or strawberries or honey but otherwise he'll be fine.

Also, stay away from red food dye and if you go with a bakery cake use lighter colors of icing

Swiss bakery uptown makes a smash cake in the shape of a number 1. I purchased it for my daughter's birthday..it was about 8 dollars. She had never had cake before (or much of anything else really) by her first birthday. I had to really encourage her to get into the cake. She really was not interested in putting it in or near her mouth, but it did make for great photos! I then took the smash cake away and served guest a separate cake I had purchased for the party.

Hi A.!
I see all great suggestions here, but here's my two cents anyway. Keep this site handy for a variety of smoosh cake ideas. Many have no eggs or sugar. http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tipFirstBDay.htm
Remember, a bit of sugar is ok. If the receipe calls for one cup, baby won't be eating a whole cup. Just keep it out of the daily menu and you'll be fine. Sample here.......
Heavenly Ice Cream Cake
Serves 15 but you can narrow it down

Ingredients
1 angel food cake (8 inches in diameter)
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, slightly softened (do not soften if using Frozen Yogurt as frozen yogurt is not as hard or solid as ice cream)
2 qt. fresh strawberries* (blueberries, peaches etc..)
Sugar to taste

Have fun !!!!!!

Hello, My daughter, almost 7, has NEVER liked cake. She will take a couple licks of the icing but then throws the rest away. So, I have had to be creative the past couple birthdays. This year I am making a cake out of ice cream sandwiches. When she was younger, we were a little bit healthier and I have made her big fruit salads and stuck those long candles in it. I have also spelled out Happy Birthday in strawberries then came back with rediwhip around it, spelled it out in string cheese. But when she was really little, I did it in peanut butter then stuck cheerios to it. I've spent a small fortune on all those custom cakes for her to just trash them...its the simplest things that she likes the best...

There is no real substitute for cake. Just give him a fourth of a piece and he (and the grandparents) will be happy.

Hi A. - I understand your being leery of letting your little one experiencing real sugar. I have raised 9 children and they all had a cake on their 1st birthday (I always made a separate one for them which they all promptly smashed in - loads of fun). I suspect a little taste (vvv thin slice perhaps with most of the icing scraped off) might not do any harm. But ask your pediatrician - he or she would be your best source. A substitute for cake could be something like fresh fruit on a sponge cake cup. Sponge cake has very little sugar in it. If you mix a little sugar-free fruit spread with the fruit, it will be sweet but not overly so. I send you best wishes for a happy birthday with your little one (not many of us get to spread it out for a couple months haha).

I made my first child an ice cream cake for his first birthday. It was great. After that it was all downhill. the next four got a regular cake-only the icing interested them.

You could use the following recipe. It still has sugar, but not near as much as "real" birthday cakes. I would omit the nuts, since he is too young for them.
http://www.cookingcache.com/dessert/babyfoodcake.shtml

Hi A.. My daughter is almost 6 and every year for her birthday she wants fruit. She is in Kindergarden and she still takes fruit trays for her birthday. She told her daycare teacher that she was bringing cantaloupe for her birthday to share. For her fifth birthday party we had a cake, but she made sure we bought a fruit tray that everyone loved! She started eating fruit early and now people are amazed that she eats more fruit than meat!

I know that it is not as festive as cake, but I told her I was responding and she said fruit was a great idea. Good luck.

Bernadette

What about mini cup-cakes. They could still be decorated and have candles put on them, but you could cut it in half or fourths so that you would only give him a small amount of cake. Or you could just do some ice cream or frozen yogurt. I don't know, just a suggestion.

I think you should just make him a cake. The 2.5 months you wait won't make that big of a difference. He won't mature in 2.5 months, therefore whether he has the sugar from the cake now or for his real birthday, either way, it doesn't matter. I am sure you don't give him cake often and this is something you may have to do twice a year, every year since the grandparents live out of town. 1 extra cake a year won't hurt him. Happy Birthday to the Birthday Boy and I hope whatever decision you make, you will all have a great day!

Hi A.,
The book What To Expect the First Year has several great cake recipes without sugar. I have made the First Birthday Cake for all 3 of my boys first birthdays and beyond. I would be happy to send it to you. It is sweetened with apple juice concentrate and pureed carrots and raisins. There is also a recipe for a cake sweetened with apricots. Both are good.
D.

Give him cake it won't hurt him. Not to mention the fun your parents will have watching him smear the icing and cake from ear to ear.

A.
What about a cookie like the big cookies at Wal-Mart and Have them put Happy Day on it since it is not his real birthday.
T.

Something fun and easy would be to make a Cool Whip "cake." He would have a wonderful time diving into it, and the pictures would be very cute with the mess. Cool Whip and other non-dairy toppings are generally low in sugar and fat (get the low-fat or no-fat.) Canned (aerosol) whipped cream would do the same. (Actually, the canned would work better because it comes out fluffier. The tub kind you would have to work at to get a "cake.") For a number you could just write a thin number one (or 9 1/2) with a ready-made icing tube in a darker color so that it would show up in the pictures. The tiny amount of icing he might actually eat would probably be very minimal. Most likely it would just end up all over his face.

Another fairly low sugar cake is angel food cake. That's nice and spongy, and he'd probably enjoy diving into that as well. If he's not eating too many solids, you might need to watch him carefully for choking. (Every child is different as to when the solids are best. My oldest was just eating soft chunky baby food at around a year, while her cousin who was only two days older was eating McDonald's hamburgers. Eight teeth and huge appetite!) If he's eating Cheerios or other nibbling foods or fruits, you could decorate the ring with his favorite snack.

I'm a 52-yr.-old mom of three: 25, 23, and 17. The caboose is a senior in high school. The middle one has left the nest and is in her first apartment. The oldest is still home but will be attending culinary school in a couple of months.

Good luck!

Hey A.,

Well real cake would nit hurt but if you want less suga try maybe an applesauce cake.I think it has less sugar but I am not positive,I am sure they have tons of recipes on the web if you did a search.Also maybe jello gigglers cut into shapes.Hope you find something!H.

Cupcakes can be a great alternative since they would offer the fun of smooshing a cake but a more appropriate portion size. Is it more the texture and his ability eat the cake that you are concerned about or the sugar? You could always substitute a muffin (like a muffin with cream cheese frosting) or even a scoop of ice cream (although that would be messy and cold for him).

A friend of mine made Honey Cake out of the Super Baby Food book for her son's first birthday. I was going to give you that recipe but just realized it calls for Almonds and Honey(duh!) which are two foods you shouldn't give your baby yet! I would go for the muffin or sponge cake idea, or you could just make a cake from scratch and alter the amount of sugar that is in it.

I say go for the cake just make it a white cake! Just don't let him eat too much of it.

Most babies on their first birthdays are mostly making a mess with their very first piece of cake, and it ends up with more of it on the outside of them than in their tummies! Another way to go on this would be to make a graham cracker crumb pudding pie, and write happy birthday on it with whipped topping or some of that tube icing they sell in grocery stores. It would be more similar to foods he's already eaten, so no worries. Have fun! Take lots of pictures...

Hi A.,

What about muffins...you can make apple, cinnimin, banana or whatever kind he would like. Just a thought.

W. Q