Orange Cinnamon Smash Cake (Sugar Free)
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1/2 cup banana mashed
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 3 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups flour sub GF baking flour for GF
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
For the Frosting
- 2 cans coconut cream store in fridge for 24 hours before using to solidify
- 2 teaspoons orange juice
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease 3 5-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.
- Add the banana, applesauce, pumpkin, coconut oil, orange zest, vanilla extract to a bowl and combine until (almost) smooth.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and use a spatula to stir until combined. Note the batter will be thick and sticky.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 3 pans and S=smooth the tops with a spatula.
- Bake about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Then remove the cakes from the tins and let cool completely on the wire rack.
- Once cakes are completely cool, either frost and serve immediately or wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for a month.
For the Frosting
- Remove the cans of coconut cream from the refrigerator and turn upside down and use a can opener to open the bottom. Pour out any liquid and discard or reserve for another use.
- Scoop the coconut cream into a large bowl along with the orange juice.
- Beat with an electric mixer on high speed for about 1 minute until smooth and fluffy.
- Beat with an electric mixer on high speed for about 1 minute until smooth and fluffy.
To Assemble
- Take a knife to each of the cakes and cut the rounded tops off so they are flat and easier to stack. Start by putting a thick layer of frosting between each layer of cake and then once all three are stacked, frost the top and around the outside of the cake. You can use as little or as much frosting as you want! I like a little rustic look with bits of the cake showing through and the frosting a not completely smooth. If you want a thicker, smoother look it helps to refrigerate the cake after applying the first coat of frosting and then smoothing it out a bit after.
- After frosting your cake, keep it chilled in the fridge until ready to serve. Coconut frosting tends to ‘melt’ more quickly than a traditional buttercream would so you don’t want it sitting at room temp for too long (over an hour or two), especially in warmer climates.
~Amanda~
Photo: Jennifer Photographic
I cannot believe that my baby girl is almost a year old! This past year has been the best year of our lives (despite all the craziness covid brought to the world) and we are so excited to celebrate our daughter’s birthday in just a few weeks. In preparation for her actual birthday, we had a little BBQ with friends this past weekend and did a photoshoot with her smash cake – and yes, this is a thing these days haha, my mom couldn’t quite believe it was something people do. It’s also a must do when one of your best friends is an amazing photographer! The pictures turned out amazing, but even better was the CAKE! It is sugar free and so delicious and our babe loved every little bite!
When it comes to first birthday cakes, the big questions are sugar-free or sugar-full? Store-bought or homemade? Cake or cupcakes? And my answer to all of those – to each their own, there is no wrong answer! Every parent should do whatever they want, whatever is easiest for them and whatever will make them (and the babies of course) happiest. This is a no judgement zone! For our family, we’ve made the choice to keep our daughter sugar-free for the first few years so when it came to her birthday cake I knew I had to make something that was so delicious she wouldn’t even miss the sugar.
And that’s exactly what I did! This cake was SOOOO good (or so I’m told – it’s not gluten-free so I couldn’t actually eat it haha), it was easy to make, our house smelled like those Orange Cinnamon rolls that you get from the store and most importantly our daughter loved it and couldn’t get enough of it – after about 10 minutes of cautiously checking it out of course. And let’s be honest, this doesn’t just need to be a smash cake for a baby, everyone loved it and I’m sure we’ll be making it for many gatherings to come.
This cake was inspired by one of my favorite sites, Solid Starts. I took their recipe for a smash cake and put my own spin on it and love the outcome. The base of the cake is make with Bananas, Pumpkin and Applesauce and then the real flavor is added using fresh Orange Zest and Cinnamon! It’s baked and cooled and then frosted with a homemade Orange Coconut Cream Frosting. I mean what’s not to love about that?! And it’s healthy enough that I even gave my daughter some of the leftovers for breakfast! I hope your babes (or just you) enjoy it as much as she did!
