Recipe: Grain Free Birthday Cake
2012
Once upon a time my little girl turned one. I, being the overly-protective-crazy-health-nut-hippie-freaked-out mom that I *sometimes* am, was determined to give my little girl the best birthday cake ever. I wanted something without refined sugars. Without artificial coloring. And grain free.
Why grain free?
Well, if you remember from this post, grains can be hard to digest. This is especially true for young tummies. Babies are born with leaky gut, meaning that things like grains can do some serious damage. In fact, the foods we feed our babies and toddlers can play a huge impact on their health for the rest of their lives. We were really diligent about keeping little C free from grains up to this point, so when the birthday rolled around I knew I didn’t want to freak her guts out (literally) by giving her a refined cake. No thanks.
After hours (seriously, I have a problem) of research and playing around in the kitchen I came up with this gem of a recipe for a grain free cake. When I first started I honestly didn’t have high hopes for it… thinking that nobody except little C would like it.
Turns out this is a DELICIOUS grain free cake!
My family loved it. My sisters wanted the recipe (which I’m finally getting around too… you know, six months later). It was a hit. And what did C think about it? Well, considering that she had a major breakdown just before, this grain free cake brought a smile to her face. I’ll take it.
So whether you are celebrating your 99th birthday or your baby’s first, this birthday cake is perfect. It’s moist, flavorful, and yes, grain free. It is also free from refined sugars. But your guests will never know!
Grain Free Birthday Cake
Ingredients*
10 eggs, whisked
1 1/3 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
1/4 tsp strawberry liquid stevia
2/3 cup raw honey
2 Tbs vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup coconut flour, sifted (where to find coconut products)
1 1/3 cup tapioca flour (where to find flour products)
1 1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp real salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
2/3 cup melted coconut oil
Looking for quality real food ingredients? Be sure to the check out the Village Green Marketplace!
Directions:
1. Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl
2. Mix using a stand mixer or hand mixer
3. Pour equal parts into 4 round 9 x 1.5 inch cake pans that have been greased.*
4. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 – 18 minutes, watching carefully the last few minutes to avoid over browning.
5. Let cool for five minutes and then transfer out of the pans onto a wire rack to cool completely
*You could easily half this recipe. As you can tell from my photos my cake was pretty tall and we had more than enough to go around for the 12 of us there. If you half the recipe, just pour equal amounts of the batter into two cake pans instead of four.
I frosted my cake using a variation of this frosting recipe. Not sure I’d use it again, but it worked. Make sure to spread a very thin layer of frosting between the two layers to keep it from slipping. The real secret to making this cake yummy is to top it off with a simple strawberry compote. Delicious!
An important note
This grain free cake doesn’t rise a whole lot and is quite deceiving when you pull it out of the oven. It may not seem like a lot of cake, but once frosted and stacked it will be plenty. Promise. Don’t do what I do and freak out that you’ve ruined your daughters birthday. Not useful. Or true.
Pssst…. Want to learn how to cook grain free? Check out this amazing ecourse and use the code NOGRAINS to get an extra $20 off! (Hurry, the coupon only lasts for a couple weeks.)
This post is part of Monday Mania, Scratch Cookin’ Tuesday, Fresh Foods Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Make Your Own Monday, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival, Eat Make Grow Thursday, Keep it Real Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Tastetastic Thursday, Fill Those Jars Friday, Freaky Friday, Pennywise Platter, Creative Juice Thursday, Snack Time Saturday, Simply Natural Saturdays, Allergy Free Wednesday, and Sunday School.
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Wow! I was looking and looking for something like this for my baby’s first birthday. To make it even more difficult, we weren’t giving him nuts, eggs, or honey yet! I came up with some oat flour cupcakes that were pretty popular even with older kids and adults. Yours is much prettier though!
It can be so tricky, right? I’d love to see your recipe for the oat flour cupcakes. Sound good!
Thank you so much for this! I just want to point out that in the first paragraph it says “babies are born with leaky guy.” I think you may mean “gut.”
Ha ha! Good eye, Laura! Thanks. I’ll fix that.
This looks amazing! My son’s fourth birthday is this weekend, and this is perfect timing (found you through a link on FB)… I have one question – can I use regular stevia? I don’t have any stevia at all, and I want to buy one that I’m more likely to use again in other recipes…
Hi Beth! Thanks!
You could totally use regular stevia. I was going for a strawberry theme (mostly because I had strawberry stevia on hand). I don’t know that it made much of a strawberry flavor anyway.
I actually want to try this cake again without the stevia. I think the applesauce makes it sweet enough (especially if it’s frosted.) Good luck!
I was wondering if you know how to make this vegan? I like to use 1T flax meal with 1T water as an egg replacer in baked goods. Do you know if this would work for this recipe?
Hi Kathy!
I admit that I am really unfamiliar with vegan cooking. Maybe try halfing the recipe the first time to see how it works. Good luck!
Mmm. looks good! We did raw deserts for my toddler’s second birthday last month and they were a big hit. I haven’t tried the alternative flours yet but I think I may need to give them a try. Thanks for sharing! Found you through Keep it Real Thursdays.
Thank, Aubrey! Just took a look at your site. Looks great! Looking forward to reading your stuff.
Hope you like the cake!
Thank you so much for this recipe! Perfect timing! We are having my daughter’s 2nd birthday in a few weeks and trying out some recipes for dessert! I am so excited to try this.
Thanks, Amanda! I hope you like it!
Looks delish! Love the strawberry jam you covered it with – beautiful! Thanks for linking up to Snacktime Saturday!
Thanks, Leah!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts!
Wow! Looks amazing. I might have to stash this one away for our next birthday. Thanks for stopping by and linking up to Snacktime Saturday.
Thanks, Margaux!
I. See some wonderful recipes but cannot use rice flours or coconut products. What can I use to remain gluten free?
That’s a great question, Roberta. You may be able to use just almond flour, but I haven’t tried it so I can guarantee the results. Good luck!
Hi!
this looks great! I am wondering though if you use a specific almond flour. I have tried a few things with a certain brand and have trouble.
thanks!
Thanks, Kathleen. I use Bob Red Mills brand: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EDG598/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000EDG598&linkCode=as2&tag=than01-20