Healthy First Birthday Cake Recipe
If you’re like me you will be very conscious about what you feed your baby and the effect it can have on their health. Good nutrition is key to your baby’s development. Feeding your child a natural wholefood diet will set them up for life by providing the best foundation possible for their health and learning.
Baby’s first birthday or Christmas is an incredibly exciting time. The temptation to introduce artificially sweet foods may be high but these could lead to your baby developing a taste for sugar and can cause tooth decay.
Feeding your baby natural foods will ensure that no artificial sweeteners, colours, preservatives or additives are consumed, all of which have adverse health effects. You can celebrate baby’s special day with a healthy cake that is naturally sweet and contains no added sugar.
The main ingredients of this healthy first birthday cake or Christmas celebration cake are bananas and apples which are both sweet and good for baby. The fruit in this cake makes it really moist so it’s perfect for babies to eat.
Bananas are rich in potassium, a mineral that is necessary for normal growth, metabolising carbohydrates and promoting mental alertness by helping to deliver oxygen to the brain. Apples are very nutritious and provide a good source of vitamins A and B1 as well as being rich in pectin, a soluble fibre that helps to slow glucose absorption.
Healthy First Birthday Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large bananas
- 2 apples
- 2 tablespoons pure apple juice
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
- 2 free-range eggs
- 2 cups brown self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease a cake tin or line with baking paper.
2. Wash and grate the apples (peel if desired).
3. Mash the banana in a bowl, add the grated apple with the apple juice and mix together.
4. Add the vegetable oil and stir into the mashed banana and apple.
5. Add the eggs and mix well.
6. Gently stir in the flour and cinnamon.
7. Bake at 180 C for 25 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Remove from the cake tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
This cake is delicious on its own or it can be served with chopped fresh berries and drizzled with natural yoghurt.
Discovering and eating new healthy foods is also a great way to engage your baby in sensory play. Baby will love breaking this soft cake up in their fingers. There’s no doubt it will be smashed and squeezed before being eaten, it’s all part of the fun!
Lydia Oliver, Nutritional Advisor
This article was published in the December 2013 edition of Mummy and Me Magazine.
I offer one to one nutrition programmes for breastfeeding, post pregnancy weight loss, weaning advice, weight management and health. Contact me.
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Category: Blog, Health & Nutrition, Motherhood, Mummy and Me Magazine, Recipes, Weaning & Mealtime