an itty bitty birthday cake

what a dream come true.  to pull out the celebratory red plate and serve up a darling little cake with plenty of glitz on top.  loved this. 

while out shopping {ahem, dragging ben to the craft store} a month or so ago, that hubby of mine managed to pause the eye-rolling and dramatic "get me out of here!  this place smells like hot glue and cat ladies" just long enough to pick out the perfect little birthday cake pan.  kudos, mister. 

with my three-inch springform pan and three little glitter globes, i was set.

i wanted to make a cake that elinor would really enjoy AND something that i wouldn't mind her fistfulling into her mouth.  and what is a birthday without eating leftover cake for breakfast?  the earthy-crunchy mama in me wanted to feel okay about filling her teeny body with cake for a few days in a row.  BUT i also wanted it to be fun.  something that she would really enjoy.  you know, "let them eat cake" and all that jazz.  and so, i thought about a few of elinor's favorite foods:  bananas and butter.

with those ingredients as the starting point, it was about getting a little creative.

with the exception of the natural sweetness in fruit, elinor hasn't had any sugar.  and her very favorite fruit {food} is blueberries, and those guys are not exactly sweet.  we even tried to give her a bite of ice cream and she SPIT IT OUT.  who are you?  but you know what?  good for you, little girl.  perhaps she will be like her papa and choose tomatoes and cheese over candy.  fine by me.

and soooo...i created a cake concoction that would be nutritious and filled with good things.  ingredients that i would actually feed elinor as a part of a healthy meal.  but i made sure to play dress-up with it so it was festooned with festive flair.  a fancy little cakelet fit for our little miss.  it wasn't super sweet.  but it looked pretty.  it was extra moist and perfect for smashing.  and it received many "mmmmmm's" from the birthday girl.  she knew it was something special.  success.

here's what i did... and please bear in mind that i did it by feel and look so these are guesstimates.

cake ingredients:

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup apple puree (unsweetened)

1/4 cup olive oil (or coconut oil)

2 tablespoons kefir or yogurt

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 - 1 cup of garbanzo bean flour (enough to bring together into a thick batter)

frosting ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks cultured pasture butter (softened)

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 - 3/4 cup coconut flour (enough to thicken into frosting)

method:

preheat oven to 325 degrees.  prepare your pan with some olive oil and line bottom with parchment.  mix all cake ingredients together (except flour) and then add the flour in as necessary to thicken to a batter.  divide the batter into pans, about a quarter of the way full.  bake cakes for 15 minutes, or until set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  do not over brown.  cake should be moist.  once baked, remove the pans and let cool on a rack.

while the cakes are baking, cream the butter with milk and vanilla.  beat the mixture and add in just enough coconut flour to create a thick frosting.

once the cakes are cooled, flip one cake onto a piece of parchment, top side down.  place the other cake on top so the two bottoms are next to each other.  level the top of the cake as necessary using a serrated knife.  spread on a crumb coat of frosting and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.  then, pipe on the decorative frosting.  voila!

yield: two, 3-4 inch cakes