My daughter’s birthday was this last week, and as is tradition in this household, we took to our favorite cake book to see what cake the birthday girl would choose for her special day.
Easy Cut-up Cakes for Kids
was a book I discovered at the library several years ago. After the kids glommed onto the book as if it were a pleasure read, trying decide which cake they were going to choose, I knew this was one book that would make it into my cookbook collection. I have never regretted this purchase!
was a book I discovered at the library several years ago. After the kids glommed onto the book as if it were a pleasure read, trying decide which cake they were going to choose, I knew this was one book that would make it into my cookbook collection. I have never regretted this purchase!I have told you many-a-time, I do NOT do decorating!
I can certainly appreciate it, but my personality simply does not lend itself to tedious details and the time required for most frosting jobs. I totally lack the patience. 100%!
What I love about all the ideas is this book is that I can frost them all with minimal effort, time, AND skill and STILL have them actually look like something! Check out a copy at your library, or purchase own on amazon for only $6! It is totally worth it if you have young children in your life!
The cake recipe in this book came from allrecipes.com, submitted by Amy. I kept the recipe very similar, just tweaked the flours so it was not all starch. Not that this is health food, not by a long shot! But this cakes comes together easily and tastes very ‘normal’! It has a nice moist crumb, and a good vanilla flavor. A great basic recipe with minimal ingredients. In the future I will be trying to make it a bit healthier! I have a couple of other (more healthy) cakes I use for birthdays too:
Gluten Free Dairy Free Vanilla Birthday Cake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 16
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour or any mixture of brown rice, oat, and millet
- 3/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon guar gum
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups preferred sugar
- 2/3 cup allowed mayo
- 1 cup non dairy milk of choice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Frosting
- 1/4 cup Earth Balance Margarine or butter
- 1/4 cup Spectrum Shortening
- 2 cups corn-free powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons non-dairy milk to thin to desired consistency
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Whisk the dry ingredients together though the chia meal, set aside.
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In a mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and mayo.
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When well mixed, add in the non dairy milk and vanilla.
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Pour the dry ingredients in and beat well.
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Pour into prepared pans.
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Bake: a bundt pan takes about 45 minutes, 9" circles take about 30. When a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, it is done.
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Cool for about 10 minutes before inverting on a cooling rack.
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Cool completely before frosting (I like to freeze the cake to make it easier to frost).
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FOR THE FROSTING: beat the butter and shortening, blending well.
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Beat in the remaining ingredients, scraping the sides down as necessary.
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Beat on high for 5-7 minutes to get extra fluffy frosting.
Assembling the snake cake:
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| Bake your cake in a bundt pan, cutting in half. |
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| Slide the two pieces in opposite directions |
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| Push together to form a snake |
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| Frost with desired frosting…notice…no smooth frosting…I told you I’m impatient! |
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| Using a muffin cut in half, I created the mouth, bottom first. |
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| This piece was a bit thick, so I cut it down. I used toothpicks to support the mouth open a bit. |
Use a piece fruit leather to cut the tongue, and one large marshmallow cut in half for the eyes. Here are some of the other cakes we have made from this book (long before I knew how to take better pictures of food and my nicer camera!)
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Hi, this looks like a super fun cake! Could you suggest how to sub other ingredients for the eggs? We can’t do eggs at our house, but I know my kids would LOVE the snake. 🙂 Also, what kind of food coloring or tint do you recommend? thanks so much!!!
I have a vegan vanilla cake now too….http://www.tessadomesticdiva.com/2013/04/moist-gluten-free-vegan-vanilla-birthday-cupcakes.html
I have used India tree and some Wilton cake decorators…birthday cakes are the only time I make a exception for the food coloring which is not my favorite thing!
Hi Tessa, would applesauce work instead of the mayo in the cake? I don’t do well w/mayo, even homemade…Thanks, my son is so excited to make this!
Hi Amy! i think it could work, however it will have a different taste and texture. I would suggest using at least half oil (like light olive oil or melted coconut oil) to preserve some the richenss and texture. Let us know if does or doesn’t work out for future reference! Plenty of people can’t do mayo…
Well, I have found one of the epic designed cake from this source. The exclusive contents and features of these cakes are really looking mind blowing. The design of this Gluten Free cakes are really looking delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Can't do cakes. Phewie. Wow, these are amazing! My poor kids are so unfortunate to not have their mom go all out. Pretty sad really! I did make a homemade Yoda pinata for my son's birthday last year. I was pretty proud of my non-crafty self. Happy Belated Birthday to your daughter!
You all talk as if you can;t do these cakes…TRUST me, you CAN!! They are really very easy to do!! I hate decorating cakes that take longer than 10 minutes!
I am impressed as well! I have only gone as far as making a heart shaped cake for my kids. I am sure my daughter would appreciate one of your awesome cake designs much more 🙂
go for it Erin, this cake is good by any standards!!
very cute idea! Have always wanted to make a homemade birthday cake for my kids. This year, with mom being GF, just might do it, so I can enjoy the cake too!
When my brother and I were young, we'd get to go through the cake decorating book and choose what we wanted for our birthday. Thank you for bringing back that memory. This is very cute.
Your snake cake is adorable and so are all the others, Tessa! This post has me remembering all the cakes I made for Son. But that was before our gluten-free days. Well, mostly … I did make a gf ice cream cakes for him for a later birthday. These days he'd vote for pound cake very time though; that's his favorite. Anyway, saw your post over at Linda's and had to check it out. 🙂 Happy birthday to your daughter!
Shirley
I'm impressed!
Hi Tessa, thanks for all your wonderful comments on my blog this weekend! I don't have one of those "subscribe to comments" things nor do I know how to get one. Truth be told though, I almost NEVER post anymore. If you check in with me once a month there may or may not be a new post. I LOVE your cakes! They are far more detailed than anything I would ever tackle. My new favorite is the rice crispy treat "cake", we don't even decorate it, just stick in some fancy candles and we're good to go! 🙂 Now I'm going to go check out the rest of your blog, you have some really good looking stuff!