Zucchini Vanilla Birthday Cake

I’m always looking for healthy and tasty birthday cake ideas and this time I really wanted to bake a summer cake that could also work as a light and fluffy dessert for other occasions. Also, my kids are not big fans of frosting and creams. When we go to birthday parties with cupcakes they always remove the frosting top and eat the muffin below only. So I decided to bake a cake that could be make beautiful and pretty for a birthday party without using any frosting nor cream 🙂

As I was baking a baby/toddler cake I used a small cake pan, 6 inches diameter only, and I prepared 6 mega muffins with the remaining batter. They were delicious too! This cake batter is very versatile, you can prepare a regular cake, a mini cake, muffins or mega muffins pending the occasion 🙂

And…as always, the cake is very simple to prepare!

Let’s start preheating the oven to 350F/175C. In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg. Mix.

In a separate bowl beat together the eggs and sugar. This is very important. The eggs should not be cold but at room temperature and you should whisk the mix for 1/2 minutes. The trick is the color of the eggs: they should switch from deep yellow to pale yellow. The whisking will add air to the mix making the cake fluffier.

Mix in applesauce, coconut oil, vanilla, and yogurt. Combine well.

Slowly add the dry mix, just until combined. 

Grate the zucchini finely and squeeze out the extra water. Mash the banana into a puree. The more ripen the banana, the sweeter the cake! Add both zucchini and banana to the mix.

Now it’s your choice:

for a birthday cake pour the batter into a small cake pan (mine is 6 inches diameter) and bake for 60 min or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

for regular muffins 25/30 minutes should be enough.

for giant muffins 50/60 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before enjoying it!

DECORATION.

As I didn’t want to use frosting nor creams I simply decorated the cake with some paper decoration, blueberries and coconut flakes! Easy and pretty.

If you prefer a frosting decoration you might be interested in these healthy frosting ideas 🙂

• Pink coconut cashew frosting
• Cream cashew frosting
• Purple sweet potato frosting
• Green Spinach Frosting
• Chocolate Avocado Frosting
• White Vanilla Tofu Frosting
• White Cream Cheese and Apple Frosting
• Cream Coconut Frosting