Red Berries Vegan Cake with Coconut and Cashew frosting

Baby birthday cakes: I have definitely a passion for them 🙂

Homemade birthday cakes are my favorite: maybe they are not the perfectly decorated ones that you can buy at the bakery, but they taste fresh and yummy and they are made with love.

For babies I really like to use healthy organic and allergen free ingredients because I want them to enjoy the cake without any side effect. Today I want to share with you a lovely fruity vegan cake frosted with a coconut and cashew mix. I really really really liked it! Yes, I try every single baby food that I share on my post and I test it with my kids too even if they are now older. I really trust their opinion 🙂

I wanted a pink cake so I used fresh berries from the market: strawberries and raspberries. I used them in the cake batter and also in the frosting.

You can use any sweet seasonal fruit that you like. Just keep in mind that the color of the fruit will affect the color of the cake 🙂

For the shape I decided to go for a small tiny cake, round, as I had a lovely tiny cake stand that I wanted to use. You can use any cake pan that you like, a regular size one. Once the cake is baked you can decide to cut a small shape: maybe a round one using a glass.

Also, have fun with the decoration. I really like cakes decorated with fruit or even flowers. This time I didn’t place a candle but I created a 1 year cake top simply using a pink cardboard and a lollypop stick. I also think that toys are a super cute cake top idea (legos or anything that can be washed, placed on the cake and than washed again and placed back in the toy box!!)

If you like the cake but not the frosting or the opposite, I have a whole selection of posts about Baby Birthday cakes, you can simply mix and match the cake kind and the frosting that you like. Here you are the most popular:

Frozen Yogurt and Vanilla Cake

Peach Cake

Banana Apple with Cream Cheese frosting

Multilayer fruit only cake

Purple chocolate cake with sweet potato frosting

The preparation of the cake is very simple.

In a bowl add all the wet ingredients: applesauce, dates puree, coconut oil, vanilla extract, lemon juice and water. Mix and set apart. In another bigger bowl add all the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda. Mix. Slowly add the wet ingredients with a whisk. Combine well.

Clean the berries and chop them in small pieces: baby bite size. Add them to the batter and gently fold them in.

Fill the cake pans (or pan) with the cake batter and bake in preheated oven to 350F for 30 minutes. As you might use a cake pan of a different size, the toothpick rule will help you to decide if the cake is cooked. When the suggested cooking time is over, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake, if it will come out dry, it means that the cake is ready. Otherwise keep baking for additional 5 minutes and check again and keep adding 5 minutes at the time if needed.

When the cake is ready, let it cool down completely.

Meanwhile you can prepare the frosting. Easy. Add all the ingredients in a food processor (coconut cream, coconut oil, dates puree, cashews, vanilla extract, almond extract, dash of salt, fresh raspberries) and blend up until smooth and creamy.

Few comments on the ingredients.

1. To sweeten the cake I used a very baby friendly dates syrup made with dates only…nothing else. You can make your own date syrup or paste simply soaking dried dates in water overnight and pureeing them. If you don’t have dates syrup or dried dates, you can switch with maple syrup or with any other dried fruit puree (I really like dried figs puree too as natural sweetener).
2. Coconut cream. I buy a can at the local asian store and place it in the refrigerator overnight. That’s how the cream separates from the water/milk and I can remove easily from the can the thick cream only. The thicker the coconut cream will be the firmer your frosting will get.
3. Cashews. I soaked them overnight in a bowl full of water to get them soft enough to be pureed. I really like the mild cashew flavor, but if you want a more nutty flavor, switch the cashews with almonds.

Last phase: decoration.

Frost the cake with the frosting. I found it easier to frost it directly on the cake stand 🙂 Have fun with the decoration. I decided to use the same fruit I added to the cake. Some green mint leaves would have been beautiful too. A candle or any other cake top you like will make the cake even more special.

Storing: you can prepare the cake the day before, store it on the countertop in an air tight container and frost it the day of the birthday. Keep the frosting in the refrigerator. Once the cake is frosted, keep it in the refrigerator too. Happy Happy Birthday to your little one!!!!