Help with first birthday cake

I am making the cake for DS's first birthday. I want to make a sugar-free or low sugar cake, so that DS and the other babies coming can actually eat the cake. I have found a few recipes - mostly carrot cake, banana cake or unsweetened applesauce cake. The trouble I'm having is that most of the recipes call for sultanas or raisins, and I'd prefer not to add them.

Below are the two recipes I'm considering. Can anyone offer me an alternative to adding the sultanas and raisins? I'm assuming they'd have to be replaced with something, otherwise the consistency of the cake wouldn't be right?

Healthy First Birthday Cake Recipes - Sugar Free Carrot Cake

8oz (2 cups) whole wheat flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
pinch salt
10 fl oz (1 1/4 cup) water
6oz (3/4 cup) raisins
6oz (3/4 cup) sultanas
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp nutmeg
8oz (1 cup) carrot, grated
4 fl oz (1/2 cup) sugar-free applesauce


Preheat the oven to 375 deg F (190 deg C).
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Pour the water into a small saucepan and add the raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon and sultanas.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 mins.
Put the grated carrots into a bowl, then pour in the liquid mixture. Then, add the applesauce and stir the mixture thoroughly.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into a greased pan and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour, until a sharp knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.


Healthy First Birthday Cake Recipes - Spiced Banana Cake With Dried Fruit

8oz (2 cups) whole wheat flour
4oz (1/2 cup) raisins
2oz (1/4 cup) sultanas
4oz (1/2 cup) butter
1tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten well
3 medium bananas, mashed


Preheat the oven to 360 deg F (160 deg C).
Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, then stir in the cinnamon.
Next, stir in the mashed banana, beaten eggs and dried fruit.
Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin.
Bake for around 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until a sharp knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

TIA :)

Sorry, I have no idea what you could replace them with. Is the problem with sultanas and raisins that they are chunky or do you have another problem with them? I guess the reason why you don't want to add them might limit what you can substitute them with. Otherwise, can you make a trial cake without the sultanas and raisins and see how it turns out.

A friend gave me the following recipe for chocolate cake that is eggless, milkless and butterless so it is mostly allergy friendly (except for the flour if kids have a problem with gluten). I haven't made it but I have been told from a number of sources that it is very good. My friend uses it to send with her DS to school. Even if you don't want it for a first birthday cake, I thought it might be worth filing away for school (in a few years). This recipe serves 18:

Super Moist Chocolate Cake

• 375 g plain flour
• 300 g white sugar
• 100 g brown sugar
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 9 g baking soda
• 9 g baking powder
• 160 ml vegetable oil
• 475 ml water
• 30 ml white vinegar
• 10 ml vanilla extract

Now it really is a simple cake to put together so here we go...

1. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder together and combine with white and brown sugars. Really, SIFT IT. NO, you can't get away with skipping it.

2. In a separate bowl combine all the wet ingredients.

3. Dump all the wet ingredients straight in with the dry and mix on low speed until combined then increase speed and mix well.

4. Pour into a greased and lined 10 inch round pan. It will also work as mini muffins, Texas muffins, a bar cake, whatever)

5. Bake at 180C for 40 minutes or until a skewer in the middle comes out clean.

6. Cool the cake in the pan before turning out and icing.


Good luck with the first birthday cake! I hope it is fabulous!!!

Thanks for that. I don't have a problem with the sultanas and raisins myself, but I know some of the mums coming are very cautious about giving their bubs things like that - because of choking I suppose.

I might trial with the sultanas and raisins and see how I go. I thought it would be easier to find a simple low/no sugar cake - but it's actually really hard!

Could you try boiling the saltanas and raisins up in a little bit of water then and food processing them before adding them to the cake, iykwim? (Kind of what you do to dates for a sticky date pudding). Just a thought - don't know if it would work?

I would have thought the cakes would turn out fine without sultanas / raisins. They are neither liquid or dry ingredients and would have been included for taste, rather than consistency. I had a first birthday cake recipe for DD that I didn't end up making. It's not stored on the computer I'm on at the moment, but I'm sure I came across it recently. Will post again if I find it. Not even sure what flavour it was!!

I haven't tried this recipe but was given it by a friend

500grams almond meal
6 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup honey
fruit (2 whole oranges, steamed OR 3 soft ripe pears)

Put everything in a whizzer until well whizzed. Pour into a greased cake pan and bake for 1 hour at about 170c

Not sure what you could replace the sultanas/raisins with either.

For my DS' birthday, I just made a butter cake, but reduced the amount of sugar in it. He ate it, all I did was take the icing off his pieces. No one (in a bunch of sweet lovers) thought that the cake wasn't sweet enough. I guess the icing counteracted that.

I always reduce the amount of sugar in cakes and things when I bake, sometimes by as much as half. It depends on what the other ingredients are (ie, sweet fruit pieces or juice) and if it has icing, etc.

Hope that helps. I can post the recipe I used if you would like, its just from one of the AWW children's cake books I think.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm going to make a test cake (or two) today, so I'll see how we go.

I think I'm going to do a cream cheese icing sweetened with apple juice to go on top - does anyone know if I'd have any trouble colouring that icing?

Should be no problem colouring that icing. Good luck with the test cake / s!!

Thanks *star*

Right, I've made the carrot cake one - with the raisins and sultanas. It tastes okay, but it's an odd texture - don't think I'll do that one as a birthday cake. Next I'm off to try the banana cake. If that's no good either, I think I'll go with the butter cake idea, but with reduced sugar.

Let me know if you want the recipe, but they are all much of a muchness. Good luck!