This time of year is a busy time for my family with birthdays. Within the span of 6 weeks all three of my kids will turn a year older. My twins are up first this week…the big oh-2! It brings back memories of their first birthday last year and what a fun celebration it was on top of a huge milestone. I spent weeks leading up to their birthday testing different recipes and making tweaks here and there. Since they had not had much sugar, if any, I wanted to give them a healthy, nutritious birthday cake with just a touch of sweetness. Below is the recipe I ended up with and it will definitely be an annual tradition in our family during birthday season!
Pumpkin Apple Birthday cake
Ingredients:
1c canned pumpkin
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4c coconut or regular sugar
3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour (I substitute whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2c chopped apple (I leave the skin on)
1/2c chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare an 8×8 square pan with cooking spray
2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, and salt, stirring to combine. Add apples and nuts, stirring again. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. Cool the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack, remove pan, and cool cake completely.
5. Serve as is or use icing recipe below to frost cake.
Cream Cheese Icing
(Make 2 Cups)
1, 8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2c butter, room temperature
4 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1. Place all the ingredients in a mixer and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy