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This healthy birthday cake recipe is naturally gluten-free and fruit-sweetened, making it perfect for a child’s first birthday party, or any occasion where you want to serve a healthier (but still delicious!) cake.
It’s actually shocking how good it tastes, considering it doesn’t use refined flour, sugar, or oil. Even the frosting is fruit-sweetened!
This recipe is inspired by my Paleo Banana Snack Cake, which is sweetened with only bananas. However, I wanted this birthday cake to taste a little sweeter than that, so that my pickier family members would enjoy it too. I hope you’ll love it just as much as we do!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“I made this cake for my dad’s birthday and it was so delicious, we all really enjoyed it! It tastes so much like a real cake, if not better 🙂
This one’s definitely a keeper!” -Nikki
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Medjool dates. Choose soft and squishy dates that are easy to split apart with your fingers to remove the pits inside. I buy mine in the produce section of the grocery store. (Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods always have good ones!)
- Almond butter. Use raw almond butter or homemade almond butter that has a mild flavor for the best results. Readers have also reported success using peanut butter.
- Eggs. Since this cake is made without flour, the eggs provide the structure. Don’t use flax eggs and expect the same result.
- Vanilla extract. This adds a classic flavor, but feel free to experiment with other options if you like.
- Baking soda. This helps the cake rise as it bakes, but you can use double the amount of baking powder if you prefer. (So, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder could be swapped.)
- Salt. A pinch of salt helps enhance the sweet flavor, so don’t skip this step!
If you plan on making frosting at the same time, check out my date-sweetened frosting.
How to Make a Healthy Cake
Step 1:
Add the eggs, dates, and water to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. (If using a food processor, you may want to just start with the dates and 1/4 cup of water first, then add in the eggs once the dates have broken down a bit more, to cut down on splashing.)
Add the remaining ingredients to the blender or food processor and blend again to create a smooth batter for the cake.
Alternatively, you can pour the blended date mixture into a large bowl and then stir in the almond butter, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. This is a good idea if you think your blender can’t handle blending a very thick batter.
Step 2:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and use cooking spray or coconut oil to lightly grease two 8-inch pans or three 6-inch pans, depending on how many layers you’d like to make.
You can add a piece of parchment paper to the bottom of each pan, if you’d like to guarantee they will remove easily later. (The oil will hold the parchment paper in place.)
Divide the batter evenly among the pans, then bake until lightly golden on top, about 25-30 minutes.
Step 3:
Let the cake layers cool completely in the pan, and make the frosting while you wait. (See frosting ideas below!)
When the cake layers are cool, you can spread the frosting on each layer and add any extra decorations you like, such as sprinkles or fresh berries.
Serving & Storage Tips
Serve this cake at room temperature for the best flavor and texture. When ready to store, keep it tightly covered in the fridge.
It should keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Safety Tip
If you plan to serve this cake at a first birthday party, please keep in mind that you should introduce all the ingredients to the child beforehand to rule out any potential allergies. (We introduced the most common allergens, such as peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs, to our children before 11 or 12 months of age.)
Healthy Frosting Ideas
- Fruit-Sweetened Chocolate Frosting. This frosting is made with no refined sugar and comes together quickly in a blender.
- 2-Ingredient Vegan Ganache. This recipe is made with dark chocolate and coconut milk for the easiest frosting ever. Make this before making the cake, so it has time to chill in the fridge while the cake bakes. Note: I made a double-batch of this recipe for the cake photos here. I wanted to have plenty of frosting for all three layers, but I had about a half cup of frosting leftover after finishing this cake, so making a full double batch might not be necessary.
- Coconut whipped cream. Another easy option, this whipped cream is dairy-free and naturally sweet. It’s what I use for a first birthday cake, to keep it low in sugar.
- Cream Cheese Frosting. This frosting is actually made with white sweet potatoes, but it reminds me of a cream cheese frosting!
- Purple sweet potato frosting. If you can find purple sweet potatoes at your local grocery store, they make a beautiful frosting without the need for food coloring. Add in some almond extract for an amazing flavor!
- Greek yogurt. For a low-sugar dessert, this is another option, which you can top with fresh berries.
However you decorate it, I hope you’ll enjoy this healthy birthday cake the next time you need a gluten-free and fruit-sweetened cake in your life.
More Healthy Cake Recipes
- Almond Flour Chocolate Cake. This cake is made with almond flour and sweetened with maple syrup; if you want an alternative cake. I’ve also tested it as cupcakes for you!
- Coconut Flour Cupcakes. If you want a dessert without tree nuts, this is another delicious treat.
- Almond Flour Cake. A vanilla version of my popular chocolate cake!
- Flourless Chocolate Cake. Made without flour, this chocolate cake is ultra-rich and not too difficult to prepare.
- Vegan Chocolate Tart. This is perfect for those who need an impressive dessert, without using eggs or dairy.
- Oat Flour Flag Cake. This nut-free cake is naturally gluten-free and turns out impressively fluffy.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup Medjool dates , pitted (8 ounces)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Optional Topping
- 1 batch healthy chocolate frosting (or any other variety you like)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease two 8-inch round pans, or three 6-inch pans, with coconut oil or spray oil. (I like to line them with parchment paper, too, to guarantee easy removal later.)
- In a blender or food processor, combine the eggs, dates, and water and blend until smooth. (If using the food processor, I like to start with only the water because it can splash so much. Add in the eggs once the dates have broken down a bit, to avoid splashing.)
- Add in the almond butter, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and blend again until a smooth batter is formed. Alternatively, you can pour the blended date mixture into a large bowl, then stir in the other ingredients, so your blender won't have to blend anything too thick.
- Divide the batter among the two or three prepared pans, and smooth the top with a spatula. (They won't be very full, but will rise as they bake.) Bake until lightly golden on top, about 25 minutes to 30 minutes.
- Cool completely before removing the cake from the pan, then frost with your favorite frosting and serve. This cake can be served and stored at room temperature for at least 2 days, but for best shelf life I recommend storing it in the fridge, tightly covered, for up to a week.
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Notes
Nutrition
If you try this healthy birthday cake recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below, letting me know how you like it!
What kind of sorcery was used to turn those ingredients into this cake??? It is SO good and everyone thinks it’s full of flour, sugar and butter and chocolate?! It’s amazing! I made them into mini cupcakes with your chocolate ganache whipped frosting and it was phenomenol! Thank you for developing this recipe! (I also froze the frosted cupcakes and they were still amazing a month later!)
This cake was very good! My daughter made it for my grandchild as her first bday smash and eat cake, and she enjoyed it very much. So did many of the adults that attended and were surprised at how good it was. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m planning on making this for my husband’s birthday in a few weeks, and I was wondering what the flavour is? Also would it be possible to add cocoa powder to give it a bit of a chocolatey flavour?
Great recipe! What would you recommend amount of cocoa powder to add to make this a ‘chocolate’ cake?
Amazing! I didn’t have dates, but I have tons of fig trees and dehydrate tons of figs every year. I soaked the dehyrated figs in water overnight. Weighed 8 oz of soaked figs and used the figs soaking water to replace the water in the recipe. Used half almond and half sunbutter, frosted with cream cheese frosting made with powdered erythritol. I’m wondering if i could use dehydrated mangoes??
I had high hopes for this recipe and it delivered! Never rated a recipe before but this blew me away, partner decided to do no sugar added diet for his birthday month (of course!). Many other recipes called for bananas, which he doesn’t like (of course!!). So glad to have found this one, I will be making it for my own birthday 😁
Can I make these as cupcakes. How long would they need in the oven?
I really loved the reciepe and gave back memories of a choco lava cake i had from Magnolia bakery in Dubai
https://www.altayer.com/retail/hospitality/magnolia-bakery
It is surprisingly tasty, albeit a little sweet for my palate, but the texture turned out more muffiny/quick bready than cakey (I made cupcakes instead of a whole cake). Was this the case for anyone else?
My family love this recipe. But I just use finely ground almonds instead of almond butter. The first time that I made it with rroasted raw almonds they ‘turned into’ almond butter. But the next time they just wouldn’t ‘puree’, so I used them as they were and the cake was just as tasty! I also don’t add any topping.