• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

A Not So Simple Life

Chock Full of GF Flour, Mason Jars, Cast Iron Skillets, and Crafting Supplies

  • Home
  • The Kitchen
  • The Garden
  • The Pantry
  • The Studio
  • Everything Else
You are here: Home / The Kitchen / Dessert Recipes / Organic, Allergen Free, Low Sugar, Carrot, Zucchini Spice 1st Birthday “Smash” Cake; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Chocolate Free

Organic, Allergen Free, Low Sugar, Carrot, Zucchini Spice 1st Birthday “Smash” Cake; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Chocolate Free

September 1, 2014 by Kristina 9 Comments

Like I mentioned before, my little one’s first birthday is fast approaching. I’ve been up early multi-tasking like a mad person every morning. I kid you not, I had no idea I can do so many projects at one time!  We had a one year photo shoot on Friday so I was up early Friday morning trying to finish everything last minute – I thought I was going to have a melt down. Oddly though, every single thing I did in my panicked rush turned out perfect, from my Maritime Flag Birthday Banner backdrop, to the Allergen Free Birthday Cake and Natural Blue Food Coloring – I really couldn’t believe it.  Check out the blog in about a week for posts on how you can make your own nautical decor and food coloring. For now, here’s a really delicious gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, corn free, egg free Carrot-Zucchini Spice Cake recipe. This recipe is modified from Nomyumfree.com’s Harvest Cake recipe (which she also used for her little one’s first birthday!) You can check out her post here.

This cake is great at this time of year because zucchini and carrots are in full swing at the farmers markets. The spices in the cake make the house smell AMAZING and are reminiscent of fall (which is quickly approaching).  My non-gluten free photographer took a bite of the cake and thought it tasted kind of like zucchini bread. I think that’s a valid thought. I would consider this more like a quick bread shaped into a cake than a cake 🙂 – that’s more my style anyways and still delicious! Because of this, it was a little more dense than a regular cake which made it way easier for me to cut and make into a cute looking cake! Purchases made via some links in this post help to support my blog. If you haven’t read my policy check it out here

Organic, Allergen Free, Low Sugar, Carrot, Zucchini Spice 1st Birthday "Smash" Cake; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Chocolate Free

Organic, Allergen Free, Low Sugar, Carrot, Zucchini Spice Cake 

One thing I would note about this cake. Make it the day of (or possibly the night before) so it stays fresh (or make and freeze). This cake isn’t super counter stable 🙂

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups organic zucchini, shredded (moisture removed)

1 cup organic carrots, shredded (moisture removed)

2 Tbsp chia seeds

6 tbsp water

3 cups gluten free flour (I used my flour blend – found here – and substituted the corn starch for potato starch)

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp organic ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp organic ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp organic ground cloves

1/2 tsp organic ground all spice

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/3 cup Spectrum Naturals Organic Canola Oil

1 cup unsweetened, organic applesauce

Other things you’ll need:

hand mixer

three Round Cake Pans, 6-Inch x 2-Inch

Spectrum Naturals Canola Oil Spray

Directions:

Shred your zucchini and carrots.  Place the shredded veggies between a few paper towel and squeeze to remove the moisture, repeat 2-3 times. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray your cake pans with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix chia seeds with water and let set until thickened (about 2 minutes). In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and all spice.  Add canola oil to the chia seed mixture and beat with an electric mixer for about 1 minute. Add sugar and continue to beat on low.  Fold in carrots and zucchini.

PhotoGrid_1409576183092

Add half of the flour mixture to your chia seed mixture, beating just to combine. Add half of the applesauce to the mixture, beat to combine.  Repeat.  **Don’t be surprised if the dough seems pretty thick, it is!** Spoon 1/3 of the mixture into each of the prepared cake pans and use a spatula to smooth (be sure to make the really flat, it’ll help later)! Bake on 350 degrees for 20 -22 minutes (DO NOT OVERBAKE!)

Frost with your favorite allergen free frosting! I personally LOVE a nice butter cream! Although we’re dairy free we can have butter (because we’re technically whey free).  I’ll post more on that later!

 Organic, Allergen Free, Low Sugar, Carrot, Zucchini Spice 1st Birthday "Smash" Cake; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Chocolate Free

 Organic, Allergen Free, Low Sugar, Carrot, Zucchini Spice 1st Birthday "Smash" Cake; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Chocolate Free

 

All of my recipes are gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and nut free, meaning that they are peanut free, cashew free, tree nut free, walnut free, pecan free, and almond free.  They are also free of a lot of other grains and legumes because I’m intolerant to them, along with gluten.  My recipes are amaranth free, barley free, chick pea free, buckwheat free, fava bean free, flax free, garbanzo free, oat free, rye free, sorghum free, spelt free, and teff free.  If there are easy substitutions to make the recipe egg free I try to include them. My recipes are dairy free – I personally am intolerant to whey and therefore can eat butter. Mostrecipes can be made completely dairy free with a butter substitute. Feel free to leave any changes you’ve made in the comments for others to see!

Filed Under: Dessert Recipes, The Kitchen Tagged With: birthday cake, cake, dairy free, egg free, first birthday, gluten free, nut free, soy free

Previous Post: « Garlicky Broccoli; Gluten Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Recipe
Next Post: Classic Buttercream Icing, Frosting Icing (Without Shortening); Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free Recipe (with option for Dairy Free & Vegan) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emily

    November 8, 2015 at 1:44 pm

    I just made this to try for my sons smash cake! We have a milk, egg, and peanut allergy! We used white whole wheat flour (only 2 1/2 cups), coconut oil, flax meal instead of chia seeds, and no cloves or all spice bc I didn’t have them! This turned out delicious! I’m going to try some whipped coconut cream frosting! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂

    Reply
    • kristina

      November 8, 2015 at 9:04 pm

      I’m so happy you liked it! Yum! I would love to hear how the coconut cream frosting turns out!

      Reply
      • Kylee

        April 3, 2016 at 11:25 pm

        What can i use instead of applesauce in this cake

        Reply
        • kristina

          April 4, 2016 at 2:15 am

          Hi! I’ve never made it with anything other than applesauce. Do you need to avoid apples? If so, you could try mashed bananas or even canned pumpkin. I bet they would both be delicious. If you make it with either let me know how it goes!

          Reply
  2. ali

    September 8, 2016 at 12:12 am

    Is there something I could use instead of canola oil?

    I’m totally going to use your buttercream frosting recipe – all looks so yummy!

    Reply
    • kristina

      September 8, 2016 at 12:22 am

      Hello! Yes, you could use any type of oil. We’ve moved away from canola since this time and use avocado oil for almost everything now. Coconut oil would work fine too!

      The buttercream is delicious and rich (as frosting should be) without the weird shortening oily coat your mouth feeling! Note that butter is dairy (as Im sure you know) so make sure your little one can tolerate it. We’re dairy free but can tolerate butter.

      Reply
  3. Lynsey

    March 5, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    I will try the coconut oil substitute next time. The flavor turned out good (I used one of my daughter’s beet/apple organic pouches in lieu of the applesauce). However, even after baking for 22 minutes, in two small tins (I only used about 1/3 the recipe this time) the center’s of my cake were still pure dough! Perhaps I didn’t dry my veggies enough? Any ideas to help? I don’t want to over bake.
    I love all the ratios though, it was perfect around the edges where it was cooked!

    Reply
    • kristina

      March 20, 2017 at 7:00 pm

      Hmmmm, I’ve never had that happen. My thought is that maybe the beet/apple is more watery than apple sauce (if I remember those correctly). Maybe decrease the sauce slightly? I could also see it being teh veggies if you didn’t get enough water out. Hope it works for you!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Nautical Birthday Party Ideas; Nautical Photo Shoot, My Little Ones First Birthday says:
    September 24, 2014 at 10:00 pm

    […] of paper scraps, glue and gf flour. I made banners, and decorations, and cakes (check out my Allergen Free, Low Sugar Spice Cake and Buttercream Icing). Stay tuned for my posts on DIY Maritime flag banners, Boat Line Frames, […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About Me

I'm a gluten free, soy free, diary free Mom, urban organic gardener, homesteader, ex-fashion designer and internet marketing consultant, who likes to craft. Who says life's simple?

Affiliate Links

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that all of my pages may include affiliate links. You can see my entire disclosure by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page but basically, I receive a small commission to help fund my blog if you make purchases through the links. I only promote the products that I use and love! I really appreciate any purchases you make and you’ll never get charged more for making them through them! So please, shop away :)

Archives


Footer

Want to Know More?

  • About Kristina
  • Affiliate Links
  • Contact Kristina
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

It’s cold and rainy in Michigan today and I’m wishing I had some homemade chicken broth ready for a soup like this one. This soup is naturally gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, egg free and can be easily made vegan. It also could easily be made nightshade free with the elimination of…

Read More

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework