A sweet and special First Birthday Smash Cake that any birthday girl or boy would love to smash into!
There is nothing cuter than watching a baby smash into their first birthday cake! I love seeing the curiosity and excitement on their face as they are given permission to dig into their very own cake and make as big of a mess as they want while everyone cheers them on! Such a fun birthday tradition!
So as you can imagine, I was so thrilled and flattered when my friend, Robin, asked me to make sweet Ella’s first birthday smash cake! I was also pretty nervous because I’m no cake decorator and I wanted it to be so cute and special for the birthday girl!
Ella is a girly girl so my vision for her smash cake was pink, pink, and more pink! In fact, I think it was the most pink I’ve ever had in my house and I loved it! I always tell Robin that her precious girls give me my “girly fix” in this house full of boys!
I decided to make the same cake I made for Baker on his first birthday! It’s a simple banana cake that’s easy and delicious!
I frosted Baker’s smash cake with a chocolate frosting and topped it off with some sport ball cake balls to fit the theme of his party! All boy!
Fudge Frosting Recipe:
- 5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 tablespoons milk
Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Add butter and beat on high speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar and the milk; beat until smooth. Add more powdered sugar if frosting seems too thin.
For Ella’s cake, I made a fluffy light pink frosting and decorated it with hot pink icing and large pink sprinkles. All girl!
As you can see, the birthday girl had no fear and dug right in to her special cake!
For you moms out there who think you can’t make your baby’s first birthday cake, trust me, you can! Let me show you how. I promise it’s so easy and so fun!
Here’s a glance at how you bake the cake…
And here’s a glance at how to make the frosting and frost the cake…
Decorate the tops and sides of the cake as you wish. I pressed jumbo round pink sprinkles around the sides of the cake and piped store-bought hot pink decorator’s icing around the bottom and top of the cake.
Happy Birthday, sweet Ella! We Love You!
Enjoy!
xoxo,
Thank you to Christine Atkins Photography for allowing me to post the adorable pictures she took of Ella smashing her cake!
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First Birthday Smash Cake
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 6-8
- Category: Cake
Description
A sweet and special cake that any birthday girl or boy would love to smash into!
Ingredients
Banana Cake:
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/3 cup honey (or 1/2 cup pure maple syrup)
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups self-rising flour OR see substitute suggestions in notes
- 3 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1–1/2 cups)
Marshmallow Creme Frosting:
- 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow crème
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 5 teaspoons whole milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2–3 drops red food color
- decorative round jumbo sprinkles and icing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour two 6-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, 1/3 cup honey (or 1/2 cup pure maple syrup), eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and stir until well combined. Stir in the mashed bananas.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes then invert cakes onto the wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the marshmallow crème, butter and 3 teaspoons milk with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until smooth. Add remaining 2 teaspoons milk and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in food color until frosting is of your desired color. I added 2 drops for a light pink color.
- Once cakes are cool, slice off the top of each cake to make them flat. Spread a few tablespoons of frosting on the bottom of the serving platter or cake stand you plan to use. Place one cake top down on the frosting. Put a generous scoop of frosting on top of the first layer and spread until even. Place the other cake top down on the first layer. Spread the top and sides of the cake evenly with more frosting until completely coated and smooth. You want there to be a fairly thick layer of frosting around the cake so your baby will have lots of frosting to get all over them when smashing it.
- Decorate the tops and sides of the cake as you wish. I pressed jumbo round sprinkles around the sides of the cake and piped store-bought decorator’s icing around the bottom and top of the cake.
Notes
To substitute the 2 cups self-rising flour, use 2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt.
The photos of the unfrosted cakes look almost like biscuits. What is the consistency like?
Hi Lauren! It’s similar to a moist muffin consistency. Not biscuit-like at all. Hope this helps.
Perfect. Thanks!
How tall were the 6″ cake pans that you used?
Hi Amy! They’re 2 inches tall.
Hi, I tried this and mine came out very thick and dense. I can’t really explain it, any idea where I could have gone wrong? I’m going to try again tonight.
Hi Sadie! It is a denser cake, but should still be tender and moist. More of a muffin-like texture.
Hi Maegan! I searched for a no refined sugar recipe on Pinterest (as well as one without apple sauce… we don’t currently have any) and I stumbled onto the Gold Medal site and saw it was from BakerMama. Made me smile so I had to come to your site and say “thanks”! I will be using this cake from my little girl’s first birthday. Congrats on your new little one and take care!
Hi Manda! This makes my day! 🙂 Hope you’re doing great! Your little girl is adorable! I hope she had the best birthday and that she loves the cake! xoxo
Hi, Excited to try this, my LO turning 2 LOVES bananas. Do you have suggestions for changing proportions to make it full size in either 8 or 9 in pans?
Hi Jen! The cake rises pretty high when baked, so if you’re okay with a little thinner but more round cake, then you could stick with the same recipe. Otherwise, I would recommend making times and a half of the recipe for 8 or 9 inch pans. Hope this helps. Enjoy & happy birthday to your little one! 🙂
Hi there! I’m so excited to try this recipe for my little one’s first birthday but I’m concerned about using honey. Can I substitute with something else like applesauce to get a similar consistency?
Hi Jenny! I would recommend substituting the honey with maple syrup. Hope this helps. Happy Birthday to your little one!
Thank you so much! I’m definitely going to try this.
I tested this for my little girl Madeleine’s first birthday smash cake. I did half the recipe for cupcakes and baked 16 minutes. They were maybe a little over done, next time I’ll try 14 minutes. They were sooo good! I tried a different recipe but it was super dense. My family gobbled these down. I did a peanutbutter butter cream frosting with half the normal sugar, I will be making a 4″ – 2 tier cake for the bday next month. Thanks for this recipe, it’s perfect!!
I had no issues with moistness, My banana wasn’t ripe so I baked it in the oven for 15 minutes first. I googled what to do when you have unripe bananas. Worked perfectly.
For the marshmallow frosting – it calls for milk. Is this also whole milk or does it matter?
Hi Katie! Yes, whole milk works best in the frosting. I just updated the recipe to clarify. Enjoy! 🙂
Will all-purpose flour work? I’m planning to make this for my daughter’s upcoming 1st birthday… will also be making cupcakes using your recipe for her wee guests. 🙂
Hi Laina! Yes, you can make your own by adding 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt to one cup of all-purpose flour. Happy Birthday to your little girl! Have fun celebrating! 🙂
So flat. Followed your directions exactly, are you sure there’s no extra baking soda or powder? I used the self rising flour and the cakes didn’t rise and what little fluff they did have completely deflated when cooled.
Hi Jen! No, the ingredients are correct when using self-rising flour. I’ve never had an issue with this cake not rising. In fact, I always have to cut the tops off of each layer to make it flat because the cake rises really well.
As two other Mamas commented…my cakes did not rise at all???? They are very flat and dense…consistency reminded me of play dough.
Hi Brittany! So sorry to hear that. Did you follow the recipe ingredients and instructions exactly? Did you use self-rising flour? I have never had an issue with this cake not rising. It’s actually one of the highest rising cakes I bake.
How long do these cakes keep for? My son’s birthday is four days away and I was thinking about making tonight. Would I need to refrigerate or could I leave the cakes unfrosted at room temp? Thanks!!
Hi Julie! I would suggest baking them, letting them cool completely, wrapping each layer tightly in plastic wrap and placing in a freezer safe ziploc bag in the freezer until the night before you’re ready to frost it. Just let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight and then unwrap and let come to room temperature before frosting. Hope this helps!
Just was asking myself the same question about make ahead or not! We just moved into our new house on the 24th and our son’s 1st birthday party is on the 8th so having to get a house presentable plus a birthday party the same week! Saw your explanation on how to make the cake layers ahead of time in the freezer and its perfect! My son is a lover of any member of a food group, but bananas are his favorite! So excited for this!
HI! My baby turns one this weekend and I am wanting to make this for her. Do you think almond milk could be substituted? And maybe vegan butter?
My baby has a dairy issue.
Hi Michelle! How exciting! I definitely think almond milk is a great substitute, but I’ve never baked with vegan butter so I couldn’t say for sure. If you’ve had luck baking with vegan butter before then I say go for it, but maybe do a test run first. I hope it turns out great and that y’all have a wonderful weekend celebrating your little one! 🙂
This is an older post but plan to make these for my son’s birthday. Wanted to do them as cupcakes as well, has anyone tried that? Do you know how many it makes? Thanks!!
Hi! Would it be possible to make this and substitute strawberries for the bananas? Thanks!
Hi Allison! I couldn’t say for sure because I haven’t tested the recipe with strawberries. The bananas add a lot of the moisture to the cake and since strawberries have more water content, I’m not sure how the cake will bake up or if other ingredients will need to be adjusted. Could you do a combination of pureed strawberries and mashed banana? It’s certainly worth a try using all strawberries so if you do give it a try, let us know how it turns out. Fingers crossed!
I may try it out beforehand with strawberries or strawberries and banana. I’ll let you know. Thanks!
Hi! Is there anything I can substitute for the eggs? We have an egg allergy to avoid for my baby’s first birthday but I wanted to make him a semi-healthy cake (with banana or applesauce). Thank you!
Hi Sarabeth! I would recommend substituting each egg with 1/4 cup applesauce. So omit the 2 eggs and add 1/2 cup applesauce instead. That should work great! Happy 1st birthday to your little guy! Have fun celebrating! 🙂
Just made this little cake with a couple of weeks. My bananas were not quite “banana cake” ready so I added 2 tablespoons of yopleit kids banana flavoured yogurt to the mix along with 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Required about 35mins with the yogurt. Cake turned out lovely, definitely more like a muffin consistency but not dense at all. Instead of the marshmallow cream icing, I whipped cream cheese in my stand mixer for about 5 minutes until it was very fluffy. I added a small amount of gel food colouring and purred mixed berries to give it some extra flavour. Rosette piped frosting topped with rose petals and edible glitter, it looked beautiful. Thanks for the recipe Maegan, will definitely look to your blog in the future.
Love it, Morgan! So happy it turned out great! All of your adjustments sounded so yummy. Hope it was a very special celebration! Thanks for sharing!
Hi. Can I bake this in advance and frost the day of? Do I need to store it in the refrigerator?
Hi Samantha! Absolutely, just let eat each layer cool completely and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap to store in the refrigerator. Just remove layers from the refrigerator and frost when you’re ready to serve. Enjoy!
Hi There! I’m making a cake for my guys 1st birthday. Is it possible to sub the bananas for pumpkin? He loves everything PuMpkin!! TIA!
AllieB
Hi Allie! Absolutely! Pumpkin is always a great substitute for banana. Sounds like the perfect 1st birthday cake for your little guy! Enjoy celebrating!
Hi there! I know this is an older post but would whole wheat pastry flour be an okay substitute?
I’m really excited I found this recipe and can’t wait to try it out!
Hi Kayla! Absolutely, to substitute the 2 cups self-rising flour, use 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Enjoy!
I’m making this in a 9×13 pan and cutting out my cake circles from that. I’m okay with a smaller cake but wondering if I’ll need to adjust baking time? Thanks
Hi Mallorie! I bet that worked great! It would probably bake about the same time as the two 6-inch rounds would. Hope it turned out great and sorry for the delayed response!
Made this for my daughter on her 1st birthday 5 years ago and now I’m making it again for my second daughter on her 1st birthday. Thanks for a great recipe, I always eat the top I level off and maybe the left overs too, so yummy!
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Hi, I thought babies under two weren’t supposed to have honey?
Hi there! According to the CDC and the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), the age recommendation is at least 12 months, or one year. Of course, these are broad guidelines and I am neither endorsing them nor making any recommendations with regard to your child’s diet. You can read about honey here: https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/infantandtoddlernutrition/foods-and-drinks/foods-and-drinks-to-limit.html