John Turns ONE!

I can’t believe that my baby, John turned ONE this past week! We celebrated with family and friends on a chilly Sunday afternoon. 

John loves blueberries SO much, so I decided to make his smash cake a blueberry one! I love turning to Pinterest to find inspiration for such occasions. I found the perfect Blueberry Smash Cake for him.

The recipe is from a site called ChowHound and was so easy to make! 

Ingredients:

For the Cake

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 medium ripe banana (about 3 ounces)
• ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ¼ cup whole milk
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

For the Frosting

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Butter the cake pans and then lightly dust them with wheat flour. Two 4” spring form pans are recommended.
3. Heat frozen blueberries on medium / low heat until blueberries are soft / burst. Estimated time: 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once they are cool, use a blender to smooth out the berries. Allow mixture to continue to cool.
4. Whisk together flour, baking power, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, mix banana, applesauce, milk and maple syrup in blender.  Add in the egg and almond extract.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredient bowls. Don’t worry about overmixing!
6. Split the batter into two of the 4” cake pans. Bake for approximately 20 - 30 minutes. Check with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes our clean, let the cake cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Place a knife around the edges and transfer to wire racks to cool.
7. Mix the frosting ingredients with a mixer, carefully folding in the blueberry mixture. TO frost the cake, the best way to do it is to start from the bottom layer first, then add the second layer and frost with a spatula.
8. Now, prepare to serve to your ONE year old for them to smash!

John loved his cake so much, that I might just have to make it again - we probably won’t have him eat it as a smash cake this time though!
                    

We love this time of the year, as we celebrate birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, our wedding anniversary and just having more time to spend together as a family with those we love close by.

We hope that you’re surrounded by loved ones this weekend, doing all the fun festive things.

Xoxo

Nicole