Dye-Free Kid Birthday Cake Recipe

Before you dive into this recipe, allow us to introduce you to the (amazing!) creator behind it, Sarah Mohring. A former professional chef turned mom of two, she now balances her time caring for her littles and whipping up delicious recipes made from good-for-you ingredients at home. In honor of the launch of The Sweet Shoppe, our newest collab with Madi Nelson, we asked Sarah to bake up a little treat. Here, she’s sharing the recipe for the cake she created for our photoshoot. Made with organic ingredients and without unnatural dyes, it makes the perfect first-birthday smash cake, toddler party cake, or, if you have a sweet tooth like us, a delicious any-occasion cake. Happy baking and enjoy!

Ten years ago I was looking at a much different kitchen than I do these days. My chef coat didn’t have breast milk stains and I didn’t have to dodge legos while I cook. If you’d told me I’d stir sauces and mix doughs with a baby strapped to me or slow down my cooking enough to let a 5-year-old join? I would have openly laughed. Life has a funny way of coming full circle, though. I may have traded my chef coat for a nursing bra and a 300-seat restaurant for my home dining table, but there is no greater food critic than a 3- or 6-year-old. 

After my first son was born I started to dive deep into the ingredients in the food we were eating as a family. He struggled with skin issues and numerous food sensitivities and I felt like I was drowning with no answers. The more I researched, the more I realized that most of the food we consumed daily had ingredients and additives linked to gut problems, eczema, and even behavioral issues. As a mom, it can be so overwhelming to look at the grocery store shelves and feel like there are no “good” options. So I started making my own. “Chef mama” was born out of my transformation from chef to mom.

Birthdays are such a big day for parents. From parties to decor to gifts to, you know where I’m going here…a cake. What birthday is complete without a cake, a candle, and an icing-coated smile? For me, knowing that their cake was not only delicious but without the conventional dyes that are in most icings and mixes on the shelves was paramount. Give me a 4th birthday party without red dye number 40, please! There is no greater feeling than watching your child grin from ear to ear, eating their dye-free birthday cake, and thinking, “I made that.”

Chef Mama’s Dye-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake

Makes: Two 8’’ cake rounds or 18-24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 2⁄3 cup organic cake flour
• 4 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1 2⁄3 cup organic sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1⁄2 cup milk at room temp
• 3⁄4 cup unsalted grass fed butter (the better the butter the better the flavor!)
• 2 eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 tbsp organic vanilla bean paste

For the icing:

• 1 1⁄2 cup unsalted grass-fed butter
• 1⁄2 cup unrefined coconut oil (should be a semisolid at room temperature_
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• Pinch of sea salt
• 5-6 cups of sifted organic powdered sugar
• 2-3 tbsp heavy cream

Coloring:

• 4 tbsp of dried beet powder for a rose pink
• 3 tbsp dried spirulina powder for a green/blue

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. 325 for cake or 350 for cupcakes.
2. To prepare your cake pans: Trace the bottom of the pan onto a piece of parchment paper, cut out the circle and place in the bottom of your pan. This will keep it from sticking and is crucial!
3. Combine all your dry cake ingredients in a bowl. This would be your flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
4. Add your slices of butter into the dried ingredients by hand, using your fingers combine the butter into the flour until everything is crumbly.
5. One-by-one, add your wet ingredients starting with the eggs, then milk, then vanilla. Mixing slowly until each is just combined but not overmixed.
6. Pour evenly between the two cake pans or amongst the cupcakes.
7. For cake: Bake for 40-45 minutes on the middle rack. For cupcakes: Fill cupcake liners to the halfway point and bake 18-20 minutes on the center rack. Test with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, they are ready to come out!
8. Allow to cool for 8-10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edge of the pan, place your cooling rack or plate on top of the pan then flip over. Slowly lift the turned-over cake pan up and off of the baked cake. Slowly peel off the parchment from the top of the cake layer.
9. Allow to cool on the counter or in the refrigerator until cool to touch.
   

For the icing:

1. In a mixing bowl or mixer fitted with a whisk attachment place the butter and coconut oil. Mix until combined.
2. Slowly add your beet powder or spirulina and powdered sugar until combined. It should be quite thick.
3. One tablespoon at a time add your heavy cream and whip until fluffy. Stop after two tablespoons if the consistency is light and spreadable.
4. Add the vanilla paste and the pinch of salt and mix until just combined.
5. To decorate, use an offset spatula and spread across the top of one cooled cake layer, add the next cake layer. Then cover the exterior of the cake with the remaining icing. Top with fresh berries, dye-free sprinkles, or your child’s favorite character or animal!