It was shortly before my son's first birthday that we learned he had a number of allergies — including eggs and dairy. I had never planned on giving him a whole cake or a "smash cake" for his birthday, but I kind of thought his birthday would be the first time he could have cake ... and that it would be so amazing.
By the time his birthday came around, not only were we faced with his allergies, but he still just wasn't that interested in a lot of food. Nonetheless, I spent the week of his birthday playing test kitchen chef so that he could have cake, dammit.
I tried vanilla cupcakes with rice milk. I tried a sponge cake with milk and egg substitutes. I'm a decent baker, and I can follow recipes, but these were seriously terrible. Finally, on the day before his party, I found one recipe for cupcakes that I decided to try. If this one didn't work, I'd give up.
And they were winners. (The kiddo, however, still wasn't impressed.)
Fast-forward six months to Christmastime, and my mom made an allergy-friendly chocolate cake for us. She told me this was Wacky Cake. And as we started comparing recipes, we discovered it was the same recipe as the birthday cupcakes. But this time, my now-18-month-old was diggin' the chocolate cake. My child was normal after all!
Chocolate wacky cake - Dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nut-free, peanut-free
Another few months later, I made the cake for Easter, and my son loved it again. This time, though, I added an allergy-friendly chocolate frosting. I kept it on the side so that anyone who wanted it could try it. The frosting was a winner among the grown-ups, but the kiddo wouldn't try it. Oh well. Maybe your kiddo will dig it.
Allergy-Friendly Frosting
Ingredients:
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
What to do:
1. Throw it all in a food processor or use an immersion blender until smooth and creamy.