In between Everly’s naps and feedings I have begun the day long process that is from scratch cinnamon roll baking. I’ve been craving them for weeks and also want to give some away as a thank you to our neighbors. N might be having a work luncheon or something this week, so he can take a few pans of them to work also. Remember, the recipe I use (from: The Pioneer Woman Cooks) makes like 7 dozen rolls! <- That is way too many for one family to consume!

Last week we experimented with another possible first birthday cake recipe for Everly. N discovered and made this one up. Here it is:

Molasses Spice Cake with Lemon Frosting
from Mother Earth News Oct/ Nov 2009 edition

The reason we decided to try this one is because it has no white sugar and it’s made with applesauce (which we have an abundance of thanks to our apple picking and canning).

You’ll need:

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom (we substituted with allspice)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses (ours didn’t indicate it was “blackstrap”)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease yourself a 9 inch cake pan. We used our 9 inch round springform pan. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices (all the dry ingredients) and put aside.

Next, whisk together the molasses, honey, vinegar, applesauce and milk (all the liquid ingredients). Then slowly fold in the premixed, dry ingredients until completely combined.

Pour entire mixture into your greased cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Our cake wasn’t fully cooked in 30 minutes.

Allow to cool before frosting it.

To make the frosting you’ll need:
1/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Cream the butter then add the powdered sugar a bit at a time alternating with the lemon juice. Beat until creamy and spreadable, you can add more lemon juice to thin it if you find it is too thick to spread. Then frost your cooled cake and enjoy!

This cake, unlike the last one we tried out, tastes very good. Not to dry or flavorless. I’ll probably experiment with a cream cheese frosting or a whipped cream frosting since I am not crazy about the lemon flavor and the huge amounts of sugar in the powdered sugar.

As for it being a baby’s first birthday cake it’s a very good option for those who have not had egg added to their diet yet. The only concern is the honey in the recipe. That is something each parent needs to weigh and decide about on their own. For us it is not a huge concern. For others it might be.

The other major baking endeavor I am undertaking is some puff pastries filled with bavarian cream for N’s birthday. Tomorrow I’ll share those recipes with ya!
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