Quest for a Cake #1

Jaron's first birthday is coming up. Since he'll be the adjusted age of 8.5mo old on his birthday, we're maintaining our no added sugar rule. I've been on the hunt for a cake recipe that fits the bill and I've found three I'd like to try. 

Fun fact from my research - the USDA recommends no added sugar for all children under two years old! Does anyone follow those guidelines these days? Apparently by two years of age, a child's gut microbiome has been established, and if they haven't had much sugar, their gut is full of the bacteria that eats fruits/veggies (which is generated by eating fruits/veggies), and that's what the child tends to crave. Interesting, very interesting. 🧐

Recipe #1 is a lemon poppyseed muffin recipe using spelt, a starch on the first 100 foods list Jaron hasn't tried yet. I did modify it a bit in my attempt. It calls for 1/2c of maple syrup/honey, so I substituted applesauce. If substituting apple sauce, Google says to reduce the liquid by 1/4c for every cup of applesauce. 

I had everything mixed together and it smelled wonderful. Last step was to add the poppyseeds. Mine were rancid. 😣 No poppyseeds next door either. What to do? I thought about putting the batter in the fridge, buying poppyseeds, and baking later, but when I looked at the batter, big bubbles were already forming from the baking powder and baking soda. I figured if I waited longer, they'd be completely flat. 

So, I made a few plain lemon, a few blueberry lemon (with frozen berries), and a few lavender lemon (with dried lavender flowers). 

They turned a nice brown, but it was hard to tell when they were done. The innards seemed doughy still even after the full cooking time. Of course, the recipe calls for muffin tins, not loaves, so that could be a factor. 😅 I wanted something more festive than a muffin shape, but in hindsight, I probably should've stuck with the muffin tin. 

I did sample a corner of each variety. Gotta taste a new recipe before offering it to guests on a birthday! They did firm up as they cooled. The flavor is nice and tart. You can really taste the fresh lemon and the Greek yogurt. Not sweet, yet not savory. I think Jaron will love them. 

They don't look very impressive. Pretty flat in fact. Maybe if I baked them sooner after mixing they'd have more height. I could stack three on top for a little layer cake effect... 

It's definitely a keeper recipe. But is it the final recipe for the birthday? Stay tuned! Two more recipes to try!