First Birthday Cupcakes to Get the Party Started
First birthday cupcakes celebrate a milestone for babies with a sweet treat, sometimes their first one! Read on for our favorite creative cupcake recipes to introduce tiny humans to dessert.
Jump to RecipeFirst Birthday Cupcakes
It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for…whether that first year was a fight or fantastic, the 1st birthday is a moment to pause and celebrate all the year involved. So as the tradition goes, after you wrangle your child into the highchair and sing “Happy Birthday” to their confused face, you place a cake or cupcakes in front of them and watch them go to town.
If you’ve spent the first year avoiding sugar, hoping your kid is the one to develop a palate that prefers broccoli and kale, the birthday party can create a conundrum. Vegan cookie with a candle? Bake a sugar-free birthday cake with strawberries on top? Decorate banana bread with sprinkles and frosting? Or maybe it’s time for the Free For All: bring on the artificially- sweetened everything. Whatever you decide to do, you can make it memorable and delicious.
Healthy First Birthday Cakes and Cupcakes
If you want to continue to build healthy eating habits with your baby girl or baby boy, bake cupcakes that won’t get them hooked on sugar for life. These maple syrup-sweetened cupcakes are naturally sweetened with maple syrup and coconut whipped cream.
Want to do a birthday smash cake instead of cupcakes? This healthy smash cake recipe makes a miniature cake for the birthday baby, without using oil or sugar. It’s just the right size to contain the baby’s hands and slobber, while party guests enjoy something else altogether
Avocado Lime First Birthday Cupcakes
Avocados are a superfood and a favorite for babies learning to eat solids. With this recipe, you can give your avocados a break from guacamole and mix them into a decadent birthday cupcake.
These 1st birthday cupcakes are not sugar or gluten-free. But it’s not about what they don’t have…it’s about what they have – as in an abundance of vitamins and minerals and lots of GOOD fat. Add in a creamy key lime frosting, also using avocado, and wow, you have a 1st birthday miracle.
Just wait until you tell your birthday party guests what’s in these creative cupcakes. They will never look at guacamole the same.
Avocado Cupcakes With Key Lime Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp butter at room temperature
- 1 fresh avocado seeded, peeled, pureed until smooth with a food processor or blender. Do not just mash!
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 ripe avocado seeded and peeled
- 2 oz butter at room temperature
- 2 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 lime zest very finely zested
- 2 tbsp key lime juice if key limes are unavailable, sub with regular lime juice
- 1 tbsp milk more as needed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Avocado Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Line cupcake pans with 18 paper cupcake liners. (If you are using standard 12-cup pans, you will have 6 unlined cups.) Set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the pureed avocado, with the sugar until completely combined. Beat in vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in all of the buttermilk until just combined.
- Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, mixing each addition until just combined. Once all flour, is incorporated, increase mixing speed to medium and and beat for 20 seconds longer. Be careful to not over mix.
- Divide batter among the prepared cupcake liners.
- Bake until golden on top and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.
- Cool cupcakes in pans on racks for 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool completely before frosting.
Key Lime Buttercream Frosting
- While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with speed set on medium high, cream butter with avocado, cream cheese and lime zest for 3 minutes, stopping several times to scrape the sides of the bowl. (Beating for this length of time is important for ensuring a very creamy icing).
- Reduce the speed to low and gradually add confectioner’s sugar. Once all the confectioner’s sugar is incorporated add lime juice and mix well. Add vanilla and then milk, a few drops at a time until frosting is soft and fluffy. Increase speed to medium high and beat for another 5 minutes. If frosting is too thin add a little more confectioner’s sugar, if too thick add a little more milk. Add food coloring, if desired.
- Frost cupcakes with a knife or a decorating bag. Any extra frosting can be stored in a refrigerator for up to a week. Store in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before using.
Nutrition
Store-Bought First Birthday Cupcakes and Cake
But who are we kidding? You made it to the first birthday and it could be time for you to take a much-earned nap. If baking is not part of your celebratory journey, you need to conserve energy to focus on opening the bakery box and enjoying what’s inside.
There are a number of store-bought options for your Birthday Girl or Boy. Publix Bakeries makes a delightful Mini Carrot Cake, if you want to feel almost healthy but still get a sugar rush.
Edible Arrangements delivers (!) a birthday box including miniature cakes made with fresh pineapple, dipped in cake batter and white chocolate, and chocolate-dipped strawberries.
Virginia Beach’s very own Sugar Plum Bakery will work with you to customize cakes or cupcakes for a few or a crowd. With so many options of cupcakes and party trays, shopping local at Sugar Plum gives a personalized touch with guaranteed deliciousness.
First Birthday Fun (and Funfetti)
First birthdays should be fun celebrations for both the baby and the village that got that kid this far. Don’t stress the cupcakes. Make it fun, add some sprinkles, and let them make a mess.
But remember, if you are out of ideas, time, or want a guaranteed win, in the history of the world, no one has ever been disappointed with Funfetti. Let them eat cupcakes, I say. Then go to bed early. You deserve it.
