It had to be super hypoallergenic. That meant there could be no wheat flour, no eggs, no nuts, and no dairy. Imagine that. Well, it’s possible. Here are all the details about the gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free Peppa Pig smash cake I made for my daughter’s first birthday
My baby girl just turned one and I had the privilege of making her a birthday cake. While this sounds like an exciting and fairly easy task, it’s quite overwhelming when you have a sensitive baby and you’re still in the process of finding their allergy triggers. Our allergy struggles kill most of the joy in eating. The sheer stress of dealing with rashes caused due to consuming regular food items is exasperating. Eggs, dairy and gluten are the top allergens and they appear to affect my baby too. This trio makes its way in most recipes and baking without these is not impossible but comparatively harder.
For example, the cake needs to be fluffy and not all egg replacers can do that. An egg is an egg is an egg. While there are substitutes, the same substitutes cannot be used in all recipes. Sometimes eggs are used for binding, sometimes they add fluffiness, sometimes they make baked goods moist, sometimes they are used to add color, and sometimes they do are needed to do more than one of these functions. Their qualities are so diverse and crucial for recipes that without them, some recipes just don’t work.
This is a great egg substitute guide for referencing:
The good part is that veganism has been trending for years now and its popularity is increasing each year. This means there are endless, fantastic recipes for people who want to avoid dairy and eggs. Vegan restaurants, vegan blogs, vegan clothes and cosmetics, it’s a lifestyle choice available for all. Gluten allergies are also very common and there are a host of recipes suited for people with intolerances and allergies.
Making a very hypoallergenic cake: Coming back to the cake. Living in the USA means access to endless options when it comes to food – cake ingredients, cake mixes and ready-to-eat cakes, frozen cakes, and made-to-order cakes. And most of these options have gluten-free choices. But I needed something very hypoallergenic and not just gluten free.
So I decided to make it at home. At first, I intended to get gluten-free flour and make the cake from scratch but with two kids and a lot of housework it would have been impossible. To save my sanity, I looked for a gluten free cake mix and King Arthur’s gluten free chocolate cake mix was my first choice. I’ve been following them on their blog and Instagram for a while now. The plan was to make a hypoallergenic cake without gluten, without eggs, without dairy and without nuts, without soy.
The good thing was the mix is made with rice and potato so there’s no gluten or nuts.
But the recipe requires 4 eggs as per the box instructions. They also clearly state not to use flax or starch-based eggs. I did some researching by reading the reviews posted by other customers on their site. I simply typed eggs in the search to see if they had used egg replacers and many had. I even found an allergy food blog with exact instructions on how to use a flax egg with this gluten free mix.
What in the world is a flax egg?
It’s a vegan egg replacer that’s actually quite nutritious. When you think of flax, you might think horse and cattle food but while it doesn’t have an exceptional taste, it’s fairly edible and it does the job. You have to soak it for 15 minutes to become nice and gooey. I used the flaxseed meal by Bob’s Red Mill.
How to make a flax egg?
1tbsp flax meal/ finely ground flax + 3 tbsp water = 1 medium egg
Allow to soak till it becomes slimy and eggy-like in texture.
The base chocolate sponge cake: I used the King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake mix with flax eggs in two round 9 inch cake pans. I whisked the wet ingredients first and then folded the dry cake mix into the wet. It took more than the printed time of 28 minutes. I suggest you use a fork or toothpick to poke into the cake and see if it’s fully baked. If it comes out clean, it’s ready to come out.
I then cut circles with a cookie cutter and stacked them over each other to make a towering smash cake.
The frosting: I used vegan and soy free butter spread mixed with vanilla essence, powdered sugar and food coloring.
I frosted the cake after cooling the sponge tower in the refrigerator.
The frosting kept melting so I would put it in the freezer each time. The sharp, defined stars are when the vegan butter spread in the frosting hadn’t melted. The wilted star frosting is when it had started to melt. Each time it began to melt, I would put the frosting cone into the freezer for a couple of minutes and it would harden a bit to frost easy. Frosting was more difficult as compared to using dairy-based butter cause it was spread and melted faster.
I made a Peppa cake topper. You could make your own or get a readymade one.
Simple and easy eh? Not the most professional looking cake but one-year-olds can’t make out the difference. It’s destiny is a smashed mess anyway.
The smash test: This cake was fun to smash cause it was a tall tower and when it fell it created a dramatic scene. Great for videos and photos.
Taste test: It had a coarse sticky texture when eaten while warm but I devoured it after refrigeration. Chilled, chocolate goodness perfectly moist and decadent. It made me feel less guilty while eating it too.
Check out the decor we got her. My son, who is 3 and a huge Peppa Pig fan, enjoyed playing with the characters, naming them, making them shake hands with each other. There’s Peppa, George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig.
How it ended:
BLAH-BLAH 
Nice article
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