Today is Brinkley‘s birthday! He is now 3 years old. I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. When we first picked up Brinkley, he was just 9 weeks old and the tiniest little smol bean who could fit in the crook of my arm. Now, he’s a healthy, strong, muscular dog who is a treasured member of our family. Naturally, celebrating his birthday is a must in our household.
Since we’re staying in and quarantining, we can’t uphold our annual tradition of visiting Charlottesville for Brinkley’s birthday. That was where he was born, so we like to take a road trip and spend the day there. We’ll usually visit the University of Virginia and walk around the Grounds, followed by a trip to a Charlottesville winery such as Pippin Hill.
However, since we’re in the midst of a pandemic, we can’t go anywhere. Instead, I decided to bake Brinkley an apple banana birthday cake from scratch!
Ingredients for cake
- 1 cup of coconut flour
- 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup of diced apple (be sure to remove any apple seeds)
- 1 banana
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/4 cup of water
Ingredients for frosting/decoration
- 1 banana
- 1/4 cup of peanut butter
- Optional: blueberries, apples
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a bowl, mash the apple and bananas. Add the applesauce and continue to mix.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, and water. Mix well.
- Grease your pan and pour in the mixture. Bake for 22-25 minutes.
- Let cake cool and decorate.
Ideally, you want to use a round 6″ cake pan. However, you can also use a loaf pan and then use circular cookie cutters or molds to get the desired cake shape.
For the frosting, I simply mixed half a banana with 1/4 cup of peanut butter and poured that on top of the cake. Then, I added a dozen blueberries as a topping. I also sliced the remaining banana to decorate the circumference of the plate. You can use sliced apple as a topping too.
Brinkley scarfed down his birthday cake in minutes. He absolutely loved the flavors. This cake was so simple and quick to make. Plus, I was able to control the ingredients that went in. You’ll notice that instead of all-purpose white flour, I chose coconut flour instead. That’s because all-purpose flour is very processed and low in nutrients – not ideal for pups. The best flours to use when making cakes or treats for your dogs are coconut, almond, potato, lentil, or chickpea. The next best options are whole wheat, barley, oat, buckwheat, or sorghum.
Apples are a great source of fiber, bananas are chockfull of potassium and fiber, and blueberries are packed with antioxidants. Your dog will surely love this cake!
alice from va 