Grandma's Sugar Cookies: Photograph by Andrea Karapas

Every mother remembers her child’s 1st birthday.  There’s usually a lot of anticipation and planning around such a special moment regardless of the fact that it will become a lost memory for the child shortly after that first bite of cake.  This past week was the 10th anniversary of my daughter, Sydney’s 1st birthday.  It’s a day that I will always remember because I made her cry.

When Sydney was born, I had the opportunity to be the perfect mother.  I didn’t have to work because my husband at the time had a well-paying job that allowed me to focus on the duties of homemaking.  I wasn’t afforded this opportunity with my older daughter so took advantage of this kind of lifestyle.  I had time to read books about all the “right” ways to raise a child.  What to Expect the First Year was my Bible and every ounce of baby food that went into Sydney’s mouth was made from scratch with a steamer and food processor in my kitchen.  We went to playgroup every Tuesday morning at 11am and every day was structured with walks, play time and naps.

I planned the perfect 1st birthday party for Syd.  We invited all the families from our playgroup and I prepared a table full of delicious food perfect for entertaining.  With Syd’s birthday being so close to Valentine’s Day on February 9th, I baked a batch of frosted sugar cookies and decorated them as Sweethearts Conversation Hearts.  These cookies were dessert for all my guests since I had baked Sydney her very own cake, just for her. 

As a devoted mother who did not want her child exposed to the evil pleasures of sugar at such an early age, I baked her a Sugar-Free Carrot Cake with Sugar-Free Cream Cheese Frosting.  The recipe came right out of the Bible I was so closely following which made me certain that I was doing the right thing for my daughter.  So sure that she was going to love it because I put my heart into it and made it from scratch, I couldn’t have been more proud of myself.

It came time for the highlight of the party, the part where the child gets buckled into his or her highchair and gets to make a huge mess of themselves and the kitchen floor while devouring their first piece of cake.  Everyone had gathered in the front living room where I had moved Syd’s highchair since my kitchen could not hold the amount of people I had invited to witness the event.  With cameras poised, I walked out of my kitchen carrying the most perfect cake lit with one candle, singing the Happy Birthday Song as everyone joined in with me.  Sydney’s eyes widened as I placed it on her highchair tray and helped her blow out her candle without a wish in my heart because everything was going as planned.  As I rushed to get my own camera ready to capture this memory, Syd dug her fingers into her delicious cake and brought a handful of goodness to her mouth.  It took less than 5 seconds for her realize that her birthday cake was the most disgusting thing she had ever tasted and she began to cry.  In an instant, my heart broke and an embarrassing redness filled my face.  I had just ruined my daughter’s first birthday.

The frosted sugar cookies pictured in this post saved me from a complete breakdown.  After removing that cake from her sight and wiping her tears, I brought her one of the Valentine cookies I had baked for my guests.  Luckily, it quickly put a smile back on her face.  I’ve been baking these cookies in place of a cake for her birthday ever since.  These sugar cookies are baked from my Grandma Wegner’s recipe at least 3 times every year, on Syd’s birthday, Halloween and Christmas.  I’ve won a Sugar Cookie Throwdown with these cookies and have been hired to bake them for a community event.  In 2002, I made the decision to seal the recipe and no longer give it out to others.  A select few have it and should consider themselves extremely lucky. After feeling a bit strange about posting to my food blog without giving you a recipe, I’ve decided to post the cake recipe from my daughter’s 1st birthday.  I will assure you that this cake was not as disgusting as Sydney’s response indicated.  After everyone went home at the end of the party, I tasted it just to make sure and it didn’t make me cry.

Baby’s First Birthday Cake(Carrot Cake)
(Makes 1 double-layer 9-inch square cake)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
2 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate (you may use slightly less)
1 1/2 cups raisins
Vegetable Spray/Shortening
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 Tbsp low sodium baking powder
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Prep: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two 9 inch square cake pans with waxed paper and spray the paper with vegetable spray/shortening.
Combine the carrots with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the juice concentrate in a medium size saucepan.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender, 15 to 20 mins. Puree in a blender of food processor until smooth.  Add the raisins and process until finely chopped. Let mixture cool.  Combine the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups juice concentrate, the oil, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; beat just until well mixed. Fold in the carrot puree and applesauce. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.  Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 mins. Cool briefly in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. When cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting below or sprinkle a wee bit of powdered sugar if desired. 

Sugar-Free Cream Cheese Frosting 
(Frosts one 2-layer cake)
Ingredients
½ cup apple juice concentrate
1 pound light cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup finely chopped raisins
1 ½ tsp unflavored gelatin
Instructions
Set aside 2 tablespoons of the juice concentrate.  Process the remaining juice concentrate, the cream cheese, vanilla, and raisins in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl.  Stir the gelatin into the 2 tablespoons juice concentrate in a small saucepan; let stand 1 minute to soften. Heat to boiling and stir to dissolve gelatin.
Beat the gelatin mixture into the cream cheese mixture until well blended. Refrigerate just until the frosting begins to set, about 30-60 minutes. Frost the cake