Birthday Cake for a 1 Year Old

Our answer

Providing the child doesn't have any food allergies then you can really choose any cake you like. However cupcakes are usually quite popular with smaller children as they get their own "personal" cake to eat. Nigella has some cupcake suggestions for children on p215 of Domestic Goddess, though for smaller children we would avoid decorating with small sweets/candies or sugar decorations as they can be a choke hazard (or remove them before the children eat the cakes). Also keep the lit birthday candle at a distance as a one year old will be more likely to try and grab it than blow it out.

If you want something with slightly less sugar in then we would recommend trying the Chocolate Banana Muffins from Kitchen (p138) as these have 100g sugar divided between 12 muffins. They are nice on their own or you could add a thin layer of chocolate ganache icing made by carefully melting together equal weights of dark chocolate and double (heavy) cream. Let the icing cool and thicken a little before spreading it on the muffins.

For a more impressive display, cupcakes can be arranged on a cupcake stand - you can buy paper stands from larger supermarkets or on-line or there are more expensive wire "cucpcake trees" available. You could also make a DIY stand from plates and upturned cups (using some adhesive putty to secure things in place temporarily) but make sure that any stands are kept out of the reach of the small hands of the birthday child and any junior guests.