i found this post frustrating, because it just sent you in circles. no real answers. i went from link to link. on the 4th i just gave up. i feel a post with a question should be a little more straight forward. but i do generally really enjoy the blog. cheers.

would you consider a low-sugar cake, like angelfood? it's wonderful with berries or berry sauce.

Maybe you could make some sort quick bread, but add fruit to make it sweet (bananas, applesauce, pineapples etc?) You could frost it with whipped cream, either unsweetened or sweetened with juice.

I just remembered a fruit sweetened cake recipe on Hilly Billy Housewife. Here's the link:

http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/fruitjuicebuttercake.htm

If you're only averse to white sugar, you could make a cake sweetened with maple syrup instead, or even applesauce (think carrot cake, banana cake, or apple/applesauce cake). You could serve one unfrosted cake for the baby and a frosted one for adults (or use maple syrup to sweeten the frosting as well, like a maple cream cheese frosting).

We used the "What to Expect" First birthday cake recipe. It, along with a few other options, are listed on this website: http://www.grizzlybird.net/2007/01/babys-1st-birthday-cake-recipes.html

For the icing, I whipped up some organic whipping cream, colored it with a little powdered food dye, and spread it on the cake. It looked beautiful, and many party-goers ate it and thought it was delicious (though the sugar-laden cupcakes I made were even more yummy!)

My son loved it, it was basically a carrot cake sweetened with apple juice concentrate and applesauce. It tasted very apple-y, so you could substitute any kind of juice concentrate to mix up the flavors.

Enjoy!

Not sure about the cake, but you could just make plain, unsweetened whipped cream for the frosting.

I like to use recipes from Sweet and Sugar Free. She uses fruit juice to sweeten some things, but some she just makes without sugar. I have liked most of the recipes I have used from the book.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/842075.Sweet_and_Sugar_Free_An_All_Natural_Fruit_Sweetened_Dessert_Cookbook

Fruit juice and cream cheese? Or cook down fruit juice to make a glaze?

You could also make a soft yeast bread or biscuit if you're looking to cut out sugar completely. A big cream biscuit with fresh strawberries and unsweetened whipped cream could be amazing. :)

Is this an April Fool's joke? Let your poor kid have some sugar on her birthday.

I just made my nephew's first birthday cake and this is the recipe I used:

BANANA CAKE

2/3 c. banana, mashed
1/2 c. butter, softened
3 lg. eggs
3/4 c. water
2 c. unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
Optional: 1 c. chopped walnuts OR 1/2 c. chopped walnuts & 1/2 c. raisins

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan. Beat together mashed banana and soft butter until creamy. Beat in water. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until very foamy. Beat into mixture. Blend in flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat until smooth. Stir in walnuts or walnuts and raisins, if desired. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool. Serves 8-10.

For frosting I made whipped cream, with one tablespoon of sugar, so if he were to eat the entire cake and frosting (not likely its pretty big) he would've only eaten one tablespoon of sugar total.

Have fun!

Making a cake without sugar is difficult because sugar adds moisture and affects texture. Quick breads work pretty well with fruit (and no sugar). I've made some really good blueberry bread (whole wheat, but you can use white flour for a finer texture) without sugar:

http://carlskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/03/whole-wheat-blueberry-bread-sugar-free.html

If you do not use sugar, you won't get the same results, however, fruit and vegetable purees of many kinds can act as sugar ( and egg, and oil) substitutes. If the batter is not sweet enough for you, add a small amount of stevia or xylitol.

Unsweetened coconut is an excellent basis for icings. Grind it to powder in a coffee mill. You may need to toast it lightly first.