the birthday boy

Here he is! My baby boy turned one on Friday. We let him open some family gifts here at home after breakfast and then had a party at the park for him in the late afternoon. I think he enjoyed himself :) Angela took all the pictures at the park, so after I get them from her, I'll have more to post. With Angela behind the camera, they're sure to be stellar!! :)

So, I made him these monster cupcakes and since we seriously limit the refined sugar around here (the kids and I are pretty sugar-sensitive), I wanted to make something tasty that would not hype all these poor little ones up. SO, I found this banana bunt cake recipe in an old Martha Stewart kids magazine. They are sweetened with pure maple syrup and have cream cheese frosting (sweetened the same way). I thought they were great and everyone else seemed to think so too. The kids thought they were having a cupcake, but there were NO sugar crashes!!! :) Here's the recipe, altered slightly ;)

Banana Bundt Cake
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 Tbl salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup canola oil (actually a tiny bit less)
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tbl pure vanilla extract
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4)

1. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk oil, yolks, syrup, and vanilla in medium bowl. Stir in bananas until smooth. Stir into flour mixture.
   
2. Spoon batter into 24 cupcake molds (with papers) just over halfway. Bake on 350 until toothpick comes out clean, about 15 minutes. (If you cook both pans together, you'll want to turn them half-way through cooking.
   
3. Cool on wire rack. Frost with cream cheese frosting (8oz. softened cream cheese, blended with 2 Tbl pure maple syrup.)