Fruit-Only Birthday ‘Cake’

See this?

This is our daughter’s birthday cake.

Now take a closer look.

Yes, that’s right. There’s no cake there at all!

Actually, this is a platter of her favorite fruits designed like a flower, and that’s what we served on her birthday instead of cake and candy.

Sounds crazy? I counted 5 minutes, and it was all gone. Tried and true. She just loved it! And so did everybody else. Then she said ‘this is the best birthday cake ever!’

Yes! Our strategy worked! I’ll explain in a minute.

In the past few years we’ve been limiting gratuitous, highly-processed, refined sugar in our family, so it’s been years we haven’t served cakes and candy on birthdays, and quite frankly, no one really expects it. 

Instead, we choose a healthy food which the birthday person really likes, make it for them and stick a candle on top of that food. Which is exactly what we did for our daughter’s birthday. Her favorites, as you can see, are strawberries, blackberries, raisins, and oranges.

I’m very grateful for our decision to include lots of fresh produce in our family’s diet, which has made it easy and natural to replace a cake with a platter of fresh fruit. ¹

If you’re looking for an alternative to a birthday cake, there you go. You’re smiling? I’m totally serious.

I know it might sound quite challenging, but once you’ve replaced the cake with a healthy favorite you may never want to go back.

If you like the idea of a fruit platter, make sure the fruit is ripe and appealing. We want the happy sounds of munching and splattering, right?

Although you can find ready-made fruit trays in the stores, I find the store-bought version rather impersonal, and not quite the same as a homemade fruit platter made with love and care especially for the birthday person. My thoughts.

You don’t like fruit? No problem. But the principle is the same: find out what the birthday person likes to eat (healthy please), and make it for them. Then place the candle on top of that food.

Who said it’s got to be sweet? How about a steak? A gorgeous mozzarella sandwich? An exquisite omelette? A steamy baked potato?

My aim is to show we can have lots of fun and yumminess using real whole food (fruit for example), without the highly-processed, refined, unnecessary sugar found in cakes and candy.

I hope you enjoyed our post today. It’s part of a project we’re launching about responsible eating and replacing gratuitous sugar with real whole foods.

Stay tuned. There’ll be more on the topic in the coming posts.

For more alternatives to unnecessary sugar read How to Reduce Gratuitous Sugar at Social Events.

Now let’s sing!

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, happy birthdaaaay!
Happy birthday to you!

Wishing you a delightful weekend, and if this happens to be your birthday too, a very happy birthday indeed!

Didi
Wise Choice Market

DO YOU LIKE FRESH FRUIT?
I have written over 30 easy fruit recipes to make from scratch at home!
All the recipes are in my book Fresh Fruit Anyone? Easy Homemade Fruit Treats from Scratch, where you will find fruit-based snacks and desserts, mango porcupines, unique lemonades and smoothies, berry slushies, banana ice creams, orange-strawberry popsicles, peach jelloes, apple compotes, pear and berry jams, awesome no-bowl fruit salads, and much more!
I invite you to explore, enjoy, dig in, and be inspired by this fruitilicious feast!
Didi

Disclaimer:
This article represents its author’s opinion, and is not a medical, nutritional, or professional advice.

Comments:
1. Sugar in fruit:
Fresh fruit is a wholesome food, which among other wonderful nutrients, vitamins, enzymes, fiber, and water, contains NATURAL sugar, which is much ‘friendlier’ towards our body -if I may use my own phrasing- and not as concentrated as refined processed sugar found in so many commercial edibles such as sodas, cereals, granola bars, flavored yogurts, store-bought fruit juices, ready-made desserts, and many more. And let’s not forget that the quantity you consume matters, and also which other foods you eat. That said, if you’re seriously sensitive to sugar, you might need to watch your fruit intake too. ‘All in moderation’ is a good general guideline, I find.

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