A dog cake recipe to celebrate Dozer’s birthday!! A 2 layer cake frosted with fluffy “buttercream” ….. but it’s made with wholesome pooch friendly ingredients!
Aren’t you just dying to know how I made that frosting?? 😜
(Looking for Pupcakes? Here it is!)
Dog cake for Dozer’s birthday!
“That frosting tastes a bit odd,” grumbled the husband of Dozer’s boarder. Can you just imagine the pleasure she got out of telling him he’d just eaten a DOG cake??😂
“Serves him right for helping himself to anything that looks tasty” she smirked when she told me. I was laughing so hard at the vision, I actually snorted.
Who can blame him?? The whole point of creating this cake was to make it look like a real birthday cake piled high with fluffy buttercream frosting – but with dog friendly ingredients.
So it tastes nothing like what it looks like – it’s a total spin out!!
OK OK I know you’re busting to know how I made the cake look so “real” so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer! Here’s the rundown:
-
Healthy dog sponge cake – it’s like a very healthy carrot cake, very low fat, sugar free
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Fluffy whipped potato “frosting” – looks just like buttercream, but it’s pooch friendly! While we humans wouldn’t put potato frosting on a cake, our pooches won’t complain!😂 Don’t fall for pretty looking cakes piled high with cream cheese or other high fat or high dairy frosting. Bad for dogs!
🐾 Healthy dog sponge cake🐾
This is a healthy dog friendly version of carrot cake. It’s a moist sponge that’s very simple to make – dump and mix job – and all the ingredients are either good for dogs, or fine for dogs to eat in moderation. I’ve provided some nutrition commentary on each ingredient in the recipe below.
(PS I hope you didn’t miss that I said this is a moist sponge. Just because it’s a dog cake, doesn’t mean we should let our standards slip! 😂)
🐾 Dog friendly fluffy frosting 🐾
Made with fluffy whipped mashed potato! OK, so it’s not something you’d put on a cake for humans – but this is for dogs remember!
I wanted a frosting that was dog friendly that looked just like vanilla buttercream so I could use it for sandwiching layers, frosting and piping. Most dog cake frosting recipes I found use yogurt and peanut butter which is too soft and also, too much of either of those ingredients is not good for dogs.
Solution: whipped mashed potato!! 🤣 I got the idea from Meatloaf Cupcakes that I shared years ago where I piped on mashed potato swirls.
I use yogurt to give it a creamy soft “buttercream frosting” consistency because yogurt has probiotics in it which is good for dogs. But water works just as well!
Look how well it works as frosting for the cake! It’s looks almost impossibly similar to real buttercream frosting!
🎉Dozer’s birthday party!🎉
A cake this good (and big 😳) is made to be shared. And what better way to share it than at an impromptu birthday party down at the beach??
It was, as one might expect, total chaos, and my vision of an adorable photo of all the dogs wearing party hats sitting patiently behind the cake just didn’t happen. (That was total wishful thinking on my part 😂)
Hats were swiped off within seconds of putting them on – hence why you only see photos of 1 dog at a time wearing a hat 😂, the swarm of wet, sandy golden retrievers around the cake was such a hazard at one point I actually had to pick the cake up and run away!
As for the birthday boy, the cheeky bugger tried to get stuck into the cake before it was even served!!
But suffice to say, it was his idea of a perfect birthday. Beach, all his best mates, a big fat cake. What more can a dog ask for??
Actually, the only thing different between this day and every other day in Dozer’s life was the presence of cake. 😂
Happy birthday Dozer! 🎊🎉 Another year older, though not wiser. But I wouldn’t change a thing about you – I love you just the way you are! ~ Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Dog cake recipe - with dog friendly fluffy frosting!
Ingredients
Dog birthday cake:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (spread or pure)
- 1/4 cup oil (canola, vegetable)
- 2/3 cup milk (or water)
- 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup (or apple sauce or skip it)
- 2 1/2 cups shredded carrot (2 large)
- 2 cups whole wheat / wholemeal flour (or white flour)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
Dog Friendly Fluffy Frosting (Whipped Potato Yogurt):
- 600 - 700g / 1.2 - 1.4lb potatoes , peeled, cut into chunks
- 3/4 - 1 cup yogurt (plain unsweetened) or water
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (160C fan).
- Grease and line the base of 2 x 20cm/8" cake pans.
- Whisk together eggs, peanut butter, oil, honey and milk (little peanut butter lumps ok).
- Stir in carrots. Then add flour and baking soda, stir until just combined (over mixing = hard cake = sad birthday pooch).
- Divide batter between the cake pans, spread and smooth surface.
- Bake 25 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool on racks. Frost per below.
Doggie Fluffy Frosting:
- Boil, steam or microwave potato until very soft.
- Whip potato and yoghurt with an electric beater until fluffy and smooth as possible (won't go 100% smooth) - about 1 1/2 minutes on medium speed (speed 5).
- Use water as needed to loosen frosting to soft spreadable consistency (like human buttercream frosting!). Use while warm (it "sets" when it cools).
Frost:
- Spread 1/4 frosting on one cake.
- Top with other cake. Frost tops and sides with remaining frosting, reserving some to pipe decorations if desired (3/4 cup frosting).
Recipe Notes:
- Eggs - good source of protein for dogs
- Peanut butter - "treat" element, dogs are mad for peanut butter! Gives the cake an irresistible peanut butter smell, 2.5 tsp per slice
- Oil - very small amount used, about 1/2 tsp per slice
- Milk - if you're concerned about your dog consuming dairy, sub with water. Works out at 1.5 tsp per serve, and also remember it's cooked!
- Honey - For a touch of sweetness, 3/4 tsp per slice. Can skip if you want.
- Carrot - carrot is good for dogs! I hide a lot of carrot in Dozer's meals. Aso makes the sponge moist. Can sub with zucchini or sweet potato.
- Wholewheat / wholemeal flour - just like with humans, carbs are fine to consume in moderation!
- Baking soda - to make the sponge rise.
- Potato - Same as flour, cooked potato is fine to consume in moderation! It's a better, healthier option than slathering the cake with a peanut butter yogurt frosting which seems to be the default for dog cake recipes. Too much yogurt or peanut butter is not good for our pooches (whether commercial sweetened spread or even pure unsweetened peanut butter, it's very high in fat. Some yogurt is good for dogs but not vast quantities)
- Yogurt - probiotics in yogurt is good for dogs digestive system, just like with humans! If your dog is sensitive to dairy, just use water.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Just because this whole post is for Dozer, that’s no excuse to break tradition by excluding the Life of Dozer section!!!
So here he is, starring in his first recipe video. Shooting with Dozer IN the video was somewhat of a challenge…… if he had his way, he’d have eaten the batter raw!! 😂
Hey these all look fab. My dog is strange and doesn’t like peanut butter at all. Any suggestions as an alternative??
Can I leave out the baking soda?
Hi Anna, there’s a sub in the notes for baking powder. You need something to make it rise! N x
I was wondering if this cake is soft enough for a dog with very little teeth? my pooch turns 20 in a few weeks and we want to celebrate with a cake. Thanks
Yes Stephanie, it’s a very soft cake and you can always feed him some of the frosting! Happpy birthday to your pup – impressive age!! N x
Awesome and thank you! She is doing very well for her age and we will be doing a photoshoot 🙂
Hi, how long does the cake last for?
I’m looking to bake it ahead, is 5 days too long?
Hello
For a leftover potato frosting, can it be reused?
Hi Suna – it will keep for about the same amount of time that mashed potatoes would keep. I don’t know how well it will spread after storing in the fridge though as it hardens up when it cools. N x
Firstly – I think this is the best article I have read in a a long time and loved all the birthday pics! I made this for my Maxi’s (Labrador) 5th Birthday today – he absolutely loved it, thank you ❤️
This cake is currently sitting waiting for everyone to get home from work 😭 Poor baby doggies are being tortured waiting 😭🤣
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made small changes, used olive oil instead of canola and replaced milk with yogurt. Made for my GSD’s 1st birthday who licked off the icing first then inhaled it 🙂 But the human family enjoyed them too, without icing!
Hi I was wondering if you could use strawberry/banana yougart? I was thinking of doing this cake for my service dog she will be 3 years old the. Also was wondering about that comment that said baking soda will kill a dog. I assume it’s safe cuz there are lots of d0g on here that love this cake.
Plain yoghurt is safest as you know what is in it. Baking soda can be toxic to both humans and dogs IN LARGE QUANTITIES but is FINE in the amount used in this cake…I checked with the vet! N x
Thank you Dozer for allowing Mum to share your birthday cake recipe. Maximus and I (Nimma) are having a joint 1st birthday celebration and my Mum says this cake will be perfect.
My pleasure! Happy birthday Maximus and Nimma! N x
I do hope no one puts baking soda in their cake it will kill your dog. It should read either
Baking Powder or Bicarbonate of soda!
Can cakes be stored overnight?
100% yes Lkisha! N x
Could I swap the carrot for banana?
Can I freeze the cake?
Can I use olive oil instead?
I prefer a neutral flavoured oil here Momo – N x
Thank you! My cake turned out great!!
My doggo is no good with peanut butter do you think I could substitute with anything? Would mash banana work or is the peanut butter used for binding?
The peanut butter binds here, I haven’t tried with a sub sorry Michelle! N x
I baked this cake and it has come out absolutely PERFECT 👍. My Dog Loves it. I put a little of the peanut butter in the icing too.
I made this cake today and followed the recipe, except baked for 20min just to be on the safe side…came out perfect!! Made a little extra icing and dyed it with a few different colors to create a tie-dye look. Dogs loved it and was super fun to make! (Easy enough for beginner bakers)
Hello! I’m so excited to try this! Can it be stored at room temperature? Or does it need to be refrigerated? Thanks!
Did not even cook properly I pulled it out the oven and it hadn’t even cooked also it was still fucking liquid
Hi Joe, sorry to hear that – sounds like you’ve got an epic problem with your oven thermostat! The best way to check is by getting an oven thermometer and making sure your oven is getting up to temp. The cake in no way should be liquid after this cook time. – Nagi