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
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!! 😂
I’m definitely going to try this. It’s our doggie’s “gotcha” day this Sunday 26 January 2020, and I’m sure she will love this.
Happy “gotcha” day pup! She will love this ❤️🐶
Worked a treat! Literally
Amazing turn out for our pups first birthday and very easy to make
Simple household ingredients! Going to make next year too!
Only thing we changed was the frosting to light cream cheese and peanut butter! (Might try the potato one next year!)
Pup would have loved that!!!
The cake was easy to make with simple ingredients. I made the cake layers and put it in the fridge overnight which made it easier to ice. The potato frosting is a wonderful idea and simple to make as well! However it wasn’t very easy to spread onto the cake. My puppers loved this cake she gobbled it up in two seconds haha.
Hi Helen, I’m so glad it was a hit! Sorry you had issues with the frosting, you could always add a little liquid to it to make it spread more easily – N x
If was a great hit for all my pups even though I made it for my Lhasa who just turned 15 years old! I stored leftovers in the refrigerator and 2 days later my carrots were green?! Has this happened to anyone else?
Green carrots?! Sounds very odd Jenifer!
I agree!! They were brand new carrots and I followed the recipe to a “T”. So I’m not sure why they turned green. I ended up throwing the rest away as I didn’t want to chance it make them sick. Such a bummer too because all 3 of my dogs were LOVING it!
Why my cake cracked 🙁
Cracked on the top Trina? Could be a number of reasons, rising too quickly or oven too hot, did you follow the recipe? It’s covered in icing anyway so I think pup won’t judge you on your efforts ❤️
What could I use instead of carrots my pup is allergic to carrots and lamb I can’t find a recipe without carrots in it.
For next year you can use mushed up bananas (2-3) and just add a little more flour!
Hi Desi, I’ll have to get back to you on that one, I haven’t tried this with anything else sorry!
Thank you so much. A much healthier recipe for my Roccos 5th birthday cake. How long would you be able to store it, would it be able to last 2 days if in the fridge? Thank you
Yes definitely Kirsty – I think it would still be fine for 4 days or so. Happy Birthday Rocco 🎂
Have you ever tried to make pupcakes with this recipe? Do you think it would turn out the same or be too dry?
Hi Tiffany, yes it will work as cupcakes too!
My four year old son loves looking at your site with me. He always asks to watch this video, even though we don’t have a dog. He finds it hilarious. He has asked me to say, “Hello Nagi and Dozer” to you. Thanks so much for your fabulous human recipes, you make my family very happy! 🙂
Oh how sweet! A big hello back! – N x
Just made this for my pooches 6th birthday tomorrow. Looks yummy haha. What would be the best way to store? The fridge?
Hi Kloe, yes store in the fridge – N x
I just took this cake out of the oven for my 2 boxers 1st Birthday today . 🙂
Oh Happy Birthday!!! I hope they loved it!
I am so excited to be making this cake for Rusty’s 1st birthday!!!
Wahoo!
My dogs birthday party is coming up and I wasn’t sure about some of the other dog cake recipies, so I’m glad I found this one. I will definitely try it out this weekend
I hope it’s a hit!! (I’m sure it will be)
Made this for Ralph’s 1st Birthday today I put gravy bone biscuits around it and it’s gone down a storm with Ralph and his doggy pals just a pity we can’t post pictures our on here 🎂🐕
Forgot to tell you I made this for Annabelle, Cooper, Frankie, Rosie and Elmo Jr for their 1st birthday! They loved it! It was demolished 👌🐾 I broke up liver treats on the top – looked like choc sprinkles🤣
Wooot!!!!! Happy Birthday Annabelle!! 🎈
I made this for my Roker’s second birthday party yesterday. I cannot believe how amazing it turned out!!! All the dogs loved it, even the picky ones! It looked so beautiful too!
Happy Birthday Roker! A special tummy scratch from me ❤️
My dog turned 3 and he loves peanut butter so this is a yes,yes recipe.Thx
Wahoo! Give him a belly scratch from me!
Well, my English Cream Retriever turned 5 today and so I baked this cake for him…it was a hit! He truly loved it. It was easy to make and it looks so good! Thank you for the great recipe!
Oh that’s awesome Joan! Happy Birthday to your pup! – N x
Terrific is an easy cake 🍰 and beautiful .. so in the peanut butter it can be the one we eat ? In human or it have to be a specific dog peanut butter ? And the milk ? Also a specific one ?
Hi Helen, I use normal peanut butter and milk. Just make sure your peanut butter doesn’t contain xylitol as it’s not good for dogs – N x
Hi Nagi. It’s my little pug’s 10th birthday soon and we’re going to make this recipe for her. She’s a small dog and her best friend is a cat so she doesn’t have many other doggy friends to share her cake with. My question is could I make a smaller amount of the recipe – maybe half – and bake as cupcake/muffin size cakes? If so how long would the cooking take please?