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!! 😂
Hey nagi, i was wondering how much of each ingredient do i use? I dont think it said it just flour pb, eggs not the actual amount
Omg the cake is soon fluffy! My dog will love it ( its his b day today)
AWW!! Happy Birthday, give him a big belly rub from me! N x
How far in advance could I bake this cake? Thanks
A few days will be fine Laura-Anne 🙂 N x
Dozer is very absolutely adorable, happy birthday dozer. Enjoy him time goes by so fast.
I lost my gorgeous doggy a month ago. I was lucky to have him for 19years.
Oh no Naznin, I’m so sorry to hear that. 19 years is amazing!!! N x
Hi! Planning to make this for my Labrador Lola’s 1st birthday next weekend, but as we’re in lockdown her party with her litter mates is cancelled 😭. Could I safely halve the ingredients to make a smaller cake, or would it mess things up?
You sure can Lauren! Happy Birthday Lola!!! 🐶🎂
Made this today to celebrate my 11 year old Shepherd mix ‘ ‘April’. She was excited from start to finish, didnt want to share😂🥳🐶
I posted your link on my Facebook page for others to try. Thank you & be well
Happy Birthday APRIL!!!! 🎂
Thanks for sharing! It’s my corgi’s first birthday on the 15th and I’m so excited to make this. Was just wondering if removing the peanut butter would change the consistency of the cake? And would it be okay to sub the whole wheat flour with oat flour?
Hi Migi, it will change the consistency of the cake unfortunately and I haven’t tried with any substitutes. Oat flour will be fine here too 🙂 N x
Made this cake today for our cavalier Daisy. It turned out amazing. I used a potato ricer to mazh the potato the whisked in my mixer with the yoghurt. It came out smooth with no lumps!
Happy Birthday Daisy!!! N x
Hi Nagi! My son and I made this recipe for our Sadie’s 1st birthday and I can’t tell you how easy it was to make. We didn’t have yogurt and due these crazy times so we just made it with water and it still looked so good. We tasted the cake, I mean why not, it has everyday ingredients and it actually tasted good. Both of our dogs loved it!!! Thank you for sharing!
That’s awesome!!! Happy Birthday Sadie 🎂 – N x
I made this for Coco’s 1st birthday, sadly she couldn’t have her friends round as we are in lockdown BUT she loved it anyway 🥳
I’m so glad it was a hit – Happy Birthday Coco! N x
I’m planning to bake this for my dog’s birthday this Sunday! Are there any substitutes that I can use for peanut butter? Sadly my pup is allergic to it
I’m planning to bake this for my dog for his birthday this Sunday! Are there any substitutes that I can use for peanut butter? Sadly my pup is allergic to it
Hi I was wondering if the potato with yoghurt frosting can be frozen ahead of time?
Also will there be any issue keeping it out of the fridge if the party is outside for a few hours considering it has dairy in it?
thank you
i want to make this beautiful cake for my Golden retriever Emma for her 2 birthday on Thursday can i freeze the rest for when her friends come in a couple of weeks thank you
Thank you for this wonderful recipe..Will be baking it very soon for doxies 3rd party! i know what you mean trying to get pooch pictures–NO CO-OPERATION from they they just want to play and have fun! Why not after all it is their day!!!
Thanks again
Y
awesome recipe puppy loved it older dogs birthday so thought id bake one for them to share loved it will make again definitely recommend
That’s so sweet! N x
I make them into pupcakes. When my dog was eating them I noticed that the “mashed potato icing” made the cake part turn a blackish color where it touched. Did anyone else have this problem? Should I be concerned bc she already ate most of it! I followed the recipe except for using water instead of milk.
Hi Savannah! I have never had this problem. Was it the cake or potato frosting? because potato can go black under some circumstances – for example, if the potatoes were heavily bruised, sometimes the bruise doesn’t show up until after they are cooked and it can go black. Odd that it would happen after mashing though. Irrespective, when potato changes colour it’s still ok to eat (it changes due to oxidisation ie contact with air – like avocado goes brown but is actually still fine to eat). I personally wouldn’t be too concerned about food changing colour on contact with other food. For example, lemon can turn some types of garlic blue when in contact with heat – but still ok to cook. I honestly can’t think of any dangerous reactions from food coming into contact with other food – excluding, of course, chemical type ingredients used in cooking (you know what I mean!) or if the food has gone off! N x
Made this yesterday for Beau’s 6th birthday and she loved it as did her furry friends.
Thank you for sharing a great recipe, the cake was soft and moist, the topping was amazing. All in all this is a great cake! Will definitely make again.
Happy Birthday Beau!!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, easy to make, lovely soft, moist cake and the potato topping is brilliant. Our Beau enjoyed it for her 6th birthday and so did her furry friends.
Made it for our Nellie’s first birthday! Big hit thank you so much! I added doggy bones to the side and top!
Happy birthday to Nellie!!! N xx
I made this a few weeks ago for the first time for my neighbours pups first birthday. I divided the mix and made a small 4” birthday cake and used the rest to make individual pupcakes, it was a huge success. It meant everyone got a share and the birthday boy got to eat ALL of his birthday cake. I’ve also made it in a tray and sliced it into squares (no frosting) for my three furbabies as I’ve found if stored in the fridge, in a sealed tub, it lasted a good few days and it’s a nice healthy treat alternative to shop bought. Thank you for the recipe, I’m making more this weekend as it’s my Lucy’s 18th on Monday 🤗. I wish I could upload a picture but don’t know how xxx
I’m so glad you love this recipe! Happy Birthday Lucy!!! 🎂