Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 360 F. Prepare the cake tins: I grease then line the tins with baking paper. You can either make this car in a 20 cm cake tin (8 inch) or divide the mixture into smaller 11 cm (4.5 inch) tins so that you can layer the cakes with frosting.
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Use a fork or whisk to do this so that any lumps are broken and the ingredients are evenly distributed.
In a blender whizz up all the wet ingredients (yogurt, maple syrup, apple sauce, olive oil and vanilla extract) until smooth.
Pour the blended wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until your cake batter is well combined.
Pour the cake batter into your prepared pans, bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cakes centre.
While your cakes are in the oven you can prepare the frosting.
Allow to cool completely before removing the cake from the cake tin.
Yogurt Frosting
Place all of the frosting ingredients in a bowl (yogurt, cream cheese, maple syrup, vanilla) then whisk or beat using an electric beater for 3-5 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Refrigerate the frosting at least 30 minutes (longer can be better) so that it firms up and can easily be spread over the cakes.
Frost your cake and top with fresh berries or soft fruit. If you have made small cakes that you plan on sandwiching together you can use the cream cheese frosting as the filling.
Enjoy!
Video
Notes
This cake will store in an airtight container for up to 3 days (un-frosted) or freeze for up to four months.
Prepare the batter as one large cake, or smaller cakes that you can stack.
After you have whipped the frosting be sure to chill it for a minimum of 30 minutes, I find making it the night before is perfect.
This cake batter can also be baked in a loaf tin to make a baby banana bread.
Flour: I use plain flour, but I have successfully tested this recipe with gluten-free flour.
Baking soda: This can be substituted for 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
cinnamon: This recipe can be made without cinnamon.
Bananas: The riper the better, soft sweet bananas with brown spots on the skin are perfect.
Greek yogurt: I use an unsweetened full fat strained yogurt. Strained yogurts are thicker as they have a lower water content.
Maple syrup: This can be substituted for honey, honey should not be used as a sweetener for children under one year of age.
Apple sauce: Store bought unsweetened apple sauce or homemade apple puree work well in this recipe.
Olive oil: This can be substituted for any oil including melted coconut oil or melted butter.
YOGURT FROSTING
Greek yogurt: I use an unsweetened full fat strained yogurt.
Cream cheese: This can be substituted of mascarpone or ricotta cheese if you prefer.
Maple syrup: This can be substituted for honey, honey should not be used as a sweetener for children under one year of age.
Soft fruits or berries: These are used to decorate the smash cake, Strawberries, raspberries, peach, mango, and kiwi fruit are al good options.