Baby Food Puree Cake Recipe

I was organizing my food shelves the other day when I noticed that I had a box of cake mix that was about to expire. I know my boys would absolutely LOVE to have some cake, so I decided to make some.

As I was getting ready to follow the instructions on the back of the box, I noticed there was the option of making a lower fat version of the cake by using applesauce instead of oil. In the past, I have used this type of substitutions in other recipes to make them a little healthier, so this concept wasn't new to me. However, at that moment I got this crazy idea of taking it one step further by adding a different substitute to the oil. Okay, you might think I'm crazy but it actually worked great and I LOVE LOVE LOVE how I get to add some vegetables in a cake. Are you ready to find out what my mystery ingredient was??? drum roll please........BABY PUREE SQUASH...

Pureed squash has a fairly mild taste and it was easily masked by all the other flavors already in the cake mix, so you will barely notice that it is in there. I would imagine that you could even experiment with different kinds of baby food puree for this recipe. For instance, carrot puree would probably be yummy and give it a carrot cake feel. Zucchini puree sound delish as well in this recipe.

I have a KitchenAid mixer which I absolutely love because it makes my life so much easier when I am making many of my recipes, but for smaller less complicated recipes like this one, I used my Hamilton Beach hand mixer. It is much easier to use and to clean up for smaller recipes. I also love that it comes with a snap on case for easy storage. Before I bought this hamilton beach mixer, I used to have a simple hand mixer that I bought at a yard sale a while back for $5. I used that mixer for more than 9 years until one day it finally died on me. It was a sad day, but that mixer has served me and my family well over the years and it  has lived a good and long life. But it was time for me to replace it and the Hamilton Beach mixer has served me well thus far.

This baby food puree cake recipe is so easy to put together. Just combine everything in a large bowl and mix it all together, then bake in the oven

As much as I thought it was a successful recipe, the ultimate taste tester is always my family. If they love it, then I know it really was good. And guess what, I am pleased to say that my boys loved it, so it was a win-win for all of us.

Baby Food Puree Cake Recipe

1 Box Cake Mix

3 eggs

3/4 cup water

1 jar baby food squash

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix on low for 1 minute, then turn the beater on high and beat for 2 more minutes until all the ingredients are well combined. Pour the batter onto a buttered and floured 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 F for 32-33 minutes or until completely done.

Here is the printable version of the recipe

This post may contain affiliate links