Top 10 Healthier Cakes … and Happy Birthday to Us!

~ The perfect cakes for any celebration! In the slow cooker, a skillet, or the oven – these are easy, decadently delicious and much healthier! From chocolate lava to cheesecake … and lots more! ~

One year ago today, we sat together in Gretchen’s kitchen and breathlessly (on the count of three …) pressed “publish” … and let our very first post (Quick and Healthy Snack Bites) fly out into the uncharted wilderness of cyberspace.

It was the culmination of more than six months of preparations. Six months of hour upon late-night hour creating our blog name, searching for perfect font combinations, and researching never-before-heard-of-things (html mark-up code … what?!?!?).

But one year ago today, it all came together in a single moment as both our fingers simultaneously clicked that “publish” button.

We squealed and cheered and jumped up and down. (This doesn’t surprise you, does it?)

Then we sat right back down to stare at our computer screens for the next couple of hours, excitedly watching for each new comment or Facebook like (which required more squealing and cheering).

And so it began.

In the past year, we’ve cooked more than ever before in our lives, learned enough to make our heads spin …

… and pretty much trashed each other’s kitchens (repeatedly!).

We’ve quieted our jangling nerves and actually had a total blast speaking to groups in our community … from Preschool Moms to Girl Scout troops … about nutrition, picky eaters, and healthy eating.

We’ve baked muffin after muffin (and shaped Snack Bite after Snack Bite) for various charities.

We even hung out with our hero, Alton (ummmmm … sort of …) when his tour came through. Totally hilarious show, BTW (We love you, Alton!).

Best part of all? We got to hang out together!

A LOT!!!

Whether working or just playing (and sometimes a combination of both!), THK gave us a reason to be even better friends and have way more fun than we ever would have otherwise!

Plus, you know our families love hanging out together! We’re all just such good buds! One of our favorite family memories of the year was when we all ran a 5k (for the third straight year!) at the end of our daughters’ amazing Girls on the Run program. (And we’re amping up our runs in preparation for another GOTR 5k next month!)

And, hey – a special thanks to our handsome husbands, who reminded us to celebrate along the way. They bought us beautiful bouquets the day our site hit 100,000 views, and surprised us last fall with armloads of THK swag. (And don’t be all judgy here, friends … we look like drowned weasels because Gretchen had just gotten back from a run, and Shelley had just finished a long family bike ride … surprises happen when they happen!)

We’ve done our best to spread the word about THK and healthy eating to others. (And had A LOT of help from you, dear readers! Thank you, thank you for sharing and liking and commenting!)

Most of all … this past year has just been FUN … and filled with real joy and laughter.

But, in the blink of an eye (kinda just like we felt with our real, human babies), we’re amazed to find that our little blog baby is already turning one!

We wanted to celebrate, of course! Hmmmmmm … but how??

Cake! Of course! Cake!!!

But then we remembered that old adage about how you should never have to bake your own birthday cake. In that spirit, we turned to all our bloggy friends … and let them do the baking for us! Yay!

So, what we have for you today is not just one cake. No, no! Much better than that! What we have for you is 10 cakes! That’s right, friends …10! (Bet you’re feeling all lucky, huh?)

As with all our Top 10 Lists, we scoured and searched to find the 10 we’re just dying to try! And of course, true to THK form, we looked for ones that were somehow healthier.

But, come on … we’re talking birthday cakes! So, we might have let a little extra butter or sugar slip in here and there. And you know, cakes sometimes require a little extra effort to bake … like, you can’t really just pull one off in 5 minutes.

Forgive us … we’re indulging a bit today (tee-hee).

Mostly though, these cakes are all still somehow THK-ish … mostly healthier ingredients and not too difficult or time-consuming.

Oh, and they all look totally amazing (so, you know … if anyone wants to bake one up for us and send it along, we’re cool with that).

Happy birthday to us! And thanks for not making us bake our own cake!

Strawberry Almond Skillet Cake from Erin at The Law Student’s Wife

________________________________________

Black Bean Lava Cakes from Davida at The Healthy Maven

________________________________________

Skinny Brown Sugar Vanilla Cheesecake from Consuelo at Honey & Figs

________________________________________

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Kelly at Hidden Fruits and Veggies

________________________________________

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake from Joy at Joy the Baker

________________________________________

Banana Nutella Cake with Caramel Truffles and Pecans (Raw and Vegan) from Chris at Tales of a Kitchen

________________________________________

White Chocolate, Coconut & Lime Truffle Cake from Helen at Scrummy Lane

________________________________________

(Low Fat) Chocolate Cake with (Sugar Free) Raspberry Glaze from Ceara at Ceara’s Kitchen

________________________________________

Carrot Cake with Lemon Frosting from Megan at Stetted

________________________________________

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Cake from Jen at Yummy Healthy Easy

________________________________________

Love Decadent Desserts That Are Healthy, Too? You’ll Wanna Pin These For Sure:

• Kentucky Derby Chocolate-Pecan Cookie Bars
• Easy Tropical Angel Food Cake with Pineapple and Toasted Coconut
• Layered Ribbon Jell-O
• Pistachio-White Chocolate (No Butter!) Butter Cookies
• Surprisingly Decadent Brownies (Healthy, Whole Wheat & One Bowl!)