This 3-Ingredient Dog Cake is the perfect homemade birthday cake for your furry friend. Everyone deserves a cake, even your dog. This easy dog cake recipe is a single-serve cake ready in less than 30 minutes.
When the kids returned home asking for a dog cake recipe for the neighbor’s dog’s birthday, we gathered information about what dogs can and can’t eat and whipped up this easy 3-ingredient dog cake recipe. If your dog loves treat, you can also make for them my Pumpkin Dog Cake, Carrot Cake for Dogs, or my Soft Dog Treats Recipe.
Dogs love peanut butter, and vegetables are good for them. So here’s a healthy dog cake packed with natural peanut butter and three vegetables.
Ingredients and Substitutions
It only takes 3 ingredients to make this cake! All you need to make this easy dog cake recipe are:
- Natural Peanut Butter – You need to use natural peanut butter without added salt, sugar, or oil. All these additives are useless for dogs and might be unhealthy. Dogs don’t need extra salt in their food. However, natural peanut butter is 100% safe for dogs.
- Egg – Dogs can eat food containing cooked eggs (source).
- Grated Carrots – Carrots are also safe for our furry friends (source).
You can also add baking powder to make the cake airier. It is safe for dogs, but they don’t care about how much the cake rises, so it’s optional.
How To Make 3-Ingredient Dog Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C)
- To make the cake batter, whisk the eggs with fresh drippy peanut butter, and shredded carrots in a small mixing bowl.
- Grease a small round springform cake with avocado oil. I found this size ideal for a single-serving dog cake, so there’s no waste of cake.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the center rack of the oven for 15 to 22 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the dog cake cool down completely on a wire rack before frosting.
- For the dog frosting, we learned that dogs should not eat sugar, not much butter, and stay away from cream cheese and chocolate. So our healthy cream cheese frosting won’t be a good fit for the dog cake.
- Instead, steam cauliflower and potatoes which are both safe for dogs (source and source). Then, add them to a food processor along with milk and plain unsweetened yogurt. Add a dollop of butter, but you can skip it if you like.
- Blend until the ingredients come together into a smooth puree. It’s better to start with less milk and add it gradually to prevent the dog cake frosting from becoming too wet or runny.
Assembling The Dog Cake
Cut the cake in half lengthwise with a sharp knife when it has cooled down. Spread half of the frosting on the first layer, add the second cake layer, and add the remaining frosting on top.
Use a spoon to spread the frosting. The frosting is very smooth and not pipeable, so there is no need for fancy tools like a piping bag for this dog cake recipe. This is the tricky part because it’s not safe to add candies, sugar, or sprinkles to dog cakes. So instead, you can add some extra shredded carrots and dog treats.
Suggested Swaps
Below are some ideas to make this cake if you don’t have some of the abovementioned ingredients.
- Peanut Butter – Almond butter or sunflower seed butter works, but some dogs can’t digest almonds or sunflower seeds, so watch out!
- Cauliflower – It can be replaced with more potatoes.
- Carrots – They can be replaced with shredded zucchini, peeled or with their skin on which are also dog safe.
Storage Instructions
This cake is not meant to be eaten entirely by one dog. It should make 3 or 4 servings, depending on the dog’s size. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the answers about the dog-friendly ingredients used in this dog recipe.
Yes, dogs can eat eggs, which are a good source of protein and nutrients. They can eat boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, or eggs in cakes.
Yes, but peanut butter should is a treat for your dog and not regular food (source). Even if this dog cake is safe for them, it should be a birthday treat, not a daily meal.
Dogs shouldn’t eat baking powder in large amounts. It can create severe digestive issues. For a dog cake, adding 1/2 teaspoon to the cake is usually fine.
But if you are unsure, skip it. As a result, the cake will be flat and dense, but your dog won’t mind the texture.
Yes, cauliflower is not toxic and safe for dogs. It’s also low in calories and packed with vitamins and nutrients.
Dogs can eat raw or cooked carrots. It’s recommended to shred or cut carrots in bite-size sticks to avoid choking.
Raw potatoes contain solanine, which is toxic for dogs (source). But you can give dogs well-cooked, boiled potatoes.
This dog birthday cake contains about 900 kcal on its own. Even if all the ingredients are dog safe, this is way too many calories for a dog that should eat between 240 kcal for a small dog and 2,000 kcal for a very active large dog.
Therefore, offering the whole cake but letting the dog eat about 1/4 of the cake would be a great birthday treat.
More Dog Recipes
Since my kids love gifting dog recipes to friends and teachers, I have a few more dog recipes for your to try:
3-Ingredient Dog Cake
Ingredients
- 2 large Egg
- ⅓ cup Natural Peanut Butter no added sugar, no added oil
- ½ cup Shredded Carrots
Optional – for fluffier texture
- ¾ teaspoon Baking Powder
Dog Cake frosting
- 7 ounces Potatoes peeled, boiled and ultra soft
- 3.5 ounces Cauliflower Florets steamed or boiled and drained
- 1-3 tablespoons Milk
- ¼ cup Plain Yogurt unsweetened
Decoration
- 1-2 teaspoons Dog Dry Food
- 1 tablespoon Shredded Carrots
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a small round springform pan with olive oil. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs, peanut butter, and shredded carrots. Add baking powder now if used.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake on the center rack of the oven for 15-22 minutes until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Bring water to a boil, add the peeled potatoes cut into large cubes and the cauliflower florets, and cook for about 12 minutes until fork tender.
- Drain the vegetables over a sieve and wait until fully cooled down before making the dog frosting.
Dog Frosting
- In a food processor, blend the cooked vegetables with yogurt and add the milk gradually to thin it out if the frosting is too thick. It's not a pipeable frosting, more like a veggie dog puree.
Assembling The Cake
- Slice the cooled cake in half lengthwise with a sharp knife.
- Spread half the frosting on one layer, add the second cake layer on top, and the remaining frosting on top.
- Decorate the cake with thinly shredded carrots and your dog's favorite treats or dog dry food.
I made these as cupcakes (made 5) and they were a hit with my pup and his doggie friend. Also used just potatoes (no cauliflower) and it worked great. Great recipe!
Loved how simple, easy, and quick this was. Thank you very much. Madee a 2 layer 4″ cake for our rottie’s 3rd birthday. Used yogurt as the icing and garnished with blueberries and dog friendly chocolate drops.
Your recipe was a hit for our Remy who turned 1 and so easy to make! I followed it incl the baking powder and it turned out so cute in a mini Bundt pan. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this for my dog and her two friends for their birthday! It smells so good! Thanks for this recipe!!
Looked for an easy, healthy dog birthday cake for my doxies 1st birthday. I substituted sweet potatoes for the white potatoes. All 3 of my dogs LOVED it. I made it into mini cupcakes. The recipe was super easy. Decorated with thicker zucchini & carrot peels sticking up. Going to make for the next birthday!
I absolutely adore this 3-Ingredient Dog Cake recipe! As a pet care enthusiast and proud owner of “Lets Have Pet” in the “pet care” category, I’m always on the lookout for delightful and healthy treats for our furry friends.
This easy-to-follow recipe using natural peanut butter, eggs, and grated carrots is not only brilliant but also ensures a special treat for our canine companions. I appreciate the attention to detail, especially the careful selection of ingredients that are safe and beneficial for dogs.
Is is possible to freeze this cake?
Absolutely!
Hi can I use regular peanut butter
It needs to be natural peanut butter, as in without added oil or sugar.
Baking powder is poisonous to dogs!
Baking soda is dangerous (source) if a dog eats over 2-4 teaspoons per kg of body mass.
In 3/4 tsp of baking powder, there is 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda (the rest is cream of tartar and cornstarch). And you use that to make 4 servings, so one serving of my cake contains 1/8 tsp of baking soda.
So, unless your dog weighs 1/32 to 1/16 pounds (or 0.5 to 1 ounce), you are very far from being close to it being poisonous!
At these quantities, it’s very safe!
Absolutely delicious looking for my pup! I do suggest adding the baking powder. I made. 6” layer cake and the first layer was done without and it was still baked perfectly, just flat. The second layer I made using the baking powder and it puffed up perfectly! For the frosting I just did one cup of Greek yogurt and a 1/4 of cup of peanut butter! It looked great and my pup loved it! Had a lot to save for a snack throughout the next few days.
My dog loves it, I have finally found a simple yet delicious cake recipe for her. Thank you!
My dogs loved this cake. I didn’t do your frosting. My dogs love banana and pb frosting. It’s so easy to make and cooked in 15 minutes. What’s the best way to store this cake and for how long is it good for?