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–+ servings

High Protein Vanilla Birthday Cake

This High Protein Vanilla Birthday Cake is light, moist, and made with protein powder, Greek yogurt, and olive oil for a healthier take on a classic. Perfect for birthdays and celebrations, it’s simple to make, beautifully balanced, and dressed with a delicious, light vanilla frosting.
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Servings: 12 slices
Author: Teri-Ann Carty
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Equipment

  • 2 8" circle cake pans
  • oven
  • stand mixer or hand mixer
  • offset spatula

Ingredients

Birthday Cake Ingredients

  • 2½ cups flour
  • ¼ cup vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 banana
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup butter softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla

Easy Vanilla Icing Ingredients

  • ¾ cup butter soft
  • 3 cups icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350. Grease and line 2 8" cake pans.
  • Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside.
  • Add banana, sugar, oil and butter to the bowl of a standing mixer and beat until smooth and creamy.
  • Add eggs one at a time, beating until fully combined.
  • Add yogurt and vanilla and beat one more time until the batter is homogeneous.
  • Add dry to wet on low speed. Gradually increase speed to medium-high. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
  • Use an ice cream scoop to equally divide batter into the pans. I put 7 heaping scoops of batter in both pans and divided the remaining into the pans.
  • Smooth out the top with an offset spatula.
  • Bake for 32-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake turns slightly golden brown.*
  • Place cake pans on a wire rack. Use a knife to go around the cake pans, separating the cake from the side of the pan. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes.
  • Once the cake has cooled, make the icing.
  • Place butter in a clean bowl of a stand mixer. Beat butter for 2 minutes.
  • Add 2 cups of icing sugar, 1 tbsp of cream, vanilla and salt. Beat again and add the last cup of icing sugar. If the icing looks dry, add a splash more cream.
  • This makes ample frosting for a lightly frosted cake.*

Notes

  • This cake takes a little longer to cook than most white cakes because of the yogurt. Make sure you bake it for the length of time as instructed. Ovens will vary in temperature. Cake should bounce back when lightly pressed in the middle. Mine was lightly browned all over.
  • I prefer a lightly frosted cake. If you prefer more frosting, increase the butter to 1 cup and keep the sugar at 3 cups.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 640kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 433mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 65g | Vitamin A: 694IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 2mg

*Macros are provided as an estimate for convenience. Your final numbers will vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and how you portion the recipe.