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Birthday cake for a dog that the humans can eat too

My sister is sick and loves her dog terribly , we are having a brithday party for the dog....I know LOL. Whatever makes her happy right! This will be my first dog/human cake although i am a seasoned baker and am well aware of foods bad for dogs. I'm essentially making a banana carrot cake with honey, and yogurt. Using some oat flour in place of my wheat flour. Using a honey and raspoberry juice sweetened cream cheese as "icing". I am expecting a dense product to say the least.
However, if anyone has a recipe to share, i'd love it. thanks

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  1. Hmmm. When we had a party "for the dogs" (5 of them, long story) the two groups had separate food. They got Frosty Paws and it was hilarious to watch them eat them, we two-footers had burgers and beer. Whatever you do I am sure you will have fun!


    1. We have four dogs. I know the emotions involved...

      Yogurt sounds good. Why not wheat flour? Maybe some wheat germ...zucchini if you have any frozen. I am suspicious about using sweeteners, even honey. I wouldn't use 'em.

      Why not make a meatloaf "cake" using mashed potatoes as "icing", carrot sticks as 'candles"??

      10 Replies
      1. re: Jimmy Buffet

        I like the meatloaf idea. Just remember to leave out any onions and excess salt. The people can add salt and a sauce on their plate when eating. You could even buy dog gravy so the birthday pup gets gravy on the mashed potatoes!

        I try not to give my dogs any sweeteners, even natural ones like honey. With baked goods, I know it's possible to make a dish that is edible for dogs and humans, but I think you run into a) a dog-friendly cake that tastes not-great to people or b) a decent people cake that may not be dog-healthy.

        1. re: leanneabe

          I am so with you - my sister feeds her Chihauhua a lot of people food and wants to eat the same cake .
          Thanks to everyone for the sweetner caution, im sure raspberry cream cheese will work w/o any honey.

          1. re: leanneabe

            what's the problem with dogs and sugar? I knew that chocolate was bad for them, but never hearad the sugar thing.

            My dogs never much liked baked goods of any kind, although they would generally eat them, 'cause after all they are scavengers. I've had two dogs that really liked muscadines (wild grapes)

            My dogs also liked peanut butter, so maybe a giant, multi layer peanut butter sandwich?

            I think the meatloaf cake is a good idea, as long as it doesn't gross the humans out too much to have that for the meal followed by people dessert.

            1. re: danna

              Sugar and salt aren't "bad" for dogs like chocolate and onions (and raisins and grapes!), but I think it's just generally not good for them. It's one of those things that I have no desire to test to see if it will make them sick, so I just try to avoid giving it to them if I can. However, I also don't make a huge fuss if they happen to grab a cookie or piece of salty ham that's fallen to the floor.

              1. re: danna

                I don't think sugar would be a problem since you are not feeding it to them every day. I make treats for my guys that contain sugar but they are not regular treats - they are for super duper special occasions.

                I love the idea of a dog birthday cake and party. I always buy my dogs new toys on their birthdays but never thought of baking them a cake. Bookmarking this page for next year!

              2. re: leanneabe

                i'm sure a meatloaf cake would be cute....but if me and my dog were at your party, neither of us could eat !!! I don't eat meat at all.....and she has been on a special low protein diet since puppy-hood.....too much protein and she gets really bad kidney problems....

              3. re: Jimmy Buffet

                Meatloaf cake is fun.


                The biggest problem I've had is getting mashed potatoes smooth enough to use to decorate. I think boxed mashed potatoes might be the way to go. I filled the layers in between w/ a red wine ketchup reduction and it was great. It's funny to see the looks on people's faces.

                1. re: chowser

                  I've fed both my dogs ice cream, so that can be on top (inside) of the cake. A whole wheat flour (dogs can have w/w flour) and peanut butter cake (same stuff I use in my dog biscuits) would be good for the dog, but might not be great for the humans.

                  How about a two tiered ice cream cake? Top layer w/w flour and peanut butter and bottom layer anything you wish?

                  1. re: dolores

                    All the ice cream places around here sell doggie ice cream sandwiches made with giant size dog biscuits, I hear the dogs love them!

                2. re: Jimmy Buffet

                  My veterinarian approved cookbook - Real Food For Dogs - includes a cupcake recipe, for both dogs and people, made with carrots, banana, and whole wheat flour, and sweetened with honey.

                3. As you can see from the avatar, the dog rules in casa jfood. And on b'days the jfoods normally buy a small cake from the supermarket so they cna have one slice and no leftovers. And the dog always gets a slice. No comments from the "homemade" peanut gallery pahleeze.

                  Here's the punchline. Now, whenever the dog hears people singing "Happy Birthday" she runs to her bowl and sits in front of it because she knows (like Pavlov's you know what) that some goodies are coming her way. And it is always vanilla cake and white buttercream (obviously no chocolate).

                  So far no arguments from her.

                  1. The dog rules in my house as well (mostly from his perch on the couch, as per my avatar) and while I've never made a cake for him, both my mother and I have baked him his own cookies (oats, peanut butter, applesauce, etc.) on various occasions, and while they don't taste awful, they certainly don't taste like something that human beings would consider to be a treat. Baked goods with no salt and little or no fat or sugar or other sweetener just aren't that tasty. My understanding is that while sugar isn't dangerous for dogs in the same way chocolate is, their systems aren't able to digest it the way that we do, and you may not want the dog to be suffering from g/i distress on his/her birthday. But having said that, if it's important for all the party guests to be eating the same thing, I'd probably go the jfood route and let the dog have a small piece of people-friendly cake, topped with frosty paws. (My dog loves frosty paws, which I have on good authority from another human tastes nothing like ice cream but rather resembles dog biscuits soaked it water til they're mushy and then frozen. Yum.)

                    1 Reply
                    1. re: cookie monster

                      they taste absolutely nothing like ice cream (I wanted to know for myself, lol)

                      I think I have the # Dog bakery cook book around here somwhere...Maybe there website www.threedog.com might have some recipes. I know in the past when using recipes from them we *ahem* humans have sampled them.

                    2. I have two toy poodles, and they each eat a cookie every morning. They have been doing this for at least 5 years or longer, and there have been no ill effects.