This special dog cake is super easy to make, and you don’t have to be a baker to make it either! Just like these meatballs for dogs, they find this cake absolutely irresistible!
Why I love this amazing meatloaf cake for dogs
Perfect for dogs with sensitive stomachs, especially because the recipe is so versatile! All of the ingredients (except one) for the cake are actual ingredients that are good for your dog (with the only exception being cream cheese, which is more of a treat for them). The cream cheese can be substituted with dairy free cream cheese, or swapped altogether for mashed potato if you like! Since this is not an actual cake, you don’t have to be stringent with the ingredient ratios either. It’s gluten free (which is fantastic for my pup who has such a sensitive stomach). Your pup can eat this as a full meal (as a one-off), instead of just as a small treat (like you would with a baked sweet cake for your dog). I use absolutely NO food coloring in this cake! You can make dog-friendly “sprinkles” for this cake too!
Introducing our beautiful fur babies
We have (had) three dogs in our life,
Zuko, my smart and mischievous boy who has been with us since he was a puppy and is 4 years old now. Kita, my sweet, perfect angel, who was only with us for an year. He was at least 10 years old and he sadly passed away last year. Korra, my cheeky girl who we adopted last December and is just over an year old now.
Zuko has a particularly sensitive stomach, and we are very careful about what he eats. We take great care when we need to change his diet because small things can upset his stomach quite easily. Korra has an allergy to kibble with chicken. So we avoid feeding her chicken until we can precisely figure out what she is allergic to. Kita was the boy that had a stomach of steel. He could eat anything, but chose to NEVER eat fruits and veggies, under any circumstances! So we did have to get creative with how we fed him a balanced meal. All three of them have a special and eternal place in our hearts and they are my family. My babies.
Celebrating birthdays for puppies with sensitive stomachs
Let me preface all of this by saying that I am NOT a veterinarian or dog nutritionist. I made this cake because it’s a cake based on all the things that my dogs already consume at home. I LOVE birthdays! And I love making cakes and cupcakes to celebrate them. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’d want to bake a cake for my pups’ birthdays too. I often make these dog meatballs for them as a special treat, but I go a little further for this dog birthday cake! Zuko’s first birthday was celebrated with a peanut butter doggy cake. And it goes without saying that he loved it! While he only had a small piece, he ended up having tummy issues. So I had to think of an alternative for him so that we won’t have to worry about keeping him from eating his own birthday cake. That’s how I started making him a meatloaf cake! Instead of making cake layers with flour, peanut butter, honey, oil, and other standard baking ingredients, I made simple cake layers with a mixture of ground meat, veggies, fruits, and a binder! I was able to add all of their favorite flavors, and sneak in some more nutrition through vegetables as well. I was able to eliminate most ingredients that Zuko doesn’t eat regularly (like flour, honey, peanut butter, oil etc.), so that I know that he could go crazy enjoying this cake on his special day. The result was that he had no tummy issues because of his birthday cake! That’s why this dog meatloaf cake is AMAZING for dogs with sensitive stomachs. You can make the meatloaf layers with ingredients that you KNOW your dog will love, and have no issues with.
Ingredients for the dog cake
Ingredients to make the meatloaf “cake” layers
Ground meat – I usually use beef or a mixture of beef and pork. Make sure it’s lean meat. You can use ground meat that your pup likes to and is able to eat. Carrots – You can replace the carrots with green beans or broccoli as well if you prefer. I’ve also used a mix of vegetables such as carrots, beans, kale, and beets. Apples – My pups love apples! But you can also substitute the apples with pears. You can also use berries (strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries). But remember that the berries will color the meat loaf layers. Apple has a more neutral color. Parsley – Flat leaf parsley and curly leaf parsley are superfoods for dogs. They have MANY vitamins and minerals that help with immunity, eye sight, and kidney and urinary health. But do NOT use spring parsley! Turmeric and a pinch of black pepper – I add these to the meatloaf because turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties that are beneficial for your dog. Eggs – Used as a binder for the meatloaf. Oat flour or quick cook oats – Used as a binder as well, and is a healthy carb for dogs.
Ingredients to make the dog friendly cream cheese and sweet potato “frosting”
Low fat cream cheese or dairy free cream cheese – This isn’t the healthiest for dogs, and of all the ingredients in this cake, this is the only ingredient that I consider to be an extra “treat” for my pups. However, you can easily substitute this with mashed potatoes if you like. Sweet potatoes – Sweet potatoes will naturally add color to your frosting. I have used the classic orange fleshed sweet potatoes for this frosting in past years. For this post, I used purple sweet potatoes which gave the frosting an incredibly vibrant purple color! Frosting substitute – You can also use mashed potatoes that have been colored with beetroot juice.
How to make a homemade dog cake with meatloaf layers
For the dog cake layers
Take three 8 inch round cake pans and line them with foil. Press the foil against the pan so that the foil is as smooth as possible without wrinkles. Then place parchment paper on top. The foil is to protect the cake pan from caramelized bits of meatloaf sticking to it. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Grate the carrots and apples. Finely chop the parsley. In a large bowl, place the ground meat (I used ground beef here), and add the carrots, apples, parsley, turmeric, black pepper, and oat flour. Lightly mix the beef to incorporate all the ingredients. You don’t want to squeeze and be too rough with the meat, because this can lead to the layers shrinking too much once cooked. Halfway through the mixing process, add the eggs, and continue to mix until everything is well mixed. Weigh the meatloaf mixture and divide it into 3 equal portions. Press each portion into the bottom of each cake pan. Make sure that the thickness is as even as possible, and the edges are not jagged and uneven. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 – 30 minutes until the meat is done. It shouldn’t take too long. Remove the cake pans from the oven and let the meatloaf dog cake layers cool down to room temperature. Place each layer on top of paper towels to absorb any excess fat, and set them aside until you’re ready to assemble the cake. You can also wrap in plastic wrap and store the dog cake layers in the fridge.
Making dog-friendly sprinkles
This is an optional step. It’s a little more involved, but they do make the meatloaf dog cake look that much more special and pretty! These need to be made at least a day ahead of time. I usually make them two days ahead to give the sprinkles time to dry. The first step is to find unsweetened desiccated coconut. Preferably the kind where the pieces are a little long, and not a fine powder. Although the fine powder could work well too. The second step is to decide how many colors you want. Here are some options.
Yellow – turmeric Pink – beetroot Green – spinach Purple – blueberries Red – raspberries
To make the sprinkles, place a little desiccated coconut in separate ziploc plastic bags. The sandwich-sized ziploc bags should be large enough. For the turmeric, add about 1/4 tsp of turmeric with about 1 tsp of water to the coconut and then mix the coconut in the bag to color all the pieces of the shredded coconut. They may not be all uniformly colored, but that’s OK. For all the other colors, lightly crush the fruit or vegetable with a few tsp of water. Then add the colored water to the shredded coconut. Close the bag and mix the coconut with the colored water inside the bag. When all the colors are ready, remove the coconut from the bag and lay it out on a piece of parchment paper and let it dry. You can also let it dry in an oven, but I have burned my coconut this way in the past because it does dry up very quickly in the oven and start to burn. Mix the dried shredded coconut to create colored funfetti sprinkles that are safe for your dog!
Making the frosting
The day before I make the cake, I cut the sweet potatoes into thick rounds. Then I steam them until they are soft. These steamed sweet potato pieces are then cooled down to room temperature and stored in the fridge until the next day.
Make sure to allow the cream cheese to soften to room temperature before using it as well.
The next day, peel the skin off the steamed sweet potatoes and place them in a mixer bowl. With a paddle attachment, mix the sweet potatoes to break them apart.
Add the softened cream cheese while mixing on medium speed, a small portion at a time, until all of the cream cheese is added. This is to avoid any cream cheese lumps from forming.
Once all the cream cheese is added, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then mix the frosting on high speed to get a nice spreadable mixture. If you want to make this mixture softer, you can add a little cream or plant based milk. But DO NOT add too much because if the frosting is too runny, you will need more cream cheese to make it stiff.
Now you can assemble the layer dog cake.
Assembling your dog cake
This is an optional step, but I like to trim the edges of the meatloaf so that the thickness of the cake layers is more even. I use a small plate or bowl and place it over the cake layer and use it as a guide to trim the edges to get a nice, even circle. Next, on a flat surface, place a round piece of parchment paper. Stick this parchment paper onto the flat surface (or cake decorating pedestal) using a small dollop of the sweet potato frosting. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of the parchment paper (smaller than the cake layer) and place the meatloaf layer on top. The frosting will keep the cake in place. Spread a layer of the sweet potato frosting on top of the cake layer. I like to make it a little thick, but not more than half the thickness of the meatloaf layer. Top it with a layer of meatloaf. Repeat with frosting, and place the final layer of meatloaf on top. Just like with a regular cake, I apply a “crumb coating” on the meatloaf dog cake layers to get a nice, smooth surface on the sides and top of the cake. Then, spread another thin layer of frosting over the crumb coating and use a bench scraper to get it as smooth as you like. If you want it to look more rustic, you can just use an offset spatula to spread the sweet potato frosting. Put some of the frosting in a piping bag with an open star or closed star piping tip, and decorate the border of the cake. This is optional of course, but there should be more than enough frosting to decorate the cake.
Decorating the dog birthday cake
Feel free to decorate the meatloaf cake however you (and your dog) like(s)! Similar to the cake in this post, you can create a piped border along the top and bottom of the cake. To write a message on the cake, I use plain whipped cream cheese. If you made sprinkles, you can sprinkle the top or sides of the cake with the dog-friendly rainbow sprinkles too. The easiest method to decorate the cake is to use a variety of your pup’s favorite treats and to place them on top, along with fresh berries (if your dog likes them of course).
Storage instructions
Cake layers
The cake layers can be stored in the fridge for only up to 4 days (maybe 5). I treat them like leftovers for us humans, and don’t like to feed my dogs cooked food that has been stored for too long in the fridge. However, you can store the meatloaf cake layers in the freezer for up to 1 month. Make sure that it’s wrapped well and stored in an air-tight container, or wrapped with foil to prevent freezer burn. The meatloaf cake layers can be thawed out in the fridge and used to make a cake according to the recipe.
Frosting
The cream cheese and sweet potato frosting will only last about 4 days in the fridge due to the presence of dairy. I haven’t stored the frosting in the freezer before, but it is possible. However, you may need to re-whip the frosting once it has thawed out to get the correct consistency.
Assembled cake and leftovers
The meatloaf dog cake can be made the day before you need it and kept in the fridge until you need it for up to 24 hours. Since this cake can be served as a special meal, the cake usually is over within 2 days. My two pups ate the cake over two days with a little kibble. However, the leftovers can be kept for a further 3 – 4 days (preferably 3 days) in the fridge. If you want to keep the cake for longer, I recommend freezing the cake in portions for up to a month or two.
Final thoughts and pictures!
Well, I can’t really rate this recipe personally, because I’ve never tried it myself. But if my pups’ reactions are anything to go by, the recipe and cake are absolute winners! 🙂
I can most definitely say that they absolutely LOVE this cake! Let me just say that it was a challenge (to say the least) to photograph this cake with the pups in the background.
This was Korra’s first experience with a dog cake, so she wasn’t very good at eating her cake slice off her plate. But Zuko is a seasoned veteran by now.
I guarantee that your pups will ABSOLUTELY LOVE this savory meatloaf dog cake too! And you, as their human, can feel good about them eating a birthday cake with their favorite ingredients that are actually good for them too.
That’s a win-win, if you ask me.
Finally, here are some pictures of my pups eating their dog meatloaf cake. I couldn’t choose just a couple, so I’m sharing six…
