Yo Gabba Gabba Land Cake

Yesterday, I shared one of the two cakes we had for Carter's 2nd birthday. Does that mean next year there will be three? Who knows. My sister went all out for her nephew's birthday! I cannot thank her enough especially since you have seen my most recent baking disaster.

Well, here  is the official birthday cake.  It's Gabbaland. Where Muno, Foofa, Plex, Brobee and Toodee hang out!

Full cake, sorry I had to crop the image to make it fit! This was about three feet wide!

Closeup of Muno, Foofa and Plex.

Closeup of Plex, Brobee and Toodee.

(FYI Plex doesn't have his own land, just a door in the wall!)

Once my sister updates her website/blog, I will link back since she has made a bunch of great cakes and sells them too!

What to do with too much cake!

After my banana cake came out of the oven last week, I realized that one had broken. Any idea's what you do with broken cake?

Make cake balls! I know, strange name, but amazing taste! It's like bite sized cake with a candy coating. Yum.  Not so good for a diet though.

If your interested in making them, you could do a quick internet search and find numerous flavor combos, or you can make your own! 

All you need is a cooked cake, a jar of frosting and a bag of chocolate ( or any other flavor) chips.  If you not using a whole cake ( I didn't) then you just add small amounts of frosting until you can create a ball. Then place in freezer to get hard. And lastly dip in chocolate!  I made mine using my banana cake, cream cheese frosting and then chocolate chips. YUM!

Mmmm. Banana Cake!

I just bought these bananas! Ugh. And already they decided to go brown.  And I think we only ate one. Instead of having them go to waste, I decided to bake up a Banana Cake, instead of another loaf of bread.  Even though I did find a new great Banana Bread recipe, shared here.

And then, another hang up in the kitchen. The recipe calls for buttermilk. No offense, what the heck is buttermilk? I don't think I have ever bought or seen buttermilk other than as an ingreadient in pancakes!  So, off to the internet I go and there I find a wonderful substitute!

1 tablespoon lemon juice, or white vinegar placed in a measuring cup, then add milk until the 1 cup mark.  Let sit for 5 minutes ( I let a little more) and TA-DA! Buttermilk ( Substitute!)

Now, on to the Banana Cake recipe. Since when do I only bake???

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup mashed banana

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup shortening ( I actually used Country Crock and it worked just fine)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients. Pour batter into greased pans. Bake 350 for 30-35 minutes.

More Bread...

I don't know what it is but I find that I bake more in the summer. Must be the fresh fruits and veggies available!

 Now I know I already showed you my favorite zucchini bread.  But now, I finally found a favorite banana bread recipe. ( Thanks to Ali!) I doubled the batch, and froze the other.  

Here is an online version that I found, the only difference was that my recipe did not have chopped pecans, brown sugar or cinnamon. Other than that the recipe is the exact same!  

Hanging in and Laying low...

Working on projects here and there, loving that my garden in bursting with veggies!  Here's what I picked the other day, and made with it...

*Edited to add Recipe*

How rude, I guess I should share what recipe I used!

(Found in an older better Homes and Gardens Cook Book)

One batch:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup sugar

1 cup finely shreaded unpeeled zucchini

1/4 cup oil

1 egg

Mix dry ingredients, add in wet.  Pour in greased loaf pan.  Bake 350 for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean ( Mine came out at about 45 or so...)