Happy 2nd Birthday, K-Dub! (Plus Banana Cake Recipe)

K-Dub’s second birthday is just about over. I can’t believe that he’s now two! He is no longer a baby and has such a funny, silly personality. We just love this little guy to pieces.

Happy Birthday, little man!

His favorite gift of the day? His singing Elmo card. Haha. So typical of a toddler, isn’t it?

K loves bananas so I wanted to make him a birthday cake that was similar to banana pudding. It didn’t taste like banana pudding but it was still one of the best cakes I’ve ever made! I used this recipe as the base and modified it a little to get the results that I was looking for. Enjoy!

Banana Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter,softened
• 2 1/8 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice in 1 1/2 cup milk, let it sit for a few minutes)
• Nilla wafers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275°.
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan (or spray with Baking Pam, much easier).
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Stir in banana mixture.
9. Pour 2/3 batter into prepared pan, cover with a layer of Nilla wafers and top with remaining 1/3 of batter
10. Bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
11. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.

Whipped Cream Frosting:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whip cream until thickened
2. Add sugar and vanilla and whip until peaks form
3. Spread frosting on cake, top with crushed Nilla wafers