Banana Split Cake

So this is the first time I'm posting--Thanks for the invite! I love to cook and I love new recipes.
We had Stella's 1st birthday party tonight and I made this cake. I'm just putting the link, since it's from the web anyway. Oh my word it was delicious! Everyone who came, which was about 15 people of all different tastes raved! I would put a picture of the actual one I made, but it looked exactly like this, but not as good of lighting. I'm not kidding . . .it turned out great. I even put the strawberries in the middle and then gave everyone a half a strawberry on their plate with ice cream when I served it. Cute and tasty.

So, enjoy! It is a bit labor intensive, but worth it.

Banana Split Cake from verybestbaking.com.

                        Jodi Made it also, for Rebekah's birthday it was SO Yummy! Loved it! 

Edited to show my version of the cake. I got the pictures from Stella's birthday uploaded, so thought I would prove it to you, it looked just as good, right?

And here's a picture of the birthday girl. She had a yellow cake from a mix to smash around. But I did try to make it look cute. For fun and some simple decorating ideas go to familyfun.go.com.

Mexican Monkey Cake

Farmgirl's Mexican Monkey Cake
Makes One 8-Inch Square Cake

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick/4 ounces) butter, softened (or 1/2 cup trans-fat free margarine, such as Earth Balance)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1-1/4 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (they cannot be too ripe)
2 Tablespoons yogurt or sour cream
1 Tablespoon milk
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half wheat flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using a glass pan such as Pyrex). Grease an 8"x8"x2" baking pan. In a small bowl, combine chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts (if desired), and cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and egg with an electric mixer until fluffy (I use a hand held mixer). Add bananas, yogurt, and milk, and mix well. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt just until blended.

Spread slightly more than half of the batter in the pan. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon streusel. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the streusel and then top with the rest of the streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This cake tastes even better the next day, and it freezes beautifully. You can freeze the cake whole or cut it into pieces, wrap them tightly in plastic, and place them in a zipper freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature--or in the microwave if you are being attacked by The Chocolate Force.

Posted by Kim from Farmgirlfare.com