blueberry banana cake with lemon cream cheese frosting

My son is going to turn two pretty soon so I was thinking about his birthday party last year.  It was so much fun!  He had "silly monkey" theme.  We had kahula pork, steamed rice, asian salad and blueberry banana cake with lemon cream cheese frosting.  Our favorite neighbors and friends attended and it was just so nice.  This year my parents will be in town for his birthday so we'll have a quiet party with a cars/trucks theme so we'll probably have dirt for dessert or a dump cake in the back of a dump truck.  I wanted to be sure to post the cake recipe we had (bottom left of photo above).  Oh yes, I can't forget the monkey cupcakes.  Those were a hit with the kids!


blueberry banana cake with lemon cream cheese frosting (Home Based Mom)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (from about 3 bananas)
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced and zested (zest is for the frosting)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups blueberries and sliced almonds for garnish


cream cheese frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar
pinch salt


Preheat the oven to 325.  Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper; with enough paper that paper hangs over the two long sides.  Grease lightly with baking spray or butter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer) cream the butter with the sugars.  Blend in the eggs one at a time and whip until creamy.  Add the vanilla as well as the bananas.  Mix until creamy.
Add the flour, baking soda and salt.  Stir the mixture roughly but do not combine completely.
In a large measuring cup, mix the lemon juice with the milk.  (Reserve the lemon zest for the frosting.)
With the mixer running, slowly pour the milk into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.  Mix until smooth.  Fold in the blueberries.  Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
bake the cake for 75 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. (Start checking after 60 minutes but mine took more like 80 minutes.)
When the cake is firm and a tester comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes.
Run a knife between the cake and short edges of the pan to help release the cake.  Lift up on the parchment paper to remove the whole cake from the pan and place the cake, parchment and all, on a cooling rack.  Let the cake cool completely before icing.
For the icing: In a large bowl, whip the butter and cream cheese together until very smooth with no lumps.  Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Add the confectioners' sugar, reserved lemon zest and salt and beat on low speed until combined then on high until frosting is smooth.  Spread on cooled cake.  Garnish with blueberries and sliced almonds if desired.