Yo Gabba Gabba Cake for Mikaela's 2nd Birthday / Orange cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Wow..Time does fly fast when you really wish you could hold on to it for some more..Cant believe my little munchkin is already 2!! I seriously wish I could go back in time from the day she was born(I know all mothers would feel the same).
For Mikaela's first birthday, we had organized a Halloween theme party with friends and family, but this time we were keeping it low profile. But you cant have a birthday without a lovely dress and a nice cake, so I decided to ask my little one about the cake she would like for her birthday. Here is the actual conversation:

Mamma : Mia, When is your bday?
Mia : Ochober 14 (Intentional typos trying to capture the actual sounds :))

Mamma : Ok, Very well done. Would you like a cake for your bday on which you can put candles and blow and everyone will sing "Happy bday to you"
Mia : Yeaaah

Mamma : Ok, What cake would you like?
Mia : Gabba gabba cake...!!

Mamma (terrified) : What? How will I make it?
Mia: Muno, Foofa, Brobee, Toodee, Plex

Mamma (totally terrified) : Wow Mia. You really know what you want !!

So as per the instruction from HQ, I go ahead and start my planning. I decided to use fondant and gum paste to make the figurines. As a test run, I initially made a few figurines with play-dough to find out whether it would look like what I had in mind.

Here is Brobee, the little green one

Foofa - She is pink and happy :)

Toodee - She likes to have fun

Plex- a magic robot

Muno- he is tall and friendly

Last but not the least, the Yo Gabba Banner!

The cake was a Orange cake with Orange cream cheese frosting. Here is the recipe for a 10 inch bundt cake or one 9*13 inch pan. I had to double this recipe as I made 1 round 11inch cake and 1 round 5inch cake.

Orange cake recipe

Ingredients
 1 (18.25 ounce) package vanilla cake mix
 1 (3.6 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
 3/4 cup orange juice
 1/2 cup vegetable oil
 4 eggs
 1 Tbsp - Orange zest
Directions

• Grease a 11 inch Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in 3/4 cup orange juice, oil, eggs and lemon extract. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Chocolate Ricotta Cake filling
Makes approx 1 1/4 cups of filling
Ingredients
2/3 C - Chocolate Morsels
3 Tbsp - Butter
2/3 C - Ricotta Cheese
Directions

• Add the butter and chocolate morsels to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 min.
• Take the chocolate out of the microwae and mix well. 
• Using a electric beater mix the melted chocolate and ricotta cheese until smooth. If you feel this mixture is runny, then place it in the firdge for 15 mins and then use it.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes about 4 cups
Ingredients
2 8-ounce packages - Chilled cream cheese
8 Tbsp - Unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 C - Powdered sugar
2 Tsp - Fresh orange zest
1 Tsp - Vanilla extract
1/3 C - Chilled sour cream
Direction

• Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until well blended.
• Beat in sugar, then orange peel and vanilla.
• Beat in sour cream.
• Cover and refrigerate until frosting is firm enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

Here is the bday collage :)