My son recently turned one, and for his birthday cake I wanted to try my hand at a 3 layer cake. I’ve always made my kid’s birthday cakes, but I decided I wanted to take it up a notch and increase my skills.

His birthday was the day after Memorial Day, so I knew I would be limited in my cake prep time. I decided I wanted to bake the cake layers the morning of Memorial Day so that they would already be ready to go, and I would just throw them in the freezer for the next day.

Well, in the hustle and bustle of Memorial Day prep AND birthday cake prep- I made a critical mistake- I greased my cake pans- AND FORGOT TO FLOUR THEM. As you can imagine, I was left with a complete disaster of crumbly cake pieces. Tasty, but completely useless as a cake.

I’m happy to say my second time around resulted in beautiful, perfect cake layers. But I was still stuck with a gallon bag full of cake scraps- not beautiful, but certainly still delicious! I’m not someone who just throws things out- and while eating cake scraps right out of the bag isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there’s definitely some more creative ways to use them up!

Cake Balls. This one was the first thing to come to mind. Obvious- but they’re so good! You can help hide dry cake texture by rolling the finished cake ball in crushed graham crackers, oreos, pretzels, vanilla wafers, etc.

Cake Cones. Instead of your typical cake ball, combine the frosting and cake (like you would for cake balls) and scoop it in an ice cream cone! Dip the top in milk chocolate, and eat as is or cover in sprinkles. There is no losing in this situation ;).

Cake milkshake. You can’t have your cake and eat it too…. But no one said anything about drinking it! Blend up your cake in a food processor and throw it in the blender with ice cream, milk, and any mix-ins that might go well with your cake flavor!

Ice Cream Topping. If you're more of a straight-up ice cream kind of person, you could also just add it to ice cream as a mix-in- I mean, cake and ice cream go together like peanut butter and jelly, right? Toast the crumbs in the oven first for some added crunchy texture to your ice cream.

Trifle. I bet trifle was invented by someone who was trying to use up a failed baked good. What better way to create something elegant and beautiful with something that’s broken? The best part is you could throw in all sorts of combinations based on the flavor of your cake. Pudding, leftover frosting, yogurt, whipped cream, fruit, chocolate ganache, pie filling- all would be delicious additions.

Pie Crusts. There are cookie pie crust recipes out there- and instead of using cookie crumbs, just use your cake crumbles!

Deep-Fried Cake. When in doubt, deep-fry it! I mean, cake covered in batter and then fried just can’t be bad, can it?

Mason Jar Cakes. I love this idea. Just throw some cake and frosting into little mason jars, and give them as gifts or stick them in the freezer for those late night cravings ;).

Cake French Toast. For a truly naughty breakfast, serve french toast- but use cake instead of bread! This works best if you have larger scraps.

Bread...err… Cake Pudding. Have a favorite bread pudding recipe? Just substitute cake for the bread! That will definitely be a truly decadent dessert!

What’s your favorite way to use up cake scraps? I’d love to hear them!