Cake Walk Cake ... Monkey Cake

Before school ended this last year the school had a cake walk and asked for cakes to be donated.  I of course couldn't just pick up a cake, I wanted to make something.  It was a jungle theme so I found this super cute Monkey Cake on Parenting.  I of course made it my own and I think it turned out super cute!

Ingredients:

• 1 (9-inch) round cake
• 2 chocolate-covered doughnuts
• ½ can (1 cup) vanilla frosting
• Red food coloring (I used Pink for lips)
• 1 can (16 oz) chocolate frosting (I used fondant instead)
• ½ cup chocolate sprinkles (I skipped)
• 2 brown M&M's or black jelly beans (I used fondant)
• 2 miniature York peppermint patties
• 1 chocolate Twizzler

What you'll need:

• A bread knife
• A serving platter
• 2 resealable sandwich-size plastic bags (Ziploc)
• Kitchen shears or scissors

Trimming the cakes:

1. Place the cake on a clean work surface. Using the bread knife, trim a 1 ½-inch triangle-shaped notch from opposite sides of the cake (see template). Discard scraps. Place the trimmed cake onto a serving platter.
2. Cut ½ inch from one side of each doughnut.

For the white, red and pink frosting:

1. Spoon ¼ cup of the untinted vanilla frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
2. Add enough red food coloring to 2 Tbsp of the vanilla frosting to tint it red and spoon it into a separate resealable plastic bag.
3. Add a few drops of the red food coloring to the remaining vanilla frosting to tint it a pale pink.

Frosting the cake:

1. Spread the chocolate frosting onto the top and sides of the cake, avoiding the lower half of the monkey's face.
2. Spread the pale-pink frosting into a kidney bean-shaped area over the monkey's mouth, chin and cheeks, as pictured.
3. Press the chocolate sprinkles into the forehead, the top of the head and the underside of the monkey's chin.

Assembling the cake:

1. Press the trimmed edges of the doughnuts onto the cake for the monkey's ears. Press the M&M's or the jelly beans into the center of the cake to make the monkey's nostrils.
2. Snip a very small corner from each bag of frosting. Pipe a red frosting line onto the pink part of the cake for the monkey's smile.
3. Pipe 2 white circles onto the top of the cake for the monkey's eyes and press the peppermint candies into them. Add a dab of white frosting for the sparkle in each eye, as pictured.
4. Snip the chocolate Twizzler into thin 2-inch strands with kitchen shears or clean scissors and insert them into the top of the cake for the monkey's hair.

Alexis Notes: I used My Rolled Buttercream Frosting an tinted it 2 shades of brown and a little bit pink for the lips.  I rolled out a little of the white and made the whites of the eyes and added a little crescent moons on each york patty to the whites of the eyes.  I used Wilton Gel Colors to die the fondant (this was before I found my now favorite AmeriColor at Hobby Lobby).  I used a little black fondant for the nostrils. 

I say this Monkey is prefect for any night!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.