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.

Birthday Boy ... Car Cake

My best friend's son asked for a cake for his birthday a while back.  I asked his mom what theme he was wanting she said Cars.  I wanted to do something fun an different not the movie car but an car.  I was running crazy that week so I found this EASY cake to make!

I found a site called Themed Party Place ... OH yes I did!!  They had this easy Car Cake tutorial on their site.

What You Need:

1 Round Cake (I made my Moist White Cake)

Chocolate Donuts

Circle Cutter

Sharp Knife

Frosting

Fondant (Optional)

AmeriColor Gel Food Coloring

What to do:

Bake a round cake per instructions on the box, you'll be able to make two car cakes (I only use homemade, I don't like the taste of box).

Place the cooled cakes in the freezer for a half an hour to an hour. Freezing a cake keeps the crumbs to a minimum when you cut it.

Cut the cakes as shown by the dotted lines in the diagram.

Align the two cut sections on the sides of the larger piece to form the front and back bumpers.

Frost the cakes.

Use chocolate donuts or stacks of cookies as the wheels.

Windows can be added to the car using frosting. (Alexis Note: I used a blue fondant to cover the cake.  I also cut out for the bumpers to fit in and used that left over cake to build up my tires to be the same height of the cake (I had no donuts so I used the cake and my circle cutters weren't small enough so I used a medicine cup ... lol).  I added a little black fondant to outline doors and windows.  And to be fun I had a little brown to some fondant and made little faces to smile out of the windows.  A little black fondant for hair and used my fondant writer pen to draw on faces.

Enjoy!

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

Let Them Eat Cake ... Fondant Graduation Cap Cupcakes

Yesterday I showed you the graduation cap cakes I made, today I wanted to show the cupcakes I made.  I wanted to make the cupcakes have the same theme as the cakes.  I was so excited when I came across Glorious Treats and a tutorial on how to make fondant graduation caps.  Here step by step photos are excellent and I must say the cupcakes came out amazing, the looked like a million bucks if I must say so myself!!

I also made a few with the year on them.

What you need:

Fondant (I used my Rolled Buttercream Fondant)

Ruler or Cutter

Wilton Color Icing (if you need to color fondant)

Fondant Cut & Roll Mat

Wilton Letter / Numbers (if you want to add)

Baked Cupcakes

Frosting (I used my Sturdy Buttercream frosting)

Here are the wonderful steps that Glorious Treats did up:

1.  Color your fondant as desired

2.  Roll out the color of fondant you plan to use for the hat.

3. Cut fondant into strips about 3/4 inches wide and 3 3/4 inches long.

4.  Roll up a strip of fondant to create a ring (overlapping slightly).  Use a teeny, tiny bit of water or corn syrup to help the ends stay together.  Set aside to dry.

6.  Cut a square (for the top of the hat) about 1 3/4 inches x 1 3/4 inches.

7.  Allow hat bases (the rings) and tops (squares) to dry for several hours or overnight.  They should be totally firm before moving to the next step.

8.  When the pieces have dried, use a tiny bit of “edible glue”- made with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and a tiny bit of water (it should be the thickness of toothpaste) and apply with a (clean) paintbrush along the top edge of one ring.  Set the top of the hat (a fondant square) on top, and set aside to dry.

9.  Once the top of the hat has been secured to the base of the hat, make a tassel.  For the tassels, simply roll a tiny piece of fondant into a little “snake”.  I used my finger to press down one end just a bit, then used a knife to create just a bit of texture to represent the individual strings at the end of a tassel.

10.  Add just a drop of your ”edible glue” to the center of the hat, and attach the tassel.  Bend tassel over the side of the cap just a bit.  Set aside to dry (at least 1 hour).  Add toppers to cupcakes right before serving (up to a few hours before).   Fondant decorations added more than a few hours before serving will begin to get soft and lose their shape.

ALEXIS NOTES:  I used water as my glue. I also used my wilton roll and cut mat to make the lines even and my squares (I would suggest getting one).  I added them to the cupcakes right before I left for delivery so they would hold up.  I also found mine must have been on the thick side so they took a little longer to dry.   I made the fondant a few days early and kept in a air tight container in the fridge.  I did not make enough of the white so I had to make a few of them the night before and they didn't have enough time to harden up and were a little on the soft side, so I say you MUST let them sit for a day before assembling.

For those like me that need step by step:

What you need:

My Helper had to have his picture taken too!

These were a little bit of time to make but if you do it in stages it will help it go faster.  I made two version's for each girl who graduated college.  I made the little caps look exactly like the big caps.

Hope you give these a try they would be perfect to make for a classroom or a graduation party.  I had full intention of making a batch for Cole's class but just ran out of time last week.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

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

Rolled Buttercream Fondant (The BEST fondant EVER)

This fondant has become like part of my go to.  Who knew a fondant would be so easy and taste great?  NOT this girl!  I really thought it was not possible to find one and my friend showed me this one and it's the best thing ever.  It really takes minutes to make and rolls great even for this fondant challenged girl!  My friend found this recipe for Rolled Buttercream Fondant found on food.com.  

Ingredients

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, clear
2 lbs confectioners' sugar
Wilton's Gel Food coloring

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the shortening and corn syrup. Mix in the salt, food coloring and vanilla flavoring, then gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar until it is a stiff dough. If you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment. Otherwise, knead by hand. If the dough is sticky, knead in more confectioners' sugar until it is smooth. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
2. To use, roll out on a clean surface that has been dusted with confectioners' sugar until it is 1/8 inch thick or thinner if you can. Drape over frosted and chilled cakes and smooth the sides down, or cut into strips to make bows and other decorations.

I promise this will be your go to fondant!