Monkey Birthday Cake with Arms, Legs and Tail, Too!

I decided to try making my own monkey cake after attending a party with a simple store-bought one. When I went looking for monkey cake ideas, all the examples I found just featured monkey heads. So I decided to create a monkey cake with a full-body raised monkey dancing in the jungle.

• Display Platter: Create a display plate by covering a piece of cardboard with wrapping paper. Have ready to go when cake comes out of the oven.
• Cake Batter: I used three batches of cake to make this one. I make my cakes from scratch which really doesn't take much longer than box mixes and you can avoid the trans fat that way. There are recipes on the box of cake flour.
• Sheet Cake: I used 1-1/2 batches for the 12" x 18" sheet cake pan. I lined the pan with parchment paper per cake instructions and it came right out the pan. (Loosen cake around edges then place display board on top of pan and flip the whole thing.)
• Cake Body: Create your own parts by placing foil forms inside another baking pan. I created the rest of the body parts by forming rounded head and torso pieces using Reynold's Release aluminum foil. Fold a long length of foil over on itself twice, so the finished width is about 3" wide and 18" long. Shape an oval head about 5" across and a body about 6" across and 8" long. (See what fits in the pans you have and adjust accordingly.) Tuck ends inside the fold and set into baking pan. Pour in cake batter and bake immediately. A small amount of batter may leak out from under forms (let your kid just a early taste of their cake) but for the most part they bake up just fine.
• Monkey Ears, Arms and Legs: I poured a small amount of batter into a glass cruets for the ears. For the arms and legs, I poured batter into a special pan I have that has extra edges, but any square or rectangular pan will do. (Add foil divisions to pan before pouring in batter so as to create 2" wide lengths of cake. Leave one larger square area that you can cut the tail out of. It will make it easier to frost later.)
• Assemble: Tuck wax paper under edges of sheet cake to protect paper while frosting the cake. Tint white frosting green and frost sheet cake. I added wavy lines all over the surface to resemble vines.
• Arms and Legs: To create the arms and legs, I cut lengths of 5" long x 2" wide cake at a diagonal about half way down the length, then switched the left and right end pieces to create the bend in the legs and arms. Gently cut the tail out with a small, sharp knife. Carefully assemble body parts on top of frosted sheet cake, trying to avoid getting too many crumbs on it. I cut a crescent out of the ear circles so they would fit up against the head snuggly.
• Frost: Make chocolate frosting, reserving some to add to white frosting later to create the lighter body and ear areas. Frost cake dark brown. Add lighter frosting to ears, face and torso. Add Junior Mints for eyes, caramel pieces rolled into nostrils and either black licorice string or black decorating gel for the smile and hand/feet details. For the finishing touch, I decorated around it with some jungle tree branches. You could also cut leaves out of construction paper.

If you'd like to see more Kyle Design primate-themed gift ideas, visit Monkey Gifts and Decor for many fun ideas.

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