Monkeying Around

Completed 2012
18"x24"
Oil

I am assuming the future child that is getting this painting will be a Redskins fan. (According to his father he has no choice.)

I am also assuming this future child will like monkeys. Let's hope so. So far his world is covered by them.








Shout out to Meatball for helping with this one.

Monkey Cake: Part 2

Cake baking is intense. While making the cake topper took a good chunk of time, the actual cake took longer. 

Tasks included:

- baking 3 boxes of cake mix,

- making a double batch of icing (recipe here)

- making a double batch of fondant (recipe here)

- miscellaneous

- decorating

Beginning with the fondant: I bought some pre-made store-bought fondant to make the details, including the monkey and other shapes. However, because it can get expensive to buy the pre-made stuff, I thought I'd try my hand at making some. The homemade stuff would cover the cake- be the canvas if you will.

The marshmallow recipe I found on allrecipes.com was pretty straightforward. I just underestimated the quantity it would make. (Which is why I doubled the recipe.) I also underestimated how messy it would be.

You start by melting mini marshmallows in the microwave until completely melted. This is the largest bowl I own and it was filled almost completely with marshmallow. I should have regrouped at this point, but did not. Into this bowl I still had to add four pounds of confectioners' sugar.

You slowly add the sugar until the dough becomes more firm.

At this point I was seriously questioning my methods. Why do I not have a KitchenAid?

Then you knead. And knead some more. Then knead a bit more until if finally starts resembling dough. Then you toss it in the fridge overnight and hope that its easier to work with the following day.

And then you clean up your mess. (The dog will handle cleaning the floor.)

Next day... 

The cakes are baked. The icing is made. Now comes the assembly!

Before rolling out the fondant, the cakes got iced. Although shown here with only icing in the middle, they did eventually get fully coated. The icing works like glue for the fondant.

After rolling out sufficiently large pieces of fondant, the cakes were, ever so carefully, wrapped in fondant and trimmed.

Starting to look like real cakes

Of course before stacking the two, the engineer in me assessed the situation and determined there needed to be structural support. After marking where the top layer should go, I added some wooden dowel rods.

Structurally sound

So FINALLY at this point, it was time to decorate. This is actually where the fun began. I even got so consumed with decorating that I neglected to take pictures of the progress. Oh except for these pictures of dyed fondant and of me using the cookie cutter.





 Actually, circles were the foundation of this cake. Why? Because they are easy.

In the end the cake turned out better than I expected. A success! And despite all the planning and work that went into it, I enjoyed it. I may actually do this again.

 

Monkey Cake: Part 1

I am happy to report that my second experience with fondant went much better than the first. I also figured out what I did wrong the first time. I did not follow directions.

The microwave has magical powers. And microwaving rock-hard fondant in the microwave for even just 10 seconds makes a world of difference! What was once stiff and rock-like icing turns into soft, malleable Play-doh. It is wonderfully easy to work with at this point.... as long as you have Play-doh skills from your childhood.

I never got to this point last time.

Making this cake was a 2 week project. I started the first weekend by making the monkey topper. Because, really, what would a monkey cake be without the monkey?

Enter the project plan:



I got some tips on how to make the monkey from this step-by-step blog post from Cake Fixation. I also admired this fondant monkey from Etsy. So I printed out both for inspiration.

I started by getting my work area set up.



For the monkey I used store-bought fondant. This Duff brand from Michael's had pretty good reviews so I thought, what the heck. I got one white (buttercream) and one brown (chocolate). To a hunk of the white one I added some brown and yellow food coloring until I got a sort of tan/skintone color.

Ugh terrible color photo.

Using the chocolate fondant I made a head and a body. Securing the head to the body with a toothpick as the handy Cake Fixation post recommended.

By the way, I had some issues with the chocolate fondant. I'm not sure why it was much more crackly than the buttercream fondant (which was amazingly smooth).  Not sure what was going on here. That is why the monkey looks like he has wrinkles.



Next I rolled out the now tan-colored fondant so that I could cut out a variety of shapes including the skin around the eyes, the mouth, hands, and feet. For this I used one of my Christmas presents: an X-acto knife!





A tip for the hands and feet: cut out two at a time so that they are symmetrical. You can't argue with symmetry.

Next we assemble!

Every monkey needs a cute belly button.

I clearly got a bit carried away and forgot to take pictures at all the steps. But you get the gist. The "Welcome Baby" banner was made by cutting out a longish, rectangular piece of white fondant. Then writing out the words with edible markers.

That's right. EDIBLE markers! Those cake people think of everything.

And finally, a monkey needs bananas. See here as I demonstrate the amazing edible markers.



And that is it. It's done. Hours of planning, and roughly two hours of assembly time.



Monkey got wrapped up in some plastic wrap and hung out on the counter for a week.

I had nightmares he was going to fly off the counter every time I walked by.

Left vs. Right

Infographs. Appealing to the left brainers with their organization and logical presentation of data. 

Appealing to the right brainers with their cute graphics.

I stumbled across this infographic today and thought I'd share.

I'm definitely left brain heavy, with a heap of right brain on the side. Me: a planner, rational, logical, precise, a dog lover! Can be creative and artistic. Interested in the unexplained? Sometimes, yes.

Definitely not me: impulsive, reads lying down. A cat lover.

Via: Online College Advice

Out with the old, in with the new

I have a new look! Most excitingly, I have a new banner. 

Pardon me as I continue to make some adjustments...