More Fun than a Barrel of Monkeys!

Happy monkeys!

I loved playing the barrel of monkeys game when I was a little kid. I'm sure my mom loved it too, a cheap and easy way to keep us entertained for hours with those little plastic monkeys. But even better than monkeys you can play with are .... you guessed it, monkeys you can eat! I made these super fun and super duper cute monkeys for a birthday party and they sure were a hit. I was even able to personalize a few to look like some of the party guests. These are really easy to make, your favorite cake mix, easy to find candies, and pre-made frosting.

For the crazy monkey cupcakes you will need:

24 cupcakes (any flavor, but banana sure is fun!)
24 peanut butter sandwich cookies cut in half (I used Nutter Butters)
48 mini chocolate candies (I used mini -M&Ms)

Angry monkey!

24 vanilla wafer cookies, cut off the top 1/3
Black gel frosting
Red gel frosting
2 cans chocolate frosting

Once the cupcakes are made and cooled, frost the tops with a thin to medium layer of chocolate frosting. Reserve some frosting for hair and other features. Press two mini candies into the frosting, letter side down for the eyes. Gently press two halves of the peanut butter cookies on either side of the eyes for the ears. If the ears hang off the sides of the cupcake too much they will fall off, so make sure to squeeze them in close to the eyes. Press the vanilla wafer cookies into the frosting, rounded side up with the cut flat side closest to the eyes.

Crazy monkey!

Use the black gel frosting for pupils on the chocolate candies, eyebrows/eyelashes, and nostrils. Use the red gel frosting for the mouths. With a pastry bag and a small star tip, or a plastic bag with the corner cut out, pipe the remaining chocolate frosting for hair above the eyes, mustaches above the nostrils, or even a little beard under the mouth.


These cupcakes are great for birthdays of all ages, because, let's face it, who doesn't love monkeys?
What was your favorite birthday cake, dear readers?

In Honor of the Season....

 We all know how hectic the holidays can be, presents to be bought and wrapped, family coming over, and lets not forget the holiday treats! I know your time is precious and at a premium so I have put together a recipe for a rum cake that is sure to be enjoyed. 

What a finished rum cake should look like. Mmmmm...Rum...

1 cup Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 cup Water
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
Lemon Juice
4 Large Eggs
Nuts
1 Bottle Rum
2 cups Dried Fruit

 Sample the rum to check quality.  Take a large bowl; check the rum again to be sure it is of the highest quality.  Repeat.  Turn on the electric mixer.  Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.  Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.  At this point, it is best to make sure the rum is still OK.  Try another cup just in case.  Turn off the mixerer thingy.  Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck iin the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the fruit up off the floor.  Mix on the turner.  If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a drewscriver.  Sample the rum to test for tonsisticity.  Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something.  Check the rum. Now shift the lemon ice strain your nuts.

Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.  Greash the oven.  Turn the cake tin 360 s and try not to fall over.  Don't forget to beat off the turner.  Finally, throw the bowl
through the window.  Finish the rum and wipe the counter with the cat.

The family cat should look similar when finished with the recipe

 Cherry Mristmas to all and to all a quiet night!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

 Falalala, la la la laaaaaaa! Ok, I promise I'm done singing. This week I made some fantastically delicious cutout cookies for work. Cutout cookies seem to be a staple this time of year at every Christmas and holiday party. This recipe will ensure that you have the best cookies at that party! This recipe does require that the dough rests in the fridge for a few hours, so make the dough ahead of time, go run some errands, and bake them later.
For this recipe you will need:

Don't forget to let the dough rest!

1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1 C butter
1 egg
 1 1/2 t vanilla
 2 1/2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cream of tartar


Cream together the butter and sugar. Doing this creates a tender, flaky cookie. Add in the egg and vanilla, stir until just combined. Once the egg is added, try not to over-stir the dough, you want tender flaky cookies,  not tough ones. Add the baking soda and cream of tartar, followed by the flour. Mix in the flour in installments, otherwise you'll get flour all over yourself and your kitchen (and anyone/thing in a ten foot radius. Trust me, not a fun clean up). After the flour is completely mixed in, reach in with your hands (take off your jewelry first!) and roll the dough into a ball. At this point, the dough is still probably a little crumbly, it's ok. The couple hours in the fridge will fix that. Like in the photo above, tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for about 2-3 hours.

Make sure they have plenty of room!

Now that your errands are done and your dough has had its nap, go ahead and get out your rolling pin, flour, cookie cutters, spatula, and cookie sheets. Preheat the oven to 375. Put some flour down on the counter (you'll want a good amount of room to work), flour the rolling pin, and roll the dough out to about 1/4-1/2 thick. Personal preference really, some people like crispier cookies, some don't. If you want crispy, go with the thinner cookie, if not, go thicker. If you're using metal cookie cutters, you may want to dip it in flour first so the dough doesn't stick when you lift up. But hey, if the dough does rip, just smoosh it back together and start over! Try to use every inch of space on the dough round when cutting out the cookies. This lessens the amount of dough that needs to be re-worked, which in time will make for a tough cookie (good on the streets, not in the kitchen). Once all of the dough that has been rolled out has a cookie cut out, pull away the dough from the cookies before you lift them with a spatula. Oh yeah, you'll probably want to flour the spatula too. Once you have enough cookies to go in the oven leave them in for about 6-8 minutes. These cookies don't brown much, so any brown on the surface makes for a crunchy cookie. Once out of the oven, let them cool completely.

Add some sprinkles for a little something extra!

For frosting, I like to use a royal icing. It's easy to draw designs and will dry firm, perfect for storing!

Royal Icing:
4 C powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 C water (to desired consistency)
2 T meringue powder (found in the cake decorating section of your grocery store)

Combine the sugar and meringue powder carefully (again with the huge mess if you're not careful!) Slowly add the water. It only takes a little water to go from too thick to a runny mess. At this point add food coloring, or divide into multiple bowls for several colors. For the trees above, I used kelly green color, and multi colored sprinkles.

As my boss said, "These cookies are NUMMY!" (Apparently that's a word now) These cookies are guaranteed to be a hit, but watch out, everyone will want your 'secret recipe'!

A Good Walk Ruined

"I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone's golf game:  it's called an eraser."  ~Arnold Palmer

Golf Course Cupcake Cake

For those of us that are lucky enough to have golfers in our lives, we have the perfect (cup)cake for you! The best part of this cupcake cake is that it can be modeled after your favorite golfer's favorite hole, can be used with however many cupcakes you want, and can be made out of cupcakes, or a sheet cake! 
Father's day, birthday, anniversary, Tuesday, Boss's Day, the opportunities to impress with this treat are endless.


For this recipe, I'm going to assume that you already have your cake/cupcakes made and cooled. It's just easier for me that way. So, since you have your favorite flavor of cupcakes ready to go on your counter, do me a favor and grab whatever you're going to serve the cake on (cake display board, platter, etc). Play around with the cupcakes and arrange them in the shape of the particular hole that you want. Now that you have the cupcakes arranged, get together the following:


3 C white buttercream frosting (all amounts will be for 24 cupcakes which should = ~ 1/4 sheet cake)
Green food coloring gel
'Spaghetti' or 'grass' piping tip (it looks somewhat like a thimble) 
Piping tip
One chocolate chip
1/4 C crushed graham crackers (for a sand trap)
Blue food coloring gel (if you want a water hazard)


"Glue" your cupcakes in place on the serving apparatus with a small dot of the white buttercream. If you are going to include a sand trap, first frost those cupcakes with white frosting, then sprinkle the tops with graham crackers. Do this before you frost the rest of the cake! It will save you from having sand all over your grass. 

If you don't want a water hazard tint all but a tablespoon or two of the white buttercream a grassy green color (the reserved white is for the golf balls). If you do want a water hazard, separate about 1/4 of the white frosting to tint blue, color the rest green but still reserve some white for the golf balls. With an angled spatula frost the 'green' with the green buttercream. At this time, if you want a water hazard you should use an angled spatula and put that any darn place you want.


Now that you have the green and the hazards out of the way, start piping in the rough using the grass tip. *Warning* Your hand is probably going to get really sore if there is a lot of grass to pipe. Either recruit someone to tap in when your hand gets tired, or make sure there is room in the fridge where you can keep the cake while you take a break. 


Use the piping tip and white frosting to place the golf balls where you want them (in the sand trap and rough for a 'realistic' look). For the hole, take the chocolate chip and place it pointy end down into the green. 


For a large writing space (for "Happy Birthday" sentiments or "You're the Best Boss Ever, Can I Have a Raise?" adulations) make sure that the green, water hazard, or sand trap is large enough for the message. It is incredibly difficult to write a legible message on the grass, just sayin'. 


As always, happy cupcaking, and make sure to send in pictures when you attempt these recipes!