I was told I could make a monkey out of the Wilton Teddy Bear Pan. I've searched and googled but haven't found instructions or even a picture anywhere... but my motto is "How hard can it be!" So here I am - I'm trying it! (Hey - if I can blog I can bake a monkey cake - I guess we'll see if I can do either!
My daughter's Birthday is Saturday so I'm starting Wednesday in case its a big flop. I used a dark chocolate cake from scratch ( I have an order next month and wanted to try it before then!) - it made "just enough" batter which wasn't quite enough after some oozed out the cracks! That is glitch #1!
Gllitch #2: When I turned the pan over after baking the head stuck and the bottom didn't and it cracked at the neck. I'm going to try to just work with it that way!
Glitch #3: The core piece fell apart when I tried to get it out.... oh well, I had been thinking it would be fun to fill the cake with something else. So I called my lifesaver neighbour and borrowed some cool whip. Mixed 1 cup cool whip with a few Tbsp strawberry jam. Filled the hole when it was completely cool. I plugged the hole with the end of the core - it was still round there !
My daughter's Birthday is Saturday so I'm starting Wednesday in case its a big flop. I used a dark chocolate cake from scratch ( I have an order next month and wanted to try it before then!) - it made "just enough" batter which wasn't quite enough after some oozed out the cracks! That is glitch #1!
Gllitch #2: When I turned the pan over after baking the head stuck and the bottom didn't and it cracked at the neck. I'm going to try to just work with it that way!
Glitch #3: The core piece fell apart when I tried to get it out.... oh well, I had been thinking it would be fun to fill the cake with something else. So I called my lifesaver neighbour and borrowed some cool whip. Mixed 1 cup cool whip with a few Tbsp strawberry jam. Filled the hole when it was completely cool. I plugged the hole with the end of the core - it was still round there !
Transition from Bear to Monkey!
1. Monkeys have ears on the sides of their heads and bears have ears near the tops of their heads so I cut the ears off - they were broken, so I couldn't save them and reattach them. Mmmm. The cake is yummy!
2. Since teddy bears - this one anyway - have stubby legs and arms I cut the legs off and carved off the arms since they were attached to the chest. Now I have a snowman looking creature!
I'm still not completely sure how I'll make legs, arms, feet, hands or ears.... but how hard can it be????
2. Since teddy bears - this one anyway - have stubby legs and arms I cut the legs off and carved off the arms since they were attached to the chest. Now I have a snowman looking creature!
I'm still not completely sure how I'll make legs, arms, feet, hands or ears.... but how hard can it be????
First I need to add appendages... I think Rice Krispie square stuff will do it easiest. I'm rather nervous about all this since tomorrow is her birthday and I really don't know if it will work - or how to make legs and arms. As it turns out, its a breeze. The warm marshmallow sticks to the cake and even the ears stick on no problem. Outside it goes to firm up (and to keep the cake and filling frozen).
Next I I covered it all with chocolate icing. It was a bit tricky since the cake is frozen (and I need to keep it that way - don't want to freeze and thaw over and over!) so the icing froze to the cake... this did make it easy to make the icing look "fuzzy". If I were going for a smooth look I would definitely Not want the cake frozen. Time for the details. I used a light yellow brown buttercream (add yellow and a bit of cocoa to vanilla buttercream) and a small knife and put the details on. Afterward I realized I would get nicer edges if I piped around so I did it after - next time I'll pipe the outline and fill it. I used a damp finger to smooth it all out (since it froze right away the damp left it smooth and shiny!). Then I covered it well, and put it back outside to stay frozen until after the kids' bedtime! Adding the final details - eyes, nose and mouth were quick and easy!
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