Source: parenting.com
Serves 24
Ingredients:
- 24 cupcakes baked in brown paper liners
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- Red food coloring
- 1 tube (4.25 oz) black decorating icing
- 24 large pink marshmallows
- 48 chocolate chips
- 5 tablespoons pink decorating sugar
What you'll need:
Frosting the cupcakes:
- Tint the vanilla frosting light pink with the food coloring. Spread the top of the cupcakes with some of the pink frosting and make smooth.
To complete the decoration:
- Snip a ¼-inch thick slice from a marshmallow, crosswise. Dip the cut side of the thin marshmallow slice into the pink sugar to coat. Cut the sugared slice in half crosswise and form into 2 ear-shaped triangles. Reserve the larger piece of marshmallow for the pig's snout. Repeat with the remaining marshmallows.
- Press the larger piece of the marshmallow, cut side down, onto the lower half of the cupcake for the pig's snout.
- Press 2 sugared marshmallow ears into opposite edge of cupcake, as pictured.
- Press the chocolate chips in for the piggy's eyes, pointed end down.
- Pipe a mouth and nostrils onto the cupcake with the black decorating icing.
Cake Anatomy:
Source: parenting.com
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients:
- 1 (9-inch) round cake
- 2 chocolate-covered doughnuts
- ½ can (1 cup) vanilla frosting
- Red food coloring
- 1 can (16 oz) chocolate frosting
- ½ cup chocolate sprinkles
- 2 brown M&M's or black jelly beans
- 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:
- 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.
- Cut ½ inch from one side of each doughnut.
For the white, red, and pink frosting:
- Spoon ¼ cup of the untinted vanilla frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
- 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.
- Add a few drops of the red food coloring to the remaining vanilla frosting to tint it a pale pink.
Frosting the cake:
- Spread the chocolate frosting onto the top and sides of the cake, avoiding the lower half of the monkey's face.
- Spread the pale-pink frosting into a kidney bean–shaped area over the monkey's mouth, chin, and cheeks, as pictured.
- Press the chocolate sprinkles into the forehead, the top of the head, and the underside of the monkey's chin.
Assembling the cake:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
Source: parenting.com
Serves 12
Ingredients:
- 2 cakes baked in 1-quart Pyrex bowls
- 2 cakes baked in (12 oz) ovenproof glass bowls
- 2 Oreo cookies
- 5 banana Runts
- 1 can (16 oz) chocolate frosting
- 1 cup vanilla frosting
- 2 tablespoons mini-chocolate chips
- 2 Junior Mints
What you'll need:
- A serving platter
- A chopstick or wooden dowel
- A resealable sandwich-size plastic bag (Ziploc)
Trimming the cakes:
- Trim the top side of all of the bowl cakes to make level.
- Trim ½ inch from the curved bottom of one (1-quart) cake and place it wide side up on a serving platter. Spread the top of the cake with some of the chocolate frosting. Place the other quart cake on top, flat side down to make a ball.
- Repeat the trimming and assembling process with the 2 (12 oz) bowl cakes.
- Spread some frosting on the top of the larger ball and place the smaller ball cake on top as the head. Insert a chopstick or wooden dowel in the center to help balance the cakes (see template).
Frosting the cake:
- Spoon 1 Tbsp of the vanilla frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
- Spread the remaining vanilla frosting on the front of the larger ball cake for the owl's chest. Make smooth. Dot the chest with the mini-chocolate chips as seen in photo.
- Separate the Oreo cookies, leaving the cream on one side of 2 cookies for the eyes.
- Cut one of the cream-free Oreo cookies in half with a serrated knife to make the ears. Press the cut cookies into the top of the cake for the ears.
- Spread the remaining chocolate frosting over the top, sides and cookie ears. Make the head area smooth. Using the back of a spoon, lightly press against the chocolate frosting and pull to make feather-like peaks all over the body of the owl.
To complete the decoration:
- Snip a small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe a dot of frosting on the head area and attach the cookies with cream for the eyes. Pipe a dot of vanilla frosting on the cookies and add the mints as the pupils.
- Insert one banana Runt below the eyes for the owl's beak. Insert the remaining banana Runts into the bottom of the white chest area for the owl's feet.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
