Sock Monkey Birthday

I had the privilege of making this adorable sock monkey cake for a special little boy on his first birthday.  I made this cake for his big sister a few months back, so I'm glad I could make his cake too!  

The top tier is a gluten free chocolate cake and the bottom is my regular chocolate cake.  For the longest, I couldn't decide exactly what to do with the top tier.  I thought about the monkey face on the side of the cake, carving the whole tier into a monkey head, or even making a 3d sock monkey to serve as a topper.  But this is what I came up with.  

 I was very happy with how the argyle pattern turned out!

 A little secret: I almost messed up my monkey when I had to skewer the cake.  I managed to salvage it. Whew!

Fat Tuesday

My husband grew up very close to New Orleans, which means that he grew up with Mardi Gras and all the traditions that come with it.  Until I met him, I had no idea what a king cake was, but since then I've eaten one (or two) each year.  So, for Fat Tuesday I thought I'd surprise him and make a King Cake.  (Ok, I made two)  The first was a Strawberry Cream Cheese one and the second, I tried to do a Mississippi Mud take.  It had chocolate custard, marshmallows, and toasted pecans.  It was pretty delish.  

strawberry cream cheese

 Mississippi Mud

Next time I'll braid the bread dough to make it look like the ones in the bakeries.