Dear Connor,
The night before your first birthday party, we assembled in Grandma’s kitchen with a vision. We were going to make you a monkey cake. Actually, a 2-layer 9″ monkey cake for the adults, and a 5″ monkey smash cake just for you! We all loved the idea when we saw it on Smitten Kitchen.
There was a lot of preparation involved. Nancy stenciled some monkey faces on wax paper. Grandma got all the ingredients together, and did the actual baking. Mommy brought over her pretty cake stand. Auntie Kerry got to work with the mixer to put together the frosting, and then Nancy cut out the monkey ears using a juice glass.
We used wax paper under the first layer, to keep the cake stand clean of course. Instead of using toothpicks, we glued the monkey ears on with frosting. Then we put the lighter colored frosting on the monkey’s face. We had sprinkled powdered sugar around the stencil to serve as a guide.
Finally, we filled in the rest of the cake with chocolate frosting, and decorated the monkey faces on both cakes with gel. It was a great moment! We just sat back for a moment with a cup of coffee to admire our work.
The cakes were tucked away in the refrigerator for the night, and then we brought them to your house for the party the next day. It looks like you had as much fun eating your smash cake as we had making it!
Who knows what we’ll come up with for your birthday next year, but I am already looking forward to it!
Recipes that Fit 
An EAR, an EAR: My Queendom for an EAR. All the Monkeys were adorable. You all did such a great job, and the cake was delicious. Too bad we all couldn't enjoy it the way Connor did……
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Thank you so much Kerry and the rest of your Monkey Cake Team! The cake not only tasted amazing, but looked it too!
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Everything was so perfect, The cake was made with love and a lot of artistic talent. The landscaper did a great job on the lawn. The sun was shining bright so what more can you ask for. The birthday boy's ummmm when he ate his smash cake said it all. AUNTIE B
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