Modeling Chocolate and Monkeys

Remember how much fun it was as a kid to make animals out of clay? Not much has changed for me, it's still fun to create animals. I made some monkeys, but instead of using clay, these monkeys were made from modeling chocolate. Those years of playing with clay as a kid turned out to be a useful experience for this project.

This cake was made for a two-year-old boy who loves watching Five Little Monkeys on YouTube.  I had no idea how I was going to make a cake like this, but not knowing how to do something has never stopped me from jumping in with both feet.

I started in the usual way -- searching for and collecting ideas on Pinterest. My cake isn't professional quality, but it made the child squeal with delight when he saw it, so I considered it a success. I think it takes practice to be skillful at this. My first monkey took a lot longer to put together than the last one. Working with the teeny tiny parts was the hardest for me. I'm not sure if I had too many fingers or not enough when I tried to put those little pieces together.

The bottom portion is a 9 x 13-inch cake. The bed and pillow were cut from an 8 x 8-inch cake. The cakes were frosted with chocolate buttercream. The headboard and monkeys were made from all modeling chocolate, but the bedspread is made from 50% modeling chocolate and 50% fondant. I looked at several tutorials on how to make the monkeys. The one I found most helpful is found here.

I'm including the quick recipe for modeling chocolate, but I recommend this site for more information.

Print Recipe

Modeling Chocolate

2 pounds white chocolate (can be in blocks, chips, or candy melts)

1 cup white Karo syrup

Prepare a 9 x 13-inch pan by lining with plastic wrap, leaving a wide overhang; set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate at 30-second intervals on HIGH. Stir well after each 30-second interval. Be careful not to overheat.

In a separate microwave safe container, heat syrup for 45 seconds on HIGH. Pour syrup into melted chocolate. Stirring with a rubber spatula, blend well. Mix until syrup and chocolate are completely blended, about 30 folds. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Pull plastic wrap tightly over chocolate. Be careful not to make indentations with the plastic wrap. Cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight. The following day, cut the chocolate into smaller pieces for kneading. Knead in food coloring, if desired. Store in resealable plastic bags.

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