My baby Grant turned ONE on Saturday and he is completely our lil’ monkey! It’s a promise I made to my kids that I would always bake their cake from scratch. I grew up baking a birthday cake for every family member and friend since I was about 10 years old, so I couldn’t wait to bake for my own kids.

So, I made a Babba-Nanas monkey cake!! I show every step here in this video:

On Facebook, some asked for my icing recipe. (@Mona, here you go!) I love making cream cheese frosting because it spreads well and holds the shape of designs once it is hardened.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 blocks of 8oz cream cheese (don’t use nonfat!)
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 Tbsp softened butter
8 oz (use 8 squares of unsweetened chocolate)
6 cups sifted confectioners sugar (add 1 cup at a time and check consistency and sweetness level to your taste)
3 Tbsp evaporated milk

Soften cream cheese and softened butter together by mixing until fully combined. Add the vanilla extract. Meanwhile, melt the unsweetened chocolate in microwave. Use microwave-safe bowl and heat for 2 minutes. Add chocolate to the cream cheese mixture. Slowly add sifted confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time. Blend after each cup. Once you get to the sweetness level, add evaporated milk to get to the spreading consistency. Should be smooth and spreadable with enough structure.

I hope you love making the monkey cake as much as I did. Get your kids involved! It makes a great activity.