Monkey Cake
Total Time
Approximately 2 hours
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Rating
4.8 out of 5 stars
(500)
Ingredients
3-layer cake
- 5 1/4 cups (21 1/2 ounces or 609 grams) cake flour
- 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce or 15 grams) baking powder
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (13 grams) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
- 1 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks, 12 ounces or 341 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces or 300 grams) sugar [weights corrected 6/23/11]
- 1 1/2 cups (11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams) packed golden brown sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups mashed or pureed very ripe bananas (about 8 large)
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (4 7/8 ounces or 136 grams) sour cream or (weight will vary) plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
- 6 3/4 cups (28 1/2 ounces or 810 grams) confectioners’ sugar (no need to sift)
- 4 1/2 sticks (18 ounces or 510 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 9 tablespoons (135 ml) half-and-half or whole milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (23 ml) vanilla extract
- 8 ounces (226 grams) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
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Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of 3 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then coat the paper and sides of pans with butter and flour, or a nonstick spray.
Step 2
Whisk cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside.
Step 3
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl until blended.
Step 4
Beat in eggs one at a time, then bananas, sour cream, and vanilla.
Step 5
Beat in dry ingredients in two additions just until combined.
Step 6
Divide batter among three pans; you’ll want approximately 5 cups of batter per pan.
Step 7
Bake cake until a tester inserted into the center of each layer comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.
Step 8
Cool each layer in its pan for 15 minutes before flipping out onto a rack to cool the rest of the way.
Step 9
For frosting, whirl all the frosting ingredients except the melted chocolate in a food processor until smooth.
Step 10
Set aside about 1 cup of the white frosting for the lighter areas, eyes, nose, and mouth, then add the chocolate to finish making the fudge frosting, and whirl it until light and smooth.
Step 11
To the lighter frosting, add a small spoonful of the chocolate frosting and a drop or two of yellow food coloring for tinting, and set this aside in a small bowl.
Step 12
Firm up one of your cake layers in the freezer; this will make carving shapes from it much easier.
Step 13
Once firm, cut one or two 4 1/2-inch diameter round monkey 'heads' from it, being sure to leave little bumps on either side for the ears.
Step 14
Cut two additional small circles from the cake scraps that remain, and cut them each in half, creating two half-moon shapes. These will become the ears of your larger cake.
Step 15
Place one of your large, untouched cake rounds on your serving platter.
Step 16
Pin a half-circle 'ear' to each side of the cake with a toothpick.
Step 17
Level the cake with a long serrated knife if needed.
Step 18
Top the layer with chocolate frosting.
Step 19
Put the second layer on top, and attach its ears with two additional toothpicks.
Step 20
Outline the shape of your monkey face on top with your lighter colored frosting.
Step 21
Fill the shape in generously with the light frosting.
Step 22
Coat the remainder of the cake and sides with a thin layer of dark chocolate frosting as a crumb coat.
Step 23
Refrigerate the cake so that the frosting firms up a bit.
Step 24
Generously frost the dark chocolate areas with a second coat of fudge frosting.
Step 25
Touch up the lighter area if needed with additional frosting.
Step 26
Use a piping bag with a small round tip to make the eyes, nose, and mouth on the monkey.
Step 27
Remove the waxed paper scraps when finished.
Step 28
Save recipe for the next time?
Chef's notes
If your kitchen is hot and sticky, periodically refrigerate the frosting and partially frosted cake to prevent the frosting from getting too soft.
Three assembly options are provided to accommodate different needs, such as making a 'smash' cake for a baby.
