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15+ Cool DIY Monkey Cake Designs for the Birthday Cake Enthusiast

Here are some of the coolest monkey cake designs. Who doesn’t love monkeys? These animals are pure genius. They are known for their amusing behavior and are also known to play pranks on humans! Whether its a birthday or a baby shower, Monkey Cakes are sure to add positive energy to the party.

1. Coolest 3D Buddy the Monkey Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Hope C.

Coolest 3D Buddy the Monkey Cake

I am a home/hobby baker and often get asked to make baby shower cakes and it seems everyone I know is having a baby these days. They usually send me a picture of the bedding as inspiration. When I received the picture this time it had an adorable little monkey face on it so I knew the cake had to be monkey themed.

I was bored with traditional baby shower cakes and since the cake was for a good friend and I knew she would be forgiving if the whole cake failed and we ended up with cupcakes, I went for it! As this little guy came together I began to fall in love. It is literally one of my very favorite cakes of all time. I kept opening the fridge and just oohhhing. He was so adorable.

My two year old also fell in love with it being the little monkey was about his size. He would open the fridge and talk to it and look at it. He wanted to take pictures with his new little “buddy”as he named the cake. After the party was over, the cute little monkey’s head was all that was left. I couldn’t bear to throw it away so we took it home and stuck it in the fridge.

The next morning my sweet little boy opened the fridge and had a melt down…”what happened to my buddy?” I told him that he was eaten. And the sweet baby said “I didn’t eat my buddy…did I?” Oh yes you did and he was yummy!

Tips for Making the Monkey Cake

  • The body of the monkey was all cake.
  • I sculpted the head from rice treats and then covered it in buttercream and left it in the refrigerator overnight to harden.
  • Once it was hard, I smoothed on a second layer of  buttercream and then covered it in fondant.
  • I placed a pointed dowel rod in the cake to hold the head in place.
  • I used spaghetti noodles to hold the ears in place.
  • The arms and legs are all fondant.

After this little guy was such a huge hit, I have never been afraid to think outside the box and request someone get a cake sculpted to look like the subject matter instead of just a cake with flat decorations.

Coolest 3D Buddy the Monkey Cake

Coolest 3D Buddy the Monkey Cake

Coolest 3D Buddy the Monkey Cake

Coolest 3D Buddy the Monkey Cake

Coolest 3D Buddy the Monkey Cake

2. Marvelous Monkey First Birthday Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Rose M.

 

Marvelous Monkey Cake
Marvelous Monkey Cake

For my youngest granddaughter’s first birthday her mommy wanted a cake with monkeys. Her room has monkeys and her nick name is “Monkey.” We found napkins with monkeys and I patterned the monkeys on the cake after the ones on the napkins. The cake is on a Wilton 3-tier party stand.

I started preparing over a week ahead of the party by baking and freezing cakes, making icing and homemade fondant (It tastes REALLY good…marshmallows and powdered sugar…what’s not to like???). The cakes are: bottom layer 12” round, the middle 10” round and the top is a 6” double layer. I always make both chocolate and white or yellow cake layers.

The cakes are frosted with butter cream icing. I have found I like regular decorator icing better because it has more “body” to it. The bubbles at the bottom of the waterfalls are candies. The flowers, bananas/peels and monkeys are made of fondant. All the monkey parts are made separately and then assembled just before placing them on the cake. I use either toothpicks or bamboo skewers to attach the smaller parts to the bodies. I use ¼” dowel rods to stabilize the cake layers and often to attach fondant figures.

This was a fun cake to make. Getting just the right poses for the monkeys was a challenge. I loved making the banana and peels. I don’t have the special rack for making flowers curved but I have some small bowls I put them in to dry and it works pretty well. For the monkeys eyes and smiles I used a food marker.

I also make a small “smash” cake for the baby that wasn’t very fancy and my handwriting with icing is not very steady.

The three monkeys on the cake represent the one year old and her two older sisters. She may be the one called Monkey but the older girls act like monkeys!

Marvelous Monkey Cake
Smash Cake
Marvelous Monkey Cake
Little Big Sister Monkey
Birthday Girl Monkey
Birthday Girl Monkey
Marvelous Monkey Cake
Big Sister Monkey

3. Cutest Monkey Baby Shower Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Melissa J.

 

Monkey Baby Shower Cake

This monkey baby shower cake was created for a friend’s baby shower.  She did not find out the sex of her baby and a neutral themed cake was needed, so I used green and yellow.  I chose to make baby monkeys since my friend used monkeys as a theme for her baby.  I made the baby monkeys in advance by using fondant and allowed the baby monkeys time to harden.

Using fondant, I added pacifiers and bottles to the baby monkeys to add to the baby look.  Fondant diapers were also placed on the baby monkeys.  The baby monkeys were fun to make and turned out super cute.  I always enjoy making animals.  Before applying the cake to the cake board, I cut out pink and blue fondant squares and then cut out pink and blue hearts.  I placed the opposite colored heart into each square. Then I placed alternating blue and pink fondant squares on the cake board.  I used piping gel to help the fondant stick to the cake board.

Then I created a pillow cake and covered it in fondant, adding bows, yellow trim and a quilted look for decoration.  I created a yellow blanket out of fondant and added texture.  Then I placed the blanket on top of the pillow cake using a little water to help the blanket stick.  I placed the baby monkeys on the cake, also using a little water to help the baby monkeys stick.

I really enjoyed creating this cake.  There was an image in my head and was able to turn that image into something real.  Everything went smoothly with this cake.  This was my first time creating a pillow cake, so that was rewarding.  The cake was a surprise to my friend and she was thrilled when she saw the cake.  She loved it!

Monkey Baby Shower Cake

Monkey Baby Shower Cake
Baby monkey
Monkey Baby Shower Cake
Fondant covered cake board
Monkey Baby Shower Cake
Baby monkeys

Monkey Baby Shower Cake

4. Coolest Kids Tropical Luau Monkey Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Kristin J.

 

Luau Theme Cake with Monkey

My husband’s cousin called and asked me to make a kids luau themed monkey cake with palm trees and to make the decorations out of candy. OK  I’m up for the challenge! She sent me a few pics of different ideas or different candy the decorations could be made out of and I took it from there.

First I just baked 2 rectangular cakes, iced them with butter cream and stacked them and iced them again in white. I would recommend another color like light blue instead to make it pop.  Then I crumbled some graham crackers to make “sand”.  I made all of the decorations on top out of candy from the dollar store. The palm trees and monkeys were made out of tootsie rolls, then I got a cow tail candy and made the inside lighter shade for the monkey and the other skinnier palm tree trunk. I make the palm tree leaves out of laffy taffy and just cut the edges with a knife to make them look like palms.

I couldn’t find just green laffy taffy or anything else so had to buy a pack of them and just use the green ones. The coconuts are just caramel malt balls and the bananas are banana candies. I rolled the tootsie rolls out then just formed different shape balls to make the monkeys, it was waaaaayyyy easier than I expected, then took a toothpick and pocked holes for the eyes and nose.  To add a little extra decoration, I took the left over malt balls and bananas and put them around the sides of the cake.

Everyone LOVED the cake and my husband’s 4 year old nephew had the biggest smile and was shocked when he saw the cake!!

Luau Theme Cake with Monkey

5. Monkey Around Baby Shower Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Glenda B.

 

Monkey Around Baby Shower Cake

What a fun cake to do!! A friend and coworker had given us wonderful news…she was expecting twins!! Being the mom of twins myself this announcement held a place dear to my heart. All of the memories came rushing back just hearing the special news. The bottles…the diapers… the double packing for every outing…man was I exhausted!! But more than that…the double smiles…the double hugs….and the MORE than double love!! I knew what lay in store for my sweet friend…and I couldn’t have been happier for her.

We decided to give her a baby shower at work…so we began planning for the big day. Another coworker handled all the details and asked if I would be interested in doing the cake….WELL YEAH!!!! I would be honored!!

The event was to be a jungle theme….so the first thing that came to mind of course was little monkeys.

I crafted the monkeys from fondant as well as the bananas and palm leaves. The tree trunks were chocolate filled pirouettes purchased from the dollar store. I think I used around 120 of those around the sides of each tier also. They stuck nicely to the buttercream icing I had already put on the cake.

All that was left to do was place all the pre-made deco on top and that was it….

6. Just Hanging Around Monkey Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Patricia S.

 

Just Hanging Around Monkey Cake

This monkey cake was created for a little girl’s 6th birthday. It was a 3 tier butter recipe cake with buttercream icing and fondant accents.

The monkey, banana, bird, and flowers were made from fondant. The bird and the banana were molded free hand and the flowers were cut out with fondant cutters.

I just knew the monkey was going to give me fits, but it was easier than I thought. To make the monkey, I printed a picture of a monkey on card stock. Then, I laid it on a piece of wax paper, traced it on there as my template and cut it out of the fondant very carefully.

The little girl I made it for emailed me herself and told me how much she loved her cake. That email made this cake my best ever.

I am a hobby baker. I taught myself and getting feedback like this is very rewarding.

7. Cutest Monkey Baby Shower Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Jaime T.

 

Cutest Monkey Baby Shower Cake

This cake was made for a friend that was throwing a baby shower. Mom to be wanted a gender neutral cake with a cute monkey on it. The cake itself was a full sheet cake cut in half and stacked with vanilla butter cream in the middle. My friend wasn’t excited about the thought of fondant which meant the whole cake was frost with light green butter cream.

Then smoothed using clear plastic wrap and a fondant smoother. After talking to my friend and explaining the options of using a purchased monkey decal or I could make one out of fondant that could just as easily be removed, she said the fondant would be a good choice. I free handed a monkey on wax paper to get started, after I made my own homemade fondant of course. This is the cake that taught me how much I dislike coloring fondant after it’s made.

I used my wax paper drawing to cut the form of the monkey. Then as I needed each part I cut it out of the drawing and used the wax paper as a template.  The mom to be was looking for simple but cute, which the monkey was, but it needed a little something to finish it off. That’s where the leaves came into play. I used a mold which made it very easy, and it added just enough accent.

Reaction to the Cake

That’s how I made the cake, but my favorite part is the reaction. My friend picked it up and said how beautiful it was and she was impressed with the smooth butter cream background. Mom to be was very happy and guests couldn’t believe how cute the monkey was. Most importantly they all loved it’s yumminess. I enjoy making cakes and find it to be a great outlet for my creative side. However, the main reason for doing it is to make others occasions that more special.

8. Coolest Banana And Monkey Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Cecile H.

 

Coolest Banana And Monkey Cake

I had a blast making this banana and monkey cake! It was a banana flavored cake with banana cream filling. I used the Wilton loaf pan which makes a double length loaf of bread or two loaves. Tearing the cakes and filling them then carving the cake into a banana shape, I then crumb coated the cake and covered the whole thing with white fondant.

Then I rolled out yellow fondant to make the peel and cut it into the peel shapes applying it to three sides. I layered the top peel with white fondant to look like the inside of the peel. Then I used an empty pop can to hold the flipped peels shape while it dried.

I made the monkeys out of two different colors of modelling chocolate placing them around the cake.

9. Baby Girl Monkey Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Amy N.

Baby Girl Monkey Cake

I made this monkey cake for my niece’s baby shower. The cake is 2 tiered and each is 2 layers. The monkey I made out of gum paste,  also out of gum paste is the flowers on top. The icing work is all butter cream.

When I have to transport a cake I bring the tiers separate and put them together where the cake will stand.  Makes travelling with a cake a lot less stressful.  After the tiers are together I pipe the border around the tier(s).

The monkey’s body and head are held together by toothpicks, the ears are as well.  Everything else is held on by gum paste glue.  Most people that have me make cakes for them do not want fondant, so I decided to do the flowers in butter cream as well.

The cake was a success and fit in with the baby shower theme great!  I love my animals, characters, etc. out of fondant or gum paste.

Baby Girl Monkey Cake

Baby Girl Monkey Cake

Baby Girl Monkey Cake

10. Cool Monkey Baby Shower Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Marica L.

 

Cool Monkey Baby Shower Cake
babyshower cake

My niece had recently found out she was having a baby girl, and of course i was happy to share this day with her and throw the baby shower for her!

We had a monkey theme shower and she wanted me to make the cake. I used a wilton cake pan with homemade buttercream icing and 2 13×9 marble cakes underneath. I used a star-tip and icing bag and to top it off i stuck a pacifier in the monkeys mouth to get the job done. This cake was a little more difficult than other cakes i have made in the past, and took about roughly 4 hours.

The day of the baby shower I brought the cake in and when my niece saw it she cried ( she said it was due to the hormones). she was so pleased with what I did for her and was bringing everybody up to the cake to show it off. The baby shower was a success and the cake was delicious!

11. Coolest Cheeky Monkey Cake

Monkey cake submitted by MNG

 

Coolest Cheeky Monkey Cake

I made this cheeky monkey cake and cupcakes for my son’s 2nd birthday, they were a hit! The main monkey cake was a banana cake batter baked in a Pyrex mixing bowl lined with baking paper, to make a head shape. I also made a dozen cupcakes to use for the monkey ears and smaller monkeys.

This was iced all over with chocolate butter cream icing. Keep aside some butter icing without cocoa so that you have pale yellow color icing to pipe the face and ears.

To make the ears, cut a cupcake in half and ice with chocolate icing, then pipe yellow icing semi circles. Attach ear split cupcake to the side of the head with toothpicks. Pipe a circle with yellow icing for the face and use licorice strips for the mouth and nose. I used chocolate mistrel buttons for the eyes. Lastly I used some chocolate writing icing in a tube to squirt some darker chocolate hair on the top of the head.

The monkey cupcakes are simply iced with choc butter cream icing, Cheerios for eyes, mini cookies for the mouth and eyes. Use chocolate icing to pipe smiley mouth and nostrils. Easy!

12. Coolest Curious George Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Robert

 

Homemade Curious George Cake

This Homemade Curious George Cake seems to be the most common to build. I made it for my niece’s son who turned 1. The hat is vanilla sponge with what else, banana filling. Then a buttercream crumb coat and covered in yellow fondant. The monkey was harder because I didn’t want to use too much rice krispie treats.

I started with chocolate sponge 3 levels high with no filling. Sculpted the legs and body from that. The head also is chocolate sponge, just 2 levels high also no filling. I felt the cake would be more stable with no fillings. The arms were made of rice krispie treats. Once all sections of monkey were covered in chocolate fondant I assembled it.

All the details are fondant. I did have to put dowels in the arm holding the banana to keep it up, other than that the whole cake was edible.

Homemade Curious George Cake

13. Coolest Monkey Birthday Cake Design

 

Homemade Monkey Birthday Cake Design

This Monkey Birthday Cake Design was my first cake from scratch. When my sisters told me were having a party together for my two nephews and my one niece, I jumped at the chance to start my cake making. They told me they want a vanilla cake with a chocolate pudding and sliced banana filling and the party was monkey themed.

Right away I started researching for recipes online. I baked/decorated a small cake ahead of time to test the recipes, which I suggest you do. It was good but I had to take some suggestions and adjust some ingredients to make it great (don‘t be afraid to take out/add ingredients).

The final product was amazing! Everyone at the party raved about the cake. In fact I got three orders to do other cakes that day. I did have issues; as you can see my fondant is really shiny, which is good but it also started to melt and the colors ran. I found out later, once you have worked with fondant you should NOT refrigerate it, and make sure the cake is at room temp before you fondant it. Also, I had a heavy filling with pudding and sliced bananas so I piped an order of icing (I used the same icing for “dirty icing the cake that way you can smooth down any access) around each layer of cake before I placed the filling, that really helped when coming to placing the fondant.

I hope my tips helped. I loved doing this cake and can’t wait to start my next one.

14. Coolest Baboon Birthday Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Marilyn W.

 

Coolest Baboon Birthday Cake

My 10-year-old wanted a Baboon Birthday Cake so I had to get inventive. The batter was two butter recipe cake mixes and the head was baked in three pieces using a 2 ½ quart glass bowl, a 2-cup oven-proof cereal bowl, and a mini loaf pan.

To make the head, I inverted and leveled the bottom of the cake baked in the largest bowl, and then sliced it in half to make it a layer cake. I filled it with approximately ½ can of chocolate frosting and iced the outside. I put the smaller dome-shaped cake on top of it and iced it, too, smoothing the sides to look like a single cake. Then I sliced the cake baked in the loaf pan in half because it was too thick, and then cut approximately a third of the length off to use as the brow ridge. The remaining two thirds created the muzzle.

The muzzle was slightly shaped to fit the angle of the cake. I attached it with toothpicks at the top, and then ran two bamboo skewers underneath it and through the cake for it to rest on. The brow ridge is also resting on bamboo skewers and attached with toothpicks. The brow ridge was frosted with the chocolate and the nose with vanilla. I tinted vanilla frosting red and blue with coloring paste with a little black added to tone down the shade. I painted the red and blue details on with an off-set spatula. The eyes and nostrils are sugar daddies, but I think junior mints would work, too.

I also fluffed the “fur” with a spatula before it set up, and painted on eyebrows with the vanilla frosting. I used 1 ½ can of chocolate and approx. ½ can of vanilla frosting.

Coolest Baboon Birthday Cake

Coolest Baboon Birthday Cake

Coolest Baboon Birthday Cake

15. Coolest Sitting Monkey Birthday Cake

Monkey cake submitted by Ruth

Homemade Sitting Monkey Birthday Cake

 

This Sitting Monkey Birthday Cake was made for my daughter’s 20th birthday as we were off to Go Ape for the day.

This sitting monkey cake was created out of two pudding basins. I used the traditional Victoria sponge cake recipe of 10ozs of flour, sugar and vegetable fat and 2ozs of coco powder, and 6 eggs.

I cut the top off the cakes and placed the largest one cut side down. Then I trimmed roughly 1 1/2 inches off each side of the cake and put aside to create the arms and legs.

Then I shaped the smaller cake into a head and used butter icing to stick the head onto the body. I made 8oz of chocolate butter icing and piped stars all over the two cakes.Then I used the offcuts of cake to create the arms and legs and piped stars all over.

I used molded icing to create the hands, feet, ears and eyes etc. They were all held in place with cocktail sticks.

Homemade Sitting Monkey Birthday Cake

You’ll find more cool monkey cakes one the main monkey birthday cakes section…