Creating a Sock Monkey Cake Topper: A Step-by-Step Guide

Welcome to How to Cook That, today we are going to make a sock monkey as a cake topper for my son's first birthday cake. I have chosen a few of his favorite toys to create this unique and adorable decoration.

First, let's start by mixing the colors we will need for our sock monkey. We require white, brown, red, and black fondant. If you are not sure how to mix fondant, please refer to our video on fondant basics on this channel.

Next, we need to roll out the sock monkey's body into an oval shape and add three pieces of spaghetti down the middle to give it some strength. This will help keep the monkey upright and stable. Once you have done that, just give it a bit of an extra roll to make sure it is the right shape.

Now that we have our body, let's place it upright on your baking paper. We need this paper because the fondant can stick to the bench, and we want to be able to move the monkey around easily without it sticking to anything. Next, we will let it firm up and dry overnight.

Moving on to making the legs of our sock monkey. Take some more brown fondant and roll it into a skinny snake shape. Then, place some cream on the end of the snake and roll it together. Cut it to length, just put it next to the body to see roughly how long you want it to be, cut it to the right length, and then make your other leg match the first one.

To secure the legs in place, we need to push them down flat on one end. Then, we can place the body on top of the legs. Now that we have our legs, let's move on to making the arms. Take another piece of brown fondant and roll it out into a snake shape again. Put some cream onto each end for his hands and roll it smooth so that all the pieces match together.

This time, when we attach the arms to the body, we will use spaghetti to give them strength. We didn't need to do this with the legs because they sit flat on the floor, but with the arms, they are going to need some spaghetti for support. Simply place a piece of spaghetti into the arm and gently stick it into the body, making sure you are sticking it in at the right angle.

To add some finishing touches to our monkey, let's make his head. Roll a ball of brown fondant, then take a smaller piece of cream and roll it into a ball. Cut it in half and place that on top of his head for the cream top that he has. We will push these two balls together to create a nice and smooth head.

Next, we need to make his mouth. Take another small ball of cream fondant and cut it in half. For his red smile, we will take the red fondant and roll it out very thinly and cut a fine strip that is pointed on the corners for the corner of his mouth. Pick up this strip and place it over the cream fondant with a little bit of water on the back of the fondant to secure it in place.

If you want to achieve the knitted look of the sock monkey, we will mix up some royal icing using a clean paint brush. Just put some little dabs of your royal icing over your fondant that doesn't have to be thick; just adds that texture to it.

Now that we have our mouth and head, let's add some eyes to our sock monkey. Take a tiny piece of black fondant and roll it into a ball and place one on each side for his eyes. We will take another small piece of brown fondant, roll it into a ball, cut in half, and roll it into a ball again to place on the side of his head.

To give our monkey ears an ear shape, we will use the backend of the paintbrush to push them in slightly. Make sure they are in the right position so that they look natural and not too big for the face.

Now that we have all the parts of our sock monkey together, let's attach the head to the body using a piece of spaghetti. Gently poke the spaghetti into the head and carefully pick it up so that you don't damage the shape of the head or any of the hard work you've just done. Then, place that head onto the body of your sock monkey.

Finally, let's add some finishing touches to our sock monkey by placing dabs of royal icing all over his body to achieve the knitted look. This will give our monkey a nice and textured finish that is sure to impress.

I hope you've enjoyed this video, and don't forget to subscribe or view the finished cake on our blog at howtocookthat.net

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWelcome to howtocookthat.net.Today we are going to make a sock monkey asa cake topper.I am actually making my son's first birthdaycake and I have just chosen a few of his favoritetoys so let's get started.First of all we need to mix the colors.We need the white, brown, red and black.If you are not sure how to do that, go tothe video on fondant basics on this channel.First of all roll out your sock monkey's body,rolling it into an oval shape and then putthree pieces of spaghetti down the middleto give it some strength.The sock monkey is quite tall and lean soonce you have done that just give it a bitof an extra roll to make sure it is the rightshape.Then place that upright on your baking paper.The reason we put it on baking paper is sothat it doesn't stick to your bench becausewe are going to need to be able to put itaside to let it firm up and dry overnight.Next we want to make his legs.Take some more of the brown fondant, rollit into a skinny snake shape and just placesome cream on the end and then roll them together.Cut it to length, just put it next to thebody to see roughly how long you want it tobe, cut it to the right length, and then justmake your other leg match the first one.Push it down flat on one end, and so thatthen you can just place the body on top ofthe legs.Next we are going to make his arms.Take another piece of your brown fondant androll it out into the snake shape, again puttingsome cream onto each end to for his handsand roll it smooth so that it all matchestogether, and then trim it agin to the rightlength, this time with the hands we are goingto use some spaghetti to attach it to thebody.We didn't need to do that with the legs becausethey sit flat on the floor but with the armsthey are going to need some spaghetti forstrength.So simply place a piece of spaghetti intothe arm and then gently stick it into thebody, making sure you are sticking it in inthe right angle, then place the arm in theposition you want it to be.Later I added some food that mimicked thefood that we were eating at the birthday partyand we were having cake pops so I put a cakepop in the monkey's hand, made out of fondantas well so you can do that sort of thing laterif you would like.Next, to make his head roll a ball of yourbrown fondant, then take a smaller piece ofcream, roll it into a ball and cut it in halfand place that on top of his head for thecream top that he has and roll it together,push it together, to make it nice and smooth.Next we will make his mouth.Take a smaller ball again of cream fondant,cut it in half.Then he has the red smile so we are goingto take the red fondant and roll it out verythinly and cut a fine strip that is pointedon the corners for the corner of his mouth.Pick that up and place it over the cream fondant,a little bit of water on the back on the fondantand place it on his head where it goes.Next, if you want the knitted look of thesock monkey, mix up some royal icing.I am using a clean paint brush; just put somelittle dabs of your royal icing over yourfondant.That doesn't have to be thick it just addsthat texture to it.Next take a tiny piece of black fondant androll it into a ball and place one on eachside for his eyes.Then we take another small piece of brownfondant, roll it into a ball, cut in half,obviously I am using a very blunt knife, don'tuse, don't do it on your hand if you've gota sharp knife.Roll it into a ball again and place on theside of his head and then I am using the backend of the paintbrush, just push the earsin in the middle a little bit to give thatear shape.And make sure they are in the right position.Next we are going to make his hair.Take some red fondant and roll it out superfinelike a piece of string, you might have topractice this a few times if you're not usedto rolling the fondant.Then take you a skewer, break off a smalllength and using the end of the skewer pokethat into the top of his head.Repeat that until he's got enough hair.If you are finding this tutorial useful, don'tforget to click on the like button under thevideo or click on subscribe to be notifiedby email when new videos are available.Once you've added enough hair, just use yourskewer to rearrange it to give him the hairstyleyou are happy with.Next, to attach the head to the body we takea piece of spaghetti and poke it gently intothe head and carefully picking it up so thatyou don't damage the shape of the head orany of the hard work you've just done, thenplace that head onto the body of your sockmonkey.Then using your paintbrush again, add theknitted look to your sock monkey just by placingdabs of your royal icing all over his body.I hope you've enjoyed this video.Click to subscribe or view the finished cakeyou can go to the blog howtocookthat.net\n"