Monkey in the Jungle Cake

Celebration Cakes

Monkey in the Jungle Cake

Themed cakes are probably my favorite to make.  I think I say that about every cake though, I really love designing cakes!  For this birthday cake I was given the birthday party invitation as inspiration.  It was shades of green and yellow with a cute monkey on it, so that’s exactly what I created.  Owen’s mom wanted a really cute monkey cake, but nothing with polka dots or anything too childish.  She loved the idea of palm trees and grass and I love how those features came out.  I gave the grass and tree trunks some texture with a special textured rolling pin that is meant to look like fabric.

Gum Paste Monkey Cake Topper

Here is a closer look at the hand cut gum paste monkey topper.  I also hand cut the number one and the light green “Owen” sign.  I used white gel food coloring to paint a graphic stitch mark around the edges, but it’s a little hard to see it in the picture.  Happy first birthday Owen!

Lemon Ginger Whisky Fizz

Beverages

Lemon Ginger Whisky Fizz

I don’t often share drink recipes over here, and I’m not really sure why.  I love coming up with drink recipes, it’s just as fun as cooking and baking, and it’s definitely an art and a skill I’m always trying to master.  Recently, we received a SodaStream as a gift to replace all the bottles of soda and seltzer we were always schlepping home.  After sampling almost every flavor of soda syrup and not being impressed, I wondered if I could make my own syrups.  I love ginger-ale and sprite and wanted to use those two sodas as inspiration.  I boiled a batch of lemon ginger simple syrup and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours. Then I mixed a few tablespoons of my syrup with the soda water, poured it over ice and enjoyed my fresh glass of lemon ginger soda.  Yum!

Lemon Ginger Whisky Fizz

I could have just stopped there and been a happy camper, but then I thought of my husband and his favorite drink, the whisky sour.  I wondered what would happen if I added some Kentucky straight bourbon whisky to the lemon ginger soda.  Success!  It was more of a whisky sour soda than just a straight cocktail, but my husband polished it off and I knew I had created something exciting and delicious.

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Lemon Ginger Whisky Fizz
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
Lemon Ginger Simple Syrup
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 1½ cups water
  • 1 cup fresh lemon juice
  • ⅓ cup (2 oz.) fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
  • zest of one lemon
Lemon Ginger Whisky Fizz
  • 4 ounces lemon ginger simple syrup
  • 1 ounce Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky
  • 4 ounces soda water
Instructions
Lemon Ginger Simple Syrup
  1. Combine the sugar, water, lemon juice, ginger, and lemon zest in a small pot. Heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat and allow the ginger and lemon zest to steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain the syrup and allow to cool in the fridge.
Lemon Ginger Whisky Fizz
  1. Fill a glass with ice. Pour the simple syrup and whisky over the ice. Top off with the soda water and enjoy!

Pink Ombre Sugar Cookies

Cookies

Pink Ombre Heart Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are so versatile, they can really be made in any shape and color.  I’ve even used this recipe to make stained glass or window cookies and it worked like a charm.  Icing and sprinkles can make for a really cute cookie but these cookies are delicious fresh out of the oven, just simple and classically delicious.  I have dyed my sugar cookie dough before to make patriotic cookie pops and loved how those looked.  I thought that ombre heart sugar cookies would be perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Pink Ombre Sugar Cookie Dough

I started by mixing up a batch of my perfect sugar cookie dough.  Then I divided into three parts; you can do this by eye, but they happen to be 1 pound each if you have a kitchen scale.  Then I used Americolor gel paste to dye each piece of dough.  I used deep pink, hot pink, and tulip red to achieve these colors.

Cutting Out Ombre Sugar Cookie Dough

Starting with the darkest color, I cut out large hearts.  Then I cut out the centers using a medium heart shaped cutter.  I set those aside.  On a second piece of parchment paper, I rolled out the medium colored dough.  I used the medium sized cookie cutter and cut out lots of hearts.  Then I used the smallest heart shape cutter to cut out the centers.  I put these hearts into the freezer while I worked on the smallest hearts.  On a third piece of parchment, I rolled out the lightest pink dough and cut out the smallest hearts.  Place these in the freezer as well.  Now it’s time to assemble.

Ombre Heart Sugar Cookie Assembly

Start with the largest hearts, insert the frozen medium sized hearts inside.  Then insert the smallest hearts in the center.  Bake for about 8 minutes; the separate colors will bake together, forming a solid cookie.  I realized I could make the ombre go both ways, from light to dark, and from dark to light, and that would use up all of the dough equally.  The center color remains the same.  You just need to roll half of the darkest color out and cut it with the largest heart cutter.  Use the other half of the darkest color for the smallest heart. Then repeat with the lightest color of dough.

Ombre Heart Sugar Cookies

I can’t decide which pattern I like better, they are both so cute!  I’m glad I went with both, that way I don’t have to choose.

Cookie Snacking Time

My son Charlie really enjoys these cookies.  He couldn’t wait for his turn to be in the picture!