Jungle Monkey Cupcakes How-To

You will need:

• Royal Icing Monkey Decorations
• 24 cupcake liners (white shown here, but any bright color would work great)
• Your favorite cupcake recipe
• Your favorite frosting recipe (buttercream works great!)
• Icing Decorating Tip Set
• 3 Pastry Bags
• Standard muffin pan
• Milk chocolate melting/coating chocolate or candy melts
• Parchment Paper
• Turquoise Gel Food Coloring
• Brown Gel Food Coloring
• Yellow Gel Food Coloring

Instructions:

1. Bake and cool cupcakes as directed. Bake in a standard muffin pan in white or other desired cupcake liners.
2. Make the desired icing or frosting type. Divide into three sections. The biggest section for the turquoise, the next biggest for brown, and then the smallest section for yellow. Dye sections accordingly and set aside.
3. Melt candy melts using the preferred method (a double boiler works great). Fill parchment triangle with melted chocolate and cut an opening approximately 1/8"; pipe a series of spiral monkey tails onto a sheet of parchment. Let chocolate set.
4. Roughly ice cupcakes in turquoise icing. Let set.
5. Pipe a monkey body, legs, and one arm with the brown icing and let set.
6. Pipe a banana in each monkey's hand. You may also use banana-shaped candies. Now ice the other arm so it looks as if the monkey is holding the banana.
7. Apply one Royal Icing Monkey decoration to each cupcake for the head. Press into icing to secure.
8. Let set and store in an airtight container.

Decorating idea by Charra Jarosz