How to Make a Hungry Caterpillar Cake

It was Little Miss’ first birthday last weekend (sniff sniff) and I was SO excited about throwing her her very own party. When I was in the UK last March, I fell in love with some Very Hungry Caterpillar party decorations and thus inspired, decided then and there that it would be the theme of her party. We ADORE the book by Eric Carle (if you don’t have it you must get a copy – it truly is one of those “must have” kids books) and thought using the primary colours for a cake would be fun.

I was a little unsure what to do about a cake until I stumbled upon the truly AMAZING Coco Cakes Cupcakes blog by local Vancouverite and owner of Coco Cakes, Lyndsay Sung. Not only did Lyndsay create a fabulous Hungry Caterpillar cupcake train, but she was sweet enough to explain how she did it in the comments (right down to which colour gels she used to get the “watercolour” look of the books).

Armed with this information (and inspiration), I decided to make chocolate cupcakes and, having just visited the famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC during BlogHer, I also used their cupcake & buttercream frosting recipes (below).

Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (225g)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

170g (6oz) unsweetened chocolate, melted

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 Celsius).

2. To melt the chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for 5-10 minutes (stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces remain, remove from heat and cool for 5-15 minutes or until lukewarm).

3. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

4. In a bowl, sift the flour and baking soda together and set aside.

5. In a big mixing bowl, cream the butter, using an electric mixer on MEDIUM speed, until smooth.

6. Add the sugars and beat for about 3 minutes or until fluffy.

7. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition

8. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated.

9. Add the dry ingredients, in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla.

10. With each addition, beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over mix.

11. Scrape down the batter from the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula, to make sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

12. Carefully spoon batter in cupcake liners; fill 3/4 full.

13. Bake in 350F or 180C degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until pick/skewer comes out clean.

14. Cool in tins for 15 minutes before removing, then cool completely on a wire rack.

15. Ice when COMPLETELY cool otherwise frosting will melt.

Magnolia Bakery Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, very soft (225gm)

8 cup confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar)

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp Vanilla

1. Place the butter (very soft) in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla.

3. Beat until smooth and creamy.

4. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (you may not need all of the sugar).

5. For coloured icing add a few drops of food colouring and mix thoroughly.

6. Use and store icing at room temperature, as icing will set if chilled.

7. You can store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

When I had made all the cupcakes and icing, I also baked a small round cake for the caterpillar’s head. I then brushed it in warm apricot jam before covering it with red fondant icing. Now, I had never used fondant before so I was a bit scared, but it was WAY easier than I expected. I bought coloured fondant from Michaels (where I ended up getting all my decorating supplies) and simply rolled it out, draped it over the cake and slowly worked my way around it smoothing it from the bottom up (this helps prevent tears apparently). I used licorice for the legs, antennae and nose and more fondant for the eyes. As Lyndsay suggested, I used a 1mm icing tip and combined the two colours of frosting in the bag to create the coloured swirl affect. I also used chocolate sprinkles (individually placed with tweezers) as the little hairs.

My version of the cake is the picture at the top and I was really pleased with how it turned out – especially considering I had never done ANYTHING like this before.  What did Little Miss think? I think this picture pretty much sums it up:

All about: Emily: Emily is very proud to be one of the Spilt Milk Moms ‘founding mothers’ as well as being Mama to “Little Miss” (who was born in August 2009) and Wifelet to her Husbando. She spent seven years living in London which helped her to develop a keen eye for amazing products from around the world. As an actress and producer, Emily ensured her place in hell with over 3 years in children’s advertising (her job was “to create want where there is no need!”) but looks to undo the damage by finding the best things around for mamas and little ones. Emily is always ready with fresh baking, a silly song, or a glass of chardonnay and is renowned for always being overdressed and having a killer collection of heels that she’s not afraid to wear (even whilst babywearing!). You can also find her on her personal blog Aprons & Heels ~ emily (at) SpiltMilkMoms (dot) com