Crash Test
A hungry caterpillar birthday cake
Why?
CrashGirl’s first birthday Miffy cake was a mammoth effort. Unfortunately I had set the bar quite high. So, what’s an exhausted mother to do? Make sure I clear that bar! Staying with the favourite book theme we went for Eric Carle’s Hungry Caterpillar.
Test Conditions:
Sticking to my tried and true method, I did a Google image search. There were so many results, and it didn’t take long to realise the original inspiration seemed to be coming from Coco Cake Cupcakes in Vancouver. Lindsay has a blog which features her Hungry Caterpillar creation. I also found some great biscuits / cookies in the shape of fruit with cute holes in Cake Central’s cake gallery. The crash test kitchen for this project was my own and I was helped by my Dad who helped with icing duties (I had learned my lesson from last time!)
Inspiration
Credit: Coco Cake Cupcakes, Vancouver
Credit: Cake Central
Test Results:
There were no step-by-step instructions for this one. So here’s what I did.
We were going to be catering for 30+ people so a dozen cupcakes in the shape of a caterpillar wasn’t enough. I found a great recipe on Melissa’s Frugal and Thriving blog for a cake batter with over forty variations. I figured it would work for cupcakes too! I made chocolate, carrot and banana muffins. Those that weren’t used for the caterpillar became ladybirds, bees and butterflies. I made a bigger chocolate cake and used some for the caterpillar’s head.
I used the same cream cheese icing as I did for the Miffy cake. Check out the Miffy post for the recipe and tips on how to colour and mix it. For the caterpillar’s body I roughly swirled the colours together to get (a slightly close approximation) of Eric Carle’s wonderful artwork. I used multi-coloured sprinkles for his little spines along his back, and his feet are made from licorice sticks.
Another Crash Test Mummy creation!
I really should have stopped at the caterpillar, but no, I had to:
- make the fruit shaped biscuits which I cut out around cardboard stencils, poked a hole with a drinking straw and iced with royal icing
- include all the foods the caterpillar ate on Saturday!
- turn the extra cupcakes into ladybirds (with chocolate chip spots), bees (with banana chip wings) and butterflies (with strawberry slices for wings)
- bake a whole bunch of other biscuits in the shape of icecreams, flowers and more butterflies
Here’s the spread!
The hungry caterpillar and all the food he ate!
Condition Report:
- I was a bit exhausted after this lot!
- I had fun
- Everyone loved it – especially CrashGirl who still talks about it today!
- I still hadn’t learned my lesson – suppose I never will!
My top 5 tips for making this work (not stuffing it up)
- Use empty cupcake cases to work out the shape for your caterpillar on whatever platter or board you have.
- Splash out and buy gel food coloring. Liquid colouring thins out your icing too much. Use a tiny bit on a toothpick to add colour gradually.
- Let go of your perfectionist ways and get some helpers
- Perhaps stick to just one insect and give the ladybirds, bees and butterflies a miss
- Use a bit of royal icing to ‘glue’ the smarties/pebbles onto the plate
This was a quick retrospective crash test. CrashGirl is now 3 and a bit, so there has been another birthday cake since then. I’ll be writing up a quick crash soon on how to make a rainbow 3rd birthday cake.
Laney
Great cake. You are so clever.
Thank you. I realise now that if I post about my cakes I can get more mileage out of the effort put into making them!!!! Bwa-ha-ha. So shallow . . .But really, it’s all about the kids!
Very nice work Laney!! Clever Crash Test Mummy and I’m sure Crash Girl love it !!
Thanks Caz. She did love it. It was actually really yummy! I forgot to mention that I flavoured the red icing with rosewater essence. It was sooooo tasty.
Looks great, love the biscuits!!! I am going to attempt the hungry caterpillar next week.
Just beautiful! Hw clever are you! I love making special cakes for birthdays, but I’m not quite at that level :-)
It’s not too difficult – give it a shot!
Ooh very exciting to see this one. I have also bookmarked Coco Cupcakes picture ready for a VHC party I am planning – seeing it done by a ‘real’ person gives me hope I can pull it off. The cookies look amazing. Love, Love, Love it.
Cool that you’re going to give it a go! Crash Test Mummy is all about finding stuff online and giving it a go, so other Mums can see if it’s for them or not. Please post a photo of your cake in my Birthday cake album on FB when you’ve made it :)
Laney! You did an awesome job! Love the sugar cookies too! ^__^
lyndsay’s last post..Double Birthday Cuteness – Saya’s 1st, Her Dad’s 30th!
Wow, a compliment from my inspiration! *blush* Thanks for dropping by Lyndsay :)