Hungry Caterpillar 'Unabridged'

I made many cakes this weekend and they were all for little boys from their doting mothers ; )

A good friend's son was celebrating his 3rd birthday and he got all his favourite characters in a day. On Friday morning, I delivered the Hungry Caterpillar from Eric Carle for the birthday celebration at his preschool. Some time last year, I had actually made the cupcakes of the same theme for my son but this time round, the insatiable critter was presented in it's complete glory - I made the caterpillar head with cupcakes for its body.

The Hungry Caterpillar head

Little fondant toothpicks 

All it took was a round cake covered in red fondant complete with little feelers. It was simple enough. But I couldn't really claim any design credit as I went online to look at the many many versions of the Hungry Caterpillar made by talented bakers around the world! 

Happy Birthday Ryuu

Ryuu went on to receive more cakes that day, made by yours truly. Read on...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

When my elder boy Jake was a wee tot, I introduced Eric Carle's Hungry Caterpillar to him. The book was first published in 1969 and has since become a mainstay in children's libraries and preschools all over the world. Eric Carle, the author and illustrator, has a great artistic style that is immediately recognisable and the stories are fun to repeat! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is definitely one of our favourite books. Jake used to chuckle at the greedy caterpillar as I read the story to him and got amused at all the things the caterpillar munched through in his week-long feast toward becoming a butterfly.

Now my little boy is a little more grown up, Nursery 1 to be exact, and for his year-end concert in school, I was absolutely chuffed to find that his class was putting up a concert on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Jake was one of three caterpillars and his friends were a variety of yummy fruits and a pretty butterfly!

It was the perfect opportunity to bake something for the children and I decided to make cupcakes with the hungry caterpillar on it!

I whipped up some Hummingbird cupcakes, full of sweet ripe bananas and tangy pineapples that no caterpillar could refuse. Then tinted the cream cheese leaf green and swirled it lightly on the cupcakes. Then I made a darker green buttercream for the caterpillar's body and a little red M&M for the head. The eyes and smiley face was drawn in with my Americolor gourmet pen and rice chocolate stuck in for feelers - easy peasy!

Hummingbird cupcakes featuring a hungry caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

My little caterpillar