Party Cat Hungry Caterpillar Strikes Again!

Perry the Party Caterpillar is my latest version of my hungry caterpillar cupcake cake. Emily ordered this little guy for her little cutie Hudson's first birthday party! And the extra special part about Perry the caterpillar is... he's vegan! Yes, 100% dairy and egg free! Dark chocolate cupcakes made up the body, vanilla "butter"cream for the frosting, and the head and mini cupcakes were vanilla cupcakes. Emily's mom Wendy came to pick it up and just loved it when she saw it, yay! And I got a very sweet email from Emily a few days later with this super kind comment:

"I have to say I am very picky when it comes to cake/cupcakes. I am never really a big fan of cake so I figured that I wouldn't eat much of it, which would have been a good thing! But your cake/cupcakes were simply the BEST I have ever had!.... "

So nice!! I had a blast making this guy, thank you Emily for the great order, and glad to hear Hudson had a ball at his 1st birthday bash.

And while I'm at it... thank you to all of you who have made this caterpillar cake and sent me pictures of your results and birthday parties... what fun it is to know that this crazy Coco Cake creation has been the inspiration for so many cute little kiddie's parties. Brings joy to a caker's heart!

See ya soon, blogworld!

xo Lyndsay

The Hungry Caterpillar Returns!

Remember this little cutie I made last March for the adorable baby Jamie, inspired by the amazing Eric Carle's illustration?

Well the crazy caterpillar is back and ready to party it up once again for little Freya's 1st birthday! I have had many requests for this little nutter and was happy to make it again for baby Freya. I tried to vary my little caterpillar buddy a bit without straying too far from my original design-- I did multicoloured cupcake liners this time, and pink and green eyes, and more cupcakes make up the body! I think it kind of looks like he's wearing a pair of 90s raver fun-fur puffy pants!! I call him Francisco. I also added a sweet little Frenchy striped ribbon to his neck, like he is wearing a scarf, and I used Letraset and cute craft paper to make Freya's birthday flags. Oh Francisco, you are so chic!!

Francisco, the Hungry Caterpillar! Inspired by Eric Carle's book!

A funny detail: Belgian chocolate "fur" sprinkles carefully placed in buttercream!

Francisco, slinking off my table...

Look at your little feet, Francisco!

Ah oui, very chic neckerchief!

"Who me? You think I'M cute? Well thank you!' says Francisco...

Cute little Happy Birthday flag I made!

But enough about this guy! When I first posted my Hungry Caterpillar cupcake party train, I was shocked and amazed to watch it explode into the internet world-- I received so many compliments and emails from people who were so stoked, and it got reblogged into the stratosphere, which was so cool. I even learned a new internet term back then: "going viral." One of my best friends Tara, who is a librarian, told me this! Many kind and cool people ended up emailing me questions about it, and making their own versions based on my design and sending me their final results! So I have also posted a few of their pics below! Thank you for sending me these pics, and to everyone else who linked back to my site and tried out this crazy caterpillar! You are all awesome!!

Sent to me by Rita, made for her son Max's birthday!

Victoria made this cute version for her son Barnaby!

Zoe rocked this awesome caterpillar! Look at those minis as a border! So cute!

Kathleen sent me this adorable one she made for her son's 1st birthday! Love it!

Ninja (best name ever!) sent me this super cute one she made for her little guy's 2nd bday!

Kirby made this adorable one for her niece Lori's 2nd birthday! Love that big round face! :)

Angela sent me this adorable one she made for her son's first birthday, along with a sweet note. Thanks Angela! :)

And Sonja made this little duder for her little guy Sammy's birthday! Nice work Sonja!

Until next time, cupcake world!

xo Lyndsay

The Hungry Caterpillar Cupcake Party Train!

I loved doing this so much! I get such joy when I receive a phone call or email from someone with a great request. The Hungry Caterpillar for a 1st birthday bash? You betcha!! Just for the fun of it I decided to document the "making of" the caterpillar, so here it is!

I first made a ridiculously cute and small round vanilla layer cake with vanilla buttercream, covered in red fondant to create the adorable face of my little caterpillar buddy. Fondant eyes and nose, and two antennae, plus little bootie feet for the caterpillar were also made! I did vanilla cupcakes, and vanilla buttercream in a "psychedelic swirl" effect, blending two shades of green to try and mimic Eric Carle's beautiful watercolors. Little chocolate sprinkles plunked one by one into the buttercream created the furry bits of the caterpillar. To finish, I made a baby friendly "berry patch"-- low sugar banana cupcakes with mint leaves and fresh berries. The key to the puzzle was securing each cupcake down with my good pal Royal Icing. This stuff hardens like glue, so the cupcakes would remain secure on their polka dot cake board while traveling. Additional grass green frosted cupcakes with pretty flowers, roses and leaves also accompanied Caterpillar on his journey to 1st Birthday Land.

Eeks this made me so happy... and here's to a very Happy 1st Birthday to cute little Jamie!