Still Hungry... After All... These Years... Oohh!

So original gangster, Coco Cake style, Mr.Hungry Old Caterpillar cupcake party train was in my life a few times in the past while. The first being... the adorable version I made for super duper cute baby Asher, ordered by his mom Tanya, pictured here with his big brother Kainen!

The next super exciting way this little guy slinked into my life again:

I was on the cover of the Food Section in the Vancouver Sun, our local newspaper, with the second ever Coco Cake Hungry Catepillar! Yahoo!! That's me in the purple dress! Actually that dress I had made out of some vintage 1960s fabric I inherited from my dad's mom, my grandma, who passed away in the 1990s. When my other grandma, my Poh-poh, (my mom's mom), saw this picture (she's 87 years old) she phoned me and said "you should've cut your hair! Your bangs are covering your whole face! Why didn't you get your bangs trimmed!" Haha. Sorry Poh-poh. Bowl Cut Bangs for life for L.K.Sung... Thanks Mia for including me in the article! :)

Below is a pretty major picture explosion. But it's kind of fun. It shows you the process of how a caterpillar gets from being just a bunch of cakes, to a lovingly arranged party platter ready to march off the table into Cupcake Land. This guy was made of coconut cupcakes and frosted with vanilla buttercream...

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Hungry Caterpillar 3. Ready, set, go!

Phewf. That was a lot of pictures. You made it through! Hooray!

Until next time Coco Cake Land!

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!