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The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake Cupcake Party Train!

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very hungry caterpillar cake cupcakes by coco cake land

It’s the very hungry caterpillar cake cupcake party train! Choo choo! Want to learn how to make this cutie pie? This hungry caterpillar cupcake cake was the first cake design of mine to go viral, back in the good ol’ days of blogging. It was quite a shock when it happened. I’ve made just three of these cuties in my cake-making life – I’ve even made a VEGAN the very hungry caterpillar cake! Now, I see this design everywhere – it’s been shared countless times, and I can only imagine all the CUTIE PIES this cake has been made for!

How to make the very hungry caterpillar cake

This sweet caterpillar cake will feed about 26-30 guests, including the head of the cake. I made it with 22 regular sized cupcakes, but you could also of course make it with more cupcakes, or just have an extra dozen on the side, like I did here. If I were to make the cake in present day, I would smooth-frost the 7-inch round cake face with red buttercream, but I still love how clean the red fondant is!

You will need one 7-inch round two layer cake in any flavour, two dozen cupcakes in any flavour, and your favourite vanilla buttercream recipe, enough for two dozen cupcakes plus a small cake face. I used pre-coloured fondant, and long chocolate sprinkles for the caterpillar “hairy bits.” You will also need a large thick, sturdy piece of cardboard as your cake board! Cover it with a grease-proof wrapping paper of your choice.

very hungry caterpillar cake cupcakes by coco cake land

Frost and fill your round cake face. Cover with pre-coloured red fondant, and cut out eyes, a nose and make two little antennae using coloured fondant and wooden skewers cut to size.

Divide your remaining vanilla buttercream into two bowls. Using gel food colouring, tint one bowl leaf green and the other bowl a mixture of lemon yellow and leaf green, or neon green. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1M open star tip with the two colours of buttercream. Pipe classic cupcake swirls on each cupcake.

very hungry caterpillar cake cupcakes by coco cake land

Begin placing your hungry caterpillar cupcake cake down! If you are planning to travel with the cake, I recommend assembling when you get to the party location to avoid moving the cake too much! You can use a small dollop of buttercream to adhere the cupcakes to the cake board, or royal icing to really stick the cupcakes down.

Once you’ve laid down the caterpillar head and cupcake body shape, adhere the little feet to the cake using buttercream or royal icing. Carefully add little chocolate sprinkles, if desired, for an extra cute detail!

very hungry caterpillar cake cupcakes by coco cake land
very hungry caterpillar cake cupcakes by coco cake land
very hungry caterpillar cake cupcakes by coco cake land

I will love this cake forever.

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!

Post updated March 7, 2023

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Comments

  2. gyoza*girl

    OOOOOOOOOOH I love your Hungry Caterpillar cake/cupcake train. Love the swirly greens in the frosting too, just like the look of the book. That’s one lucky little one-year-old who got it for his bday. :) Awesome work mb!

    Reply

  4. apparentlyjessy

    This is STUNNING! I am continuously astounded by your beautiful creations! I actually gasped! I adored the hungry caterpillar book as a kid, and you recreated it beautifully! I love how vibrant the green is, and I really liked the added touch of chocolate sprinkles for the ‘fur’. Amazing job, and very inspiring!

    Reply

  6. lyndsay

    -tara, what an awesome and amazing fluke! eric carle’s birthday!? how cool!
    -gyoza girl, aka my sis, thanks!!! can’t wait til BB turns 2!
    –thanks jennywenny, jessy and seed! i appreciate it!

    Reply

  7. Fin-ish Me Cupcakes

    This is a really cute cupcake train/caterpillar cake!
    ilove the colours you got it right on spot! Good job:)

    Reply

  13. Katie

    I love the caterpillar cupcakes! I loved the books when I was little, so not only is it a really clever idea, it also made me a little nostalgic for kindergarten. :)

    Reply

  15. danamccauley

    Fantastic job – such attention to detail!

    I’m going to link to this post in a couple of weeks when I write about Spring Desserts.

    Reply

  18. amk

    This is the coolest kids cake I’ve ever seen! It’s beautiful and whimsical and so much fun!

    anne @ pearvana.com

    Reply

  24. Puslebit

    Go cupcakes go!
    I’m so glad I (by accident) found your lovely blog. Your cup cakes are art, smart and look tasty. I think I’ll make cupcakes soon, you really inspired me. :)

    Reply

  25. lyndsay

    merci beaucoup toute le monde!
    –emily, the frosting tip i used for the green swirlies is 1M, it’s a star tip, you can find it online everywhere and at any cake decorating shop! or even craft megastores carry them.

    Reply

  28. Rachel@oneprettything.com

    These are amazing! I’ll have to link to this in my next Crafty Food Roundup. How creative!

    Reply

  31. babyelephant

    hi lyndsay!

    did you know your caterpillar cupcakes were on swiss-miss.com, an amazing blog based out of DUMBO NY!

    good for you! YAY!

    Reply

  40. lisalyn

    Hi! I just did a party post on The Very Hungry Caterpillar and since I used a picture from your blog, I wanted you to know. I hope that is ok!!
    Have a great day. :)
    Lisa

    Reply

  43. lyndsay

    hi callanan clan!
    for my greens, i actually just used classic leaf green (gel color) and lemon yellow, and blended until i got a bright sort of fluorescent green. that, blended with leaf green in the piping bag gave it a more “tie-dye melding colors” vibe.

    thanks!!

    Reply

  44. miamorsweets

    Hey Lindsay, Hope you don’t mind, I stole your idea here to make some cupcakes for my kindergarteners. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  45. CALLANAN CLAN

    Hi Lyndsay..Also wanted to ask ‘if I am frosting with buttercream the day before it is going to be eaten should I put the cakes in the fridge?’

    Many thanks once again….

    Reply

  46. lyndsay

    CC, sorry i just saw this comment! you can put your cupcakes in the fridge (i use my cupcake courier to do so) but make sure you get them back to room temperature before serving (2-3 hours before serving!) next time if you have a Q send me an email to lyndsay@cococake.com!

    –also send me pics of your caterpillar!! i love seeing what other people are up to!

    Reply

  47. OpenLoop

    Incredible. I am going to make this for my sister’s baby shower. I don’t have much experience with cake decorating, but I think it will be fun! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply

  48. lyndsay

    Open Loop, don’t you worry— it will turn out awesome!! Email me if you have any questions.

    Lyndsay :)

    Reply

  50. Tegan and Tage

    I saw this linked from the Crafty Crow and although my son is only 5 months old, it has already inspired the planning for his first birthday– including this adorable cupcake creation!!!

    Reply

  52. Juicytots

    Hi

    I hope it is ok I have linked to your blog from mine. I LOVE your cake! I plan to try it out for my dd2’s birthday, so will let you know how I get on.

    Reply

  54. James

    Tomorrow I hosted a cupcake party for a friend who had a birthday recently. In case you’re wondering what a cupcake party is, here’s a general idea:

    1. Invite a bunch of people over.
    2. Make a batch of chocolate cupcakes.
    3. Make a batch of vanilla (‘yellow’) cupcakes.
    4. Ask your guests to bring frosting, sprinkles, and other toppings.
    5. Make gift certificates for silly cupcake categories.
    6. Get cheap prizes for everyone.
    7. Have fun!

    Reply

  57. Sara

    So, so, so beautiful. I think I’ll be making it for my niece’s birthday. I just love it, and even I could make it.
    Thank you. it is such a gorgeous cake.

    Reply

  58. Nina

    I am planning on using your beautiful cupcake creation for inspiration for my daughter’s first birthday! It truly is a masterpiece! Please let me know what size round cake you used for the caterpillar’s head and what tip you used for the cupcake frosting. Thanks!!

    Reply

  60. lyndsay

    thanks for your kind comments!

    nina, it’s a 7 inch round cake that I used for the head, and a star tip for the frosting.

    Reply

  63. Merrihew Few

    I absolutely love what you did for the party theme! I’m so excited to do this for my son’s 1st Birthday in February. I appreciate your tips as well with all the supplies you used in the comments. So very helpful..thanks!

    Reply

  64. Andrea

    I love these cupcakes! I’m attempting them for my daughter’s 2nd birthday this weekend. Do you make those flags? Are they just craft paper and toothpicks/skewers? They are adorable!

    Reply

  66. Rochelle Peters

    Hey, i was wondering if you could do an Ice Age cake for my son, he is going to be one this April. And how much would it cost?

    Reply

  70. Danelle

    I found a picture of this on some random website and loved it! I found my way here and then decided that I was going to make my own caterpillar cake for my youngest nephew’s first birthday. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  72. Nina Crittenden

    Could this be any cuter? I don’t think so!
    Totally adorable!!! You now have a brand-new fan in Minnesota!!! :)

    Reply

  73. Laura

    Thank you thank you! Although mine did not look nearly as perfect and adorable as yours, I tried to recreate it for my son’s 5th birthday.
    It was great fun.

    Laura, an american expat in Ludwigsburg, Germany

    Reply

  75. lyndsay

    Thanks Marina!

    HN Gordon, awesome job!! Thanks for sharing it with me!

    Danelle– thanks for stopping by! Hope it turned out awesome!

    Thanks Stephanie!

    Hi Nina! Nice to meet you, Minnesotian! :)

    Hi Laura — thank you for your comment, I am sure it turned out beautifully!

    Aibhe, you did a great job! :)

    Reply

  77. Samantha

    Really lovely cupcakes. I have added a link to one of my pages and put one of your photos on it. I hope this is OK. If not, please let me know. Beautiful and so incredibly creative!

    Reply

  78. Confectionary Bliss

    This is such a great cake. One of my clients saw your pictures and asked if I could recreate something like it for her daughter’s first birthday, and everyone absolutely loved it. Thanks for the wonderful idea and the suggestion about blending the buttercream colors for the swirl effect!

    Reply

  79. La

    I love this! It is so delicious looking and very very cute.
    I have a hungry caterpillar tattoo and I just love anything to do with the little guy. So this made my day :)

    La

    Reply

  80. Angela

    I did a search of a hungry caterpillar cake for my son’s 1st birthday party, to get some inspiration! I like this idea very much. As you are not in Sweden, I will have to try and do this myself! If you have any tips and ideas to make things easy! please email!

    Reply

  81. Yudith

    I wanted to try to do this theme for my daughter’s 1st birthday party coming up in July – and came to find your site! Thanks for such a gorgeous inspiration; I will report back on how it turns out :) By the way, any tips on getting the 2 color frosting on the cupcakes??

    Reply

  82. Beth

    These are amazing! I have two questions: first, when you did the two tone frosting did you make the combo leaf green/lemon yellow frosting and combine it with more leaf green frosting or did you stripe the piping bag with the leaf green gel? Second, do you have any tips on getting vivid colors for your buttercream? I usually swiss meringue buttercream and gel coloring but often my colors are a little more pale than I want them to be. Thanks!

    Reply

  84. easy going room mate

    Cupcake Cake catrepilla looks good, I think you’ll be good to make a slurry and the cover, just good advice to buy land is not as expensive, and if you try to get everthing done the last thing you need is to try to build as well, make some cookies for the practice of the family do if you do not want to give away the secret between them of another color, it will all come good luck with it

    Reply

  85. Laney @ Crash Test Mummy

    Hi Lyndsay. I love your caterpillar and I love Vancouver. Unfortunately I live in Australia so I had a go and making this myself and posted about it on my blog. Thanks for the inspiration!
    Laney

    Reply

  86. Amie

    i fell in love with your cupcakes so much i just had to make them for my 18th!! yes, i know, i have style. amongst the mass of alcohol and drunken teens was fairy bread and a gloriously colorful creation inspired by you <3 didn't quite turn out as well as yours, but i loved it anyway. i used marzipan instead of fondant though, purely because i haven't used fondant before and didn't have time to experiment. check it out :)
    http://we-are-watching-ya.blogspot.com/2011/08/sidenote-i-turned-18.html

    Reply

  87. AikoVenus

    I’ve seen these so many times before and always wondered where they came from – these are amazing! ^^ I love how cute all of your cakes are.

    Reply

  88. Sheridan

    Another comment almost seems redundant here, but I just had to say this cakes is WONDERFUL!! So beautiful, as are all your cakes. It’s very inspiring. I’m in the land of Oz so cannot place an order for one of your cakes (maybe you should consider moving here! hahaha) so I shall have to muddle along and have a go at replicating it myself.

    Reply

  90. Diane Sheafor

    I love this catepillar cake! It’s soooo cute! My son and I read that book all the time. I would love to make that cake for one of his birthdays.

    Reply

  92. Erica McKearney

    Very cute! It’s great because you can easily alter the size of the caterpillar to accommodate the number of guest you have. Funtique Parties can also be a lot of help if you’re planning a birthday party.

    Reply

  93. Jo Christie-Smith

    Hello,

    Thank you so much for putting this online! I made this cake for my little boy’s 1st birthday the weekend before last and we all loved it!

    Thank you!

    Jo

    Reply

  94. Jo Christie-Smith

    Hello,

    Thank you so much for posting these photos – I made this for my little boy’s 1st birthday the weekend before last and we all loved it!

    Thank you!

    Jo

    Reply

  95. Gabby

    I love this cake! We made it for my son’s first birthday (minus the fondant) and it came out so cute! Of course it wasn’t as awesome as yours, but I really appreciated this great inspiration for his cake. I have a child with nut allergies, so I have to make all of my children’s cakes. It was nice to have a fairly simple one this time. I’m blogging about it and will definitely link to your site as my “inspiration.”

    Reply

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