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The Very Hungry Caterpillar–Pull-Apart Cupcake Cake Tutorial!

August 26, 2011 By Melissa D. 58 Comments

1.1K shares
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Pull-Apart Cupcake Tutorial by MyCakeSchool.com! Free tutorial. Online Cake Decorating Tutorials, Videos, and Recipes!

 

Hi everybody!  Today I am celebrating one of my favorite children’s books–The Very Hungry Caterpillar (by Eric Carle). I’m going to demonstrate how to make the most adorable Caterpillar Pull-Apart Cupcake Cake!

This sweet little hungry guy seems to be making quite a comeback.  Lately I’ve seen birthday party themes, toys, and even Hungry Caterpillar children’s bedding–(See Pottery Barn Kids–The Cutest!!!) —  So, the time has come to cupcake-cake him…. you will love it!

In case you’ve never made a pull-apart cupcake cake, you’ll want to make sure to add a dot of icing to the bottom of your cupcakes–this will help them to stay put.   Notice the head that I added to the end– it’s a 4″ round.

You’ll also want to stagger your cupcakes so that they are nicely nestled next to each other—we don’t want any large spaces in between.  This feels a bit like assembling a puzzle!

I’ve loaded up my piping bags with a medium consistency crusting buttercream–and fitted them with a piping tip 12.

Learn to make this ADORABLE Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake design in My Cake School's free blog tutorial! MyCakeSchool.com

Here, I’m piping over the cupcakes wtih alternating “stripes”.  I’m somewhat staying within the color scheme of the actual caterpillar from the story–but not exactly.  Learn to make this ADORABLE Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake design in My Cake School's free blog tutorial! MyCakeSchool.com

Now, I’m smoothing over my slightly crusted buttercream with a piece of a Viva brand paper towel.  This is an optional step, but I like the smooth finish.  Some of my stripes are pretty chunky and thick–I wanted to add a little extra dimension.

Learn to make this ADORABLE Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake design in My Cake School's free blog tutorial! MyCakeSchool.com

Remember when I said that I wasn’t going for the exact look of the caterpillar from the story?  Well… now you’ll really see what I mean.  I love patterns–and I love piping! :0) — I think that our caterpillar needed a little extra pep!

All of my piping is done with a tip 3 or 4– with the exception of the outlined border on top and bottom—that is done with a tip 12.

Learn to make this ADORABLE Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake design in My Cake School's free blog tutorial! MyCakeSchool.com

Now, time to make our caterpillar really look like a caterpillar!  Earlier, I covered my 4″ cake with some pre-colored red fondant.  If you are not a fan of fondant, you could also use buttercream.

Learn to make this ADORABLE Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake design in My Cake School's free blog tutorial! MyCakeSchool.com

That’s all there is too it!  Are you ready?  Here he is!

Learn to make this ADORABLE Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake design in My Cake School's free blog tutorial! MyCakeSchool.com

 

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today…..now, who’s hungry for cupcakes?  ;0)

Related posts:

  1. Frog Cake Tutorial- My Cake School
  2. Owl Cupcake Tutorial
  3. Beach Cupcake Tutorial~ A Free Blog Tutorial
  4. Mother Goose Cake Topper Tutorial
  5. Spring Cupcakes!

Filed Under: Animals/Animal Print, Blog Tutorials, Buttercream Techniques, Cupcake, Cake Pop, etc. Methods, Kids, Spring, Themes and Occasions

« How to Wrap a Cake with Modeling Chocolate- Cake Decorating Video
Chocolate Transfer Sheets- Polka Dotted Fun! »

Comments

  1. Hevz August 26, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    OMG you are a genius….he looks fantastic xxxxxxxxxxx

    Reply
  2. Tracy August 26, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    This is gorgeous, Melissa! :)

    Reply
  3. Tanja August 26, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    Melissa, so very very cute!!!! Thanks for the show-how!!! :D

    Reply
  4. cakeamonga August 26, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    very very cute. love the color combo

    Reply
  5. Christy August 26, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    This is the cutest! This is one of my daughter’s favorite books and we just bought the wall stickers, very cute. I think this will end up being my daughter’s 3rd birthday cake.

    Reply
  6. Tahira imran August 26, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    A very lovely and cute idea but iwant to know about the crusting buttercream .what is it’s recipe?please reply. Thankyou

    Reply
  7. JOAN August 26, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    That is too cute

    Reply
  8. sadia August 26, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    Extremely cute! Loved the tutorial. Thanks.

    Reply
  9. Cakebaker August 27, 2011 at 2:03 am

    Love this…thanks for sharing the tutorial..

    Reply
  10. cake daze August 27, 2011 at 3:13 am

    wow. really interesting. I think the littleies will love it.

    Reply
  11. Kathy August 27, 2011 at 11:36 am

    I love it – easy and very effective. Great tutorial.

    Reply
  12. Sam McC August 27, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    What a wonderful idea!! My children LOVE the book, I may have to try something like this one time! x

    Reply
  13. Trish August 27, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    Luvies….big luvies

    Reply
  14. Brenda August 27, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    I am a teacher by day and this is just adorable!!!!!!

    Reply
  15. carmalitabonita August 30, 2011 at 2:16 am

    So darn cute!!

    Reply
  16. grammaof11 August 30, 2011 at 7:30 am

    Melisa, he is so cute.

    Reply
  17. yorleidy August 30, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    lov it

    Reply
  18. Amy August 30, 2011 at 1:11 pm

    LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  19. Lizzie August 30, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    Wonderful! As a kindergarten teacher I know I will be trying this one out to introduce the unit on The Very Hungry caterpiller!! The kids will be thrilled.

    Reply
  20. Jayne August 30, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    What a wonderful idea. My 4 year old’s JK class read the book last year and his birthday is in a couple of weeks….cupcakes would be perfect to send to school. Thanks for the idea!!!!

    Reply
  21. LMTmommy August 31, 2011 at 9:12 am

    One of my favorite books as well. You are soooo creative…love it!

    Reply
  22. Lori September 1, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    Absolutely adorable!!! What size board would I need for the caterpillar??

    Reply
  23. BeBe September 1, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    Hi Lori, we used a 24″ x 24″ board that was covered with a plastic party tablecloth. Our board was from the pre-cut section of Lowe’s Home Improvement store. As you can see, the caterpillar needs that much width. We did have extra space at the top and bottom. That could be filled with writing Happy Birthday on the board or have your board cut to a rectangular shape.

    Good Luck

    Reply
  24. elizabeth September 1, 2011 at 10:25 pm

    WOW! WOW!! WOW!! My jaw dropped when I saw this! Fantastic job and sooooooo worth the wait! I love, love , love the design. It totally represents your style and that is why you will have me as your student for a very long time. Thanks for all the hard work and effort you are putting into this. It truly shows.

    Reply
  25. Maureen September 25, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    Hi Melissa-

    As you know this could not have come at a better time for me- I am going to change it just a little to make it a very cute snake cake- per my previous post-

    Thanks Bebe for posting the size of the board I was just wracking my brain trying to figure out what I would need- also thank you to the “student” who posted the question-

    I hope this turns out half as good as this one! OK- off to try to conquor a batch of CRUSTING buttercream- wish me luck on this- I have yet to achieve this!

    Mo

    Reply
  26. patsy ney February 11, 2012 at 7:55 am

    This is totally awesome. Adorable! Wish my grandchildren were small again. I must have read that book a 1,000 times! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  27. Amanda March 24, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    I love love love your cupcake cake! I’ve never made one before and am going to give it a try for my son’s first birthday next weekend. It is a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme party and I’ve seen some cupcake assembled to look like the caterpillar but it just doesn’t look like what I wanted, that is until I found your version! I hope I do it justice with my attempt. I intend to do the head with buttercream icing as it will be my son’s cake, the whole thing for my little man, should be fun!

    Reply
  28. Melissa Diamond March 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    So glad to hear that, Amanda! I think that the Very Hungry Caterpillar is SUCH a cute theme for a 1st birthday party. Good luck!

    Reply
  29. Zenaida Duarte April 22, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    NICE!!!!

    Reply
  30. Abby May 2, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    This is adorable! Do you remember how big it ended up being? I want to make it soon and I am wondering how it would fit on a half-sheet cake board (or would I need to increase or decrease the number of cupcakes I used?)

    Thanks!!
    fluffscakes.tumblr.com

    Reply
  31. BeBe May 3, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    Hi Abby, we used a 24 x 24 pre-cut plywood board covered with a plastic tablecloth, you would need to adjust the number of cupcakes if using a half sheet board.

    Reply
  32. Heather June 17, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    Hi, This is lovely and i am making it now or my sons 3rd birthday but i dont know what medium consistency crusting buttercream is please help?

    Reply
  33. BeBe June 17, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Hi Heather, medium consistency is when you swirl it with your knife the ridge or impression you make will not disappear. It is probably the consistency you use most often when frosting your cakes. Hope it turns out great.

    Reply
  34. Carole-Anne June 19, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    Looks great. I was wondering if that is red fondant on the head. Those are normal sized cupcakes, not the jumbo ones?

    Reply
  35. BeBe June 19, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    Hi Carole-Anne, yes, it is red fondant on the head, and the cupcakes are the standard sized cupcakes, not jumbo.

    Reply
  36. Nicola June 27, 2012 at 10:09 am

    Just stumbled across this page and thank god! I have offered to make my nephew’s first birthday cake for this weekend. Was starting to panic. He loves his hungry caterpillar toy so this is perfect. I have never made a ‘decorated’ cake before but I think even I can manage this. Wish me luck!

    Reply
  37. BeBe June 27, 2012 at 10:28 am

    Hi Nicola, great, I’m glad you found it. Good luck to you.

    Reply
  38. NanaPhyllis October 5, 2012 at 9:04 am

    I’m planning on trying to do this cake/cupcakes for my granddaughter’s first birthday party later this month! Hope it turns out half as cute as yours.

    Reply
  39. Marisa October 15, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Hi! Love this idea and I am attempting to make this. I have a question: what colors were used to color the frosting?? Please help!

    Reply
  40. Melissa Diamond October 15, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    Hi Marisa–I’m sorry, I normally list the colors! Hmmm…this looks like Americolor Lemon Yellow, Electric Green (for the lighter shade), & Leaf Green.

    Reply
  41. Marisa October 18, 2012 at 9:17 am

    Thank you so much!! It’s an adorable cake.

    Reply
  42. Niki April 14, 2013 at 6:32 pm

    Thank you so much for the instructions. I made a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake following your design this weekend for a neighbor’s 1st birthday party and everyone loved it. I ‘downsized’ by using mini cupcakes for the body and a regular cupcake for the head and it fit comfortably on a 14″ x 20″ cake board with plenty of room around the edges. I prefer Swiss meringue buttercream to fondant but I managed to get the head a beautiful scarlet red by dipping it in red sanding sugar. I also found that dipping the antennae in purple sugar stopped them from becoming too sticky to handle. A mini chocolate chip was the perfect size for the nose. Thank you again – the cake was a huge success!

    Reply
  43. Melissa Diamond April 14, 2013 at 6:49 pm

    Hi Niki– I’m so happy that you made this! Great to hear that the changes that you made using minis instead! I know that it must have been adorable! ;0)

    Reply
  44. Jacki April 17, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    crusting buttercream? Would you share the recipe? I haven’t heard of this. Love your blog!!! Great design’s!!! I am new to baking…thanks again : )

    Reply
  45. BeBe April 18, 2013 at 11:44 am

    1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter (softened, don’t use microwave)
    8 cups ( 920 gr) confectioners sugar
    2 teaspoons (8 gr) vanilla, clear vanilla for a whiter frosting
    1/3 cup (86 gr) milk
    1/2 teaspoon salt to cut the sweetness
    Cream the softened butter, add salt and vanilla, gradually add conf. sugar along with the milk. Beat at med speed for 3 to 4 min. then slow down mixer to very slow for 2 more minutes. After you frost your cake, wait just a short while and when you touch the frosting and it does not come off on your finger it has crusted. Recipe can be doubled.

    Reply
  46. Leanne May 9, 2013 at 9:17 am

    I am going to attempt to make this for my son’s first birthday, it looks amazing. I will make it the day before, just wondering what is the best way to store the cake, will the fridge dry it out??? Just wondering due to the size.
    Great work, great site…. love it!

    Reply
  47. Melissa Diamond May 9, 2013 at 11:24 am

    Hi Leanne–To prevent the cupcakes from drying out, you can place in the fridge just long enough for the frosting to firm up, and then place plastic wrap over the cupcakes so that they won’t dry out.

    If you’d rather not refrigerate and if your frosting has crusted enough, you can loosely cover them with plastic wrap at room temperature.

    I’m assuming that you don’t have a sheet cake bakery box to fit this in, but if you did, that’s always a good option too. ;0) –

    Reply
  48. Gemma Smith May 11, 2013 at 4:09 am

    I don’t suppose you can remember what size the board is?

    Reply
  49. BeBe May 11, 2013 at 7:27 am

    Hi Gemma, we used a 24 x 24 board, there is more information on this in the above post dated Sept. 1, 2011.

    Reply
  50. Seirra Digsealin May 13, 2013 at 5:56 pm

    I just adored this tutorial and I used it in British talent week in the book category and drum roll please I got 1st place in my category and most brilliant idea award from the judges once again thank you so much

    Reply
  51. Leanne June 18, 2013 at 2:49 am

    Hi

    Thanks for answering my query before, I am going to make the cake in 2 weeks time.. just wanted to have a trial with the frosting, what is 2 teaspoons (8 gr) vanilla, clear vanilla for a whiter frosting… is this vanilla bean or essence?? I live in Australia so might be called something else!

    Thank you

    Reply
  52. Leanne July 9, 2013 at 9:39 am

    Thankfyou for you guidance and assistance.. The cake was a winner!
    Would love to send u an image!

    Reply
  53. Karen July 29, 2020 at 4:11 am

    Hi! What’s the recipe for the buttercream? I would like enough to do the head too, as fondant scares me ;)

    Reply
  54. Karen July 29, 2020 at 4:13 am

    And can I use baking paper? All our paper towels are textured :) Thank you, Melissa!!

    Reply
  55. Melissa Diamond July 29, 2020 at 10:05 am

    Hi Karen! Parchment may work also although I wouldn’t worry about it if the paper towels are textured ;0) It would just look like it was meant to be that way.

    Also, if you have any trouble, just know that a little texture from your palette knife, or piped details, etc. is a really common style of decorating– back when I made this tutorial there was way more emphasis on everything having a smooth finish. Now, textured styles are everywhere. Have fun with it!

    Here’s a link to our Classic Vanilla Buttercream:
    https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes/classic-vanilla-buttercream/

    Reply
  56. Karen July 30, 2020 at 5:46 am

    Thanks Melissa! How much buttercream would be needed for this? Double this recipe or otherwise? And would the sugar need to be reduced, as it said for cupcakes to consider a decrease? First birthday party this weekend…getting amp’d!! :)

    Reply
  57. BeBe July 30, 2020 at 1:59 pm

    Hi Karen, The Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipes makes 4 1/2 cups and I think that would be enough. You could increase the recipe by 1/2 and have no worries. Decreasing the powdered sugar by 1 cup will give you a softer frosting and softer crust which some bakers like. It is personal preference, we most often use the full amount. Have you made red buttercream before now? If not, it can take the red color hours to fully develop its depth of color, depending on what brand of food coloring you use. Even if it does not look like a true red, once it is on the cake board with the other cupcake colors, it will look red. Hope all goes well.

    Reply
  58. Abigail Wenderson August 4, 2020 at 9:32 am

    Aww, these are so cute caterpillar cupcake, going to make these for my kids today.

    Reply

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