Create a cute pull apart hungry caterpillar cupcake cake for your next Eric Carle party! Put this Very Hungry Caterpillar cake together in just a matter of minutes. Quick and easy to assemble, this pull apart cupcake cake is a great last minute alternative to a sheet cake. And the best part is, anyone can do it!
- ¾ c. Salted Butter, Softened
- 1 ¾ c. Sugar
- 1 ½ t. Almond Extract
- 2 ½ c. All Purpose Flour
- 2 ½ t. Baking Powder
- 1 ¼ c. Whole Milk
- ¾ c. Salted Butter, Room Temperature
- 7-8 c. Powdered Sugar
- 1 t. Vanilla Extract
- ¼ c. 3 Tbsp. Whole Milk
- Red, Green Food Coloring
- 1M Piping Tip
- Decorating Bags
- Dove Chocolate Heart Candy (caterpillar nose)
- Milano Cookies (caterpillar eyes)
Preheat oven to 350 ℉. In a medium bowl, combine softened butter and sugar. Using a hand held or upright mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add almond extract and eggs, mix well.
Next, add the flour, baking powder and milk, alternating each addition and mixing thoroughly. Tip: don't use melted butter, it thins out the batter. I have found that a simple ice cream scoop is the perfect tool to fill the cupcake lines.
Line the muffin pan with the hungry caterpillar cupcake liners. Scoop batter into the liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Divide the frosting into 3 bowls. Keep in mind you will only need enough red frosting for 7 cupcakes. Add the green food coloring (I used a neon green and regular green) to the bowls. Mix. Add more drops until you like the shades of green. Repeat with the red frosting bowl.
Grab two decorating bags for each color. Put each color into its own piping bag. In a separate bag place the 1M icing tip. Trim off just enough of the tip of the piping bag so that the 1M icing tip pokes through. Cut the tip of the red frosting bag off and place the frosting bag inside the bag with the icing tip.
Frost 7 cupcakes in red to make up the head of the caterpillar. Arrange the 7 cupcakes in a circle. Arrange the remaining cupcakes in pairs of 2 to make up the body of the caterpillar. Alternate green frosting shades on the remaining cupcakes.