The Very Hungry Caterpillar--Pull-Apart Cupcake Cake Tutorial!
We are excited to share a CUTE cupcake cake tutorial based on one of my favorite children's books--The Very Hungry Caterpillar (by Eric Carle)!
This would make an adorable birthday cake or even baby shower 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!
Table of Contents
Mapping out the Cupcake Cake Design
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.
Let the buttercream piping begin!
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. 
Now, I'm smoothing over my slightly crusted buttercream with a piece of a Viva brand paper towel. This step is optional, I just felt like a smooth finish today!
However a little lumpy bumpy texture would be great too- there's no wrong option.
Some of my stripes are pretty chunky and thick--I wanted to add a little extra dimension.
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.
Hungry Caterpillar Face and Final Details
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.
That's all there is too it! Are you ready? Here he is!
Yay! I love him ;0) I hope that you enjoyed the tutorial! It really is a fun one.
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today.....now, who's hungry for cupcakes? ;0)
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
This is totally awesome. Adorable! Wish my grandchildren were small again. I must have read that book a 1,000 times! Thanks for sharing.
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!
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!
NICE!!!!
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
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.
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?
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.
Looks great. I was wondering if that is red fondant on the head. Those are normal sized cupcakes, not the jumbo ones?
Hi Carole-Anne, yes, it is red fondant on the head, and the cupcakes are the standard sized cupcakes, not jumbo.
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!