How to Make a Hungry Caterpillar Butterfly Cake

Whether it's for a springtime celebration, a library story time or a classroom literacy party, a butterfly cake inspired by Eric Carle's classic story, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is bound to be a hit. A butterfly-shaped cake provides an eye-catching alternative to a traditional round or sheet cake, especially when its decorated in the bold colors of a beautiful butterfly. Best of all, this cake will get children excited about reading Eric Carle's story. Does this Spark an idea?

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1 9-inch round cake
16 oz. vanilla or white chocolate frosting
Blue icing coloring
Green icing coloring
Purple icing coloring
1 tube of red decorative icing
1 tube of yellow decorative icing
Yellow and red gumdrops
Sprinkles

Instructions

- 1
  
  Cut the cake in half to form two half circles. Rearrange the halves so that the circular arches touch one another, to create the butterfly's wings.
- 2
  
  Give the cake a shape that looks more like butterfly wings by cutting a triangular piece from each wing. The triangular notch should have equal sides of about 1 1/2 inches, and should start about 2 inches from the bottom.
- 3
  
  Dye the frosting. Distribute the frosting to three separate bowls, one for each color, then add food coloring to dye the frosting sky blue, bright green and pale purple.
- 4
  
  Frost the cake. Use three different knives, one for each color, to spread the frosting onto the butterfly's wings. Begin with blue frosting on top, green in the middle and purple at the bottom. Use a picture from "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" as a reference.
- 5
  
  Add details with the decorative icing. Again, using the picture as a reference, add yellow stripes and dots to the wings, as well as bursts of red in the wings' corners.
- 6
  
  Lay down five yellow gum drops where the two wings meet to form the butterfly's body. Cut a piece of licorice in half, then attach it to the top of the body to create antennae.
- 7
  
  Finish off the butterfly cake by adding some sprinkles and candies on the wings.