These caterpillar cupcakes are great for a birthday party or even just for special spring treat. The fun is in the decorating, so it’s a good idea to set out small bowls of candy for the kids so they can decorate the caterpillar on their own.
Caterpillar cupcakes are made using a very simple vanilla cupcake recipe so children of all ages can help with all the steps. I used whipped cream frosting but feel free to use any you like.
This recipe makes six cupcakes and it can easily be doubled or even tripled to make the caterpillar as long as you want.
Related Pages: Paper Plate Caterpillars, Butterfly Mobile Craft
Cupcakes from Scratch Ingredient list
Cupcakes
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
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2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
40ml milk (About 3 Tablespoons)
Frosting
110ml whipping cream (A scant half cup)
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1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Green food coloring
To Decorate
Small colored candies – M&Ms work really well
Chocolate or pretzel sticks
Caterpillar Cupcake Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 6-hole muffin pan with cupcake cases.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk well after each one. Stir in the vanilla extract.
In another bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Combine half of the flour mixture with the butter and sugar then pour in the milk and stir, scraping down the sides of the bowl if you need to. Gently fold in the remaining flour.
Fill each of the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for around 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
To make the whipped cream frosting, mix together the cream, sugar and vanilla essence. Add the green food coloring drop by drop until you get the perfect caterpillar-green – be careful not to add to much or the color will be too dark.
Place the bowl and the whisk you plan to use in the fridge for about 1 hour – the colder the ingredients and utensils are, the more voluminous the frosting will be when whipped.
When fully chilled, remove the bowl and whisk from the fridge. Beat the liquid until the mixture is thick and forms stiff peaks. Spread onto the top of the fully-cooled cupcakes.
Chop the chocolate/pretzel sticks and poke them into the sides of all but 1 of the cupcakes to make the caterpillar’s legs. Decorate the face with small chocolate sweets and two chocolate/pretzel sticks for antennae.
