The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake

So last week I hinted at a food competition I was entering . . . and then things got a little hectic, as I was out of town and this is my last week of school, so it took me a while to get around to this post. But here it is: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake.

Last week my local university library hosted an edible cake contest.  I missed it last year, since I didn't find out about it until a few days before and it was really too late to put together an entry. So I was on the look-out this year.  I debated between a few books, but in the end went with one of my childhood favorites.  Here's how I made it.

Materials
1 1/2 sheet cake, baked and removed from pan
cardboard cake sheet
2-3 batches of buttercream icing, divided and dyed (more on this later)
lady fingers or vanilla sandwich cookies (the oval kind)
gummy fruit wedges
icing spatula
lots of toothpicks (for mixing icing and fixing mistakes)
containers for separating and dying icing
a sharp knife
a large/fat straw (one will work, but multiples will be easier)
lots of patience
a copy of the book helps a great deal (but you can probably find most of the images online)

Directions

1. Bake your cake, allow it to cool, and remove from the pan. I suggest placing it face down on the cardboard mat, with wax paper under the edges so it's easy to get rid of an icing mistakes.

2. I wanted my cake to be of a caterpillar on a leaf, so the next task was to carve the cake into a giant leaf. This was actually really easy, except for the stem, which never actually broke off, though it threatened to on multiple occasions. I had the book open right next to me and drew a faint outline in the cake with a toothpick before carving with a knife.

3. The next step is to spread on a crumb layer of icing. The crumb layer is basically a thin layer of icing that catches all the crumbs so when you do the top layer, you won't see any flaws or pieces of cake crumbling up.  I wasn't too concerned about crumbs showing since it's a leaf and brown crumbs could be interpreted as "dirt," but I still did a crumb layer so it wasn't too crumby.

Icing--This is the basic icing recipe that we were taught in my Wilton class. Two changes, though: 1. use all crisco shortening, not margerine/butter also. 2. Use water instead of milk so it doesn't have to be refrigerated.

4. I used about 1/2 of one batch of icing, dyed light green to do my crumb layer. This icing could be left white, since it shouldn't show through, but I went ahead and made it pale green just in case. Allow this layer to dry for about 15 minutes, or until you can touch it lightly without icing coming off on your finger.

5. To make the caterpillar, I had one idea and ended up going a different direction.  On the cover of the book, you cans see that the caterpillars body is distinctly in segments and I really wanted to feature this in the cake.  I decided to use cookies, iced in different shades of green to give this affect. So I lined cookies up on the book cover (with a wax paper layer to protect it), and cut them by eye to make the curves. Then I iced them three different shades of green.  This took less than a cup of icing total.

6. At this point, the cake should be ready for the top layer of icing. I added more green dye to the crumb layer icing leftovers and spread on a thick top-coat. Again, I wasn't worried about perfection as this is supposed to be a watercolor leaf.  The stem was the tricky part. I really have no sound advice other than to be careful when icing it.

7. Next, transfer the caterpillar's body onto the cake. This is where I got off-track with the caterpillar. I really wanted to maintain those distinct segments, but I was having difficulty blending the icing along the edges so the cookie didn't show through. In the end, I swirled the different shades together and got a decent blend that still showed the segments, just not as distinctly.  For this part, I used the various greens that were left over from the body segments.

8. For the head, I used straight red icing. For the feet and antennae, I mixed the red with a bit of brown and orange. All of this together was a very small amount of icing. 

Note: leftover icing will keep for weeks in the freezer and thaw very quickly.  I've found it's easy to blend already mixed colors to create new colors you need. I used frozen icing in pink, yellow, mint green and white to make some of the colors I needed for this project.

9. Finally, using a straw, I poked holes in the cake to show where the caterpillar had eaten. I also poked holes in the fruit slices used to decorate the board.  And I used the leftover brown icing from the feet to dye a darker shade of brown for the top of the stem.

I didn't win the contest, but I was very happy about my entry. There are things I would do differently next time, but overall I was pleased with my final cake.  It was a lot of fun to make and I can't wait to do something like this again.

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Wilton Cupcakes

Our second hands-on class taught us how to make flowers and shell borders. This class was much more challenging for me.  I struggled to get my flowers to look right. I think I had a problem with the consistency of my icing.  I'm not doing something right and it was affecting the flowers. Oh well, I'm going to keep practicing. Instead of making a cake this time, I opted for cupcakes with a spring feel. Here's the result:

My First Wilton Cake

As you know, I'm in the midst of Wilton-Course 1.  Our first week, we just listened and learned techniques for baking and icing a cake, as well as an introduction to the tools and supplies needed.  It was a bit overwhelming, but it was good to know what we need everything for so we could determine what we wanted and what was optional.

In our second class, we got to do hands-on work.  We learned how to do stars and how to do an icing-gel transfer, which is an easy way to transfer a design/pattern on to a cake. We also practiced writing--mine was atrocious at first...and my cursive is definitely better than print. You can see in the picture, I'm still shaky with my writing. But overall, I'm very proud of my first effort at cake decorating. I'm really looking forward to our next lesson!

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Wilton Cake Decorating Classes

For my mom's birthday, I wanted to give her a one-of-a-kind gift. I racked my brain for a few weeks and finally decided on a Wilton Cake Decorating class that we could take together.  Mama Food Whore loves to cook and bake as much as I do, and I knew it would be a fun experience to take the class together.  Fortunately, she loved the idea as much as I did and a couple of weeks ago we had our first class.

So far, I really love the classes. I consider myself a little beyond "beginner" status, but I've still learned several new techniques in these first two classes of Course 1.  I definitely recommend taking these classes. I think even experienced bakers can learn a thing or two. 

My only reservation about the course is the amount of supplies needed. As part of my mom's present, I bought her the Wilton Cake "tackle-box" of supplies (I think it's the 50 piece set).  The label on the caddy says that it includes everything needed for Course 1. So I thought we were all set.  Boy, was I wrong! 

I still definitely recommend getting one of these caddies because it's a good start and a great place to store all your supplies.  Grab a 40% Michael's coupon in your Sunday paper and you can save a good amount on this caddy. But keep in mind there's a lot of other little things you will need.  I didn't mind because I plan to continue on with other Wilton courses, but I did feel bad because I thought I'd bought my mom everything she needed for the class and we ended up buying quite a bit of other stuff. 

If you really didn't want to buy all the stuff, you might be able to get away with it, but I figure if you're in the class, you probably are very interested in cake decorating and want all the proper equipment to be successful. Just keep clipping those 40% coupons and stock up on things little-by-little.  It also helped that Michael's recently had a big President's Day sale with additional coupons for 60% off one item and 20% off the whole bill. If you're considering taking one of these classes, let me know and I can send you the whole supply list so you can stock up on your supplies with coupons so you don't have to break your budget buying it all at once.

What really encouraged me to take these classes is the amazing desserts created by Katie of Good Things Catered.   I can't wait to be at her level of decorating.  Check out her Wilton posts and be inspired!

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore