From Annabel Karmel, bestselling author and respected authority on child nutrition, as well as the busy working mother of three children, here’s a fun and easy recipe for a second or third birthday party, from her new book—First Meals and More: Your Questions Answered.
And one of the best things about this recipe is that you can expand the caterpillar according to the number of guests at the party and decorate it however you like!
Preparation time 1 ½ hours ~ cooking time 20 minutes ~ cuts into 12-24 portions
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup softened unsalted butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups self-rising flour
- Pinch of salt
Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup softened unsalted butter
- 2 cups powder sugar, sifted
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- Red, dark green, light green, and yellow food coloring
Decoration
- Thin black licorice lace
- 1 black licorice ball
- 1 mini-marshmallow
- 2 silver balls
- 6-8 mini cake rolls
- Colored candies and jelly beans
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 small muffin or cupcake pans with paper cases.
- To make the cupcakes, mix together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until just combined. Divide among the paper cases. Bake until risen and golden and the center springs back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans briefly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, beat the butter until pale, then beat in the sugar a little at a time, followed by the vanilla. The frosting should be spreadable; add 1-2 Tbsp milk if needed. Scoop a rounded tablespoon of the frosting into a small bowl and color it red. Color half the remaining frosting dark green and the rest light green.
- To make the head, frost one of the cupcakes with the red buttercream. Cut two antennae from the licorice lace and a nose from the licorice ball. For the eyes, cut a mini-marshmallow in half and color the cut side with a toothpick dipped in yellow food coloring. Add a silver ball to the center. Position the antennae, nose, and eyes on the head and add a mouth in licorice lace. Leave to set.
- Frost half of the remaining cupcakes with dark green buttercream and half with light green buttercream. Put a line of chocolate cake rolls along the bottom of a large board (such as a cutting board covered in foil) to make a tree branch. Position the cupcakes to resemble a caterpillar walking along the branch. Make markings on the caterpillar’s back with colored candies, jelly beans, or thin strips of licorice, sticking them into the buttercream at angles. If you like, add red jelly beans for the caterpillar’s feet.
Have you made food with or for your child that was shaped like a creature? Tell us about it in the comment field below. Respond by Wednesday, April 8th and you could be drawn to receive a free copy of Annabel Karmel's First Meals and More: Your Questions.
Learn about the latest parenting and kids books from DK Publishing in Parenting.gather.com.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 43
I also sometimes make patterns out of their dinner, and they always love it.
1. Place one dome cake rounded side up.
Step 2 2. Cut and arrange the second cake as shown to create the pony's snout and ears.
3. Ice the entire cake with pink frosting, then dust it with pink edible glitter. Curl strips of pink sour tape by wrapping them round a wooden spoon handle. Arrange them in place to create a flowing mane.
4. Complete the pony with a Milk Duds eye and nostrils, Good & Plenty ear lining, shoestring licorice eyelashes and mouth, and a sour tape eyelid.
5. Adorn the mane with silk flowers (and don't forget to remove them before serving!)
This is what we made recently Bunny Pear Salad
During Thanksgiving time we make turkeys. The oreo is for the base, the fudge stripped cookie is the fan tail, the candy corn is the beak, marshmallow is the body.
Christopher and I made spider cupcakes for his class when he was studying insects and arachnids in 2nd grade. We used black frosting, 1/2 of a peppermint patty for the body (stood it up), pull apart Twizzlers for the legs, and frosting gel to make the 8 eyes. I wish I had taken a photo of them, because they were so cute.
Elliott likes his pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse. We also make various shapes out of sandwiches, or arrange dinner into a colorful scene to make it more appealing. I have to say though, everyone loved his 1st birthday cake--it was Elmo's face!
I will have to make this with my daughter some time!
Around Halloween we made chocolate covered mice, we dipped cherries in chocolate and stuck hersheys kisses to them for the head then put icing for eyes. Maddie had lots of fun helping us with that.
I used cupcackes and assembeled them as the body, gundrops for its eyes and pipe cleaners as it legs:).
We made snowmen out of marshmallows and candy. Take two large marshmallows cut one in where you cut off a fourth of it long ways. Use the uncut one for bottom, take marshmallow creme (or a melted marshmallow) and stick the bigger of the two on top of it, then the next size on top of that one. Get a hershey and cut a square big enough for the bottom of a hat. then keep stacking squares smaller on top of that to make a top hat. decorate with other candy for eyes, buttons, licorice made the arms. Then licorice makes scarves too.
My three year old loves it when I give him shaped food. We have a sandwich cutter that makes the sandwich into two dinosaurs, and we use it fairly often.
For holidays we always do fun stuff, too. For Halloween, we made cheese ball spiders with pretzel sticks for the legs. We also do witches out of marshmallows, using half an oreo, a mini Reese's, and a Hershey's kiss for the hat. You use mini chocolate chips for the face, colored coconut for the hair, and you stick everything together with frosting.
For Easter I'm making a nest cake. I'm making an angel food cake, and using the hollowed out middle of it to build a nest out of coconut that we've colored green. I'll put a few egg shaped candies in the nest, along with a package of peeps.
Unfortunately I think the only thing we've done together really is make mickey mouse pancakes and stuff with cookie dough (i.e. cookie cutters).
Time seems to always be lacking with 4 boys running around! (And messy!) :)
I love all the ideas that everyone shared!
No, but I have for my niece and nephew.
My husband and son used to make these. Following the recipe at
http://www.recipezaar.com/Tuna-Turnovers-187947
Roll out the dough and cut half of the dough into squares and half in circles
Fill the dough with the tuna filling and then fold the circles in half and then fold the squares to make triangle shaped turnovers.
Lay the half circles on the baking sheet and then lay the point of a triangle turnover on the end of a circle to make the fish’s tail.
Bake per the instructions and then serve up these fishy treats to the little ones.
The kiddos can help with cutting out dough and shaping the fish, which helps them buy into eating the finished product.
I guess i have made snacks into creature looking things using crackers, cheese wedges, raisins, and whatever else I can find in the cupboard. I don't like to encourage playing with your food, but sometimes it's worthwhile!