OK, it seems appropriate that my first post with photos be of my darling son's birthday cake. Yes, he is 12 and yes, it is a Caterpillar but A) he is developmentally disabled and B) my kid brother requested that mom make him this cake for his 18th Bday so.......

Here is the finished product for today....















There are a million variations for this cake but I have a to do list a mile long and this is what I ended up with this time, not bad considering I am still working with most of my stuff in boxes eh? lol
First I made the cake mix, just a white, super moist cake mix and added some color so this bug will have green guts when you cut into him. I used Wilton leaf green icing color but you could use regular food coloring if that is all you have. WARNING! If you have never used the icing color before, it is very concentrated and you need to use a toothpick or some such tiny thing to add this stuff...it's potent. I took a photo during the icing tint to show how little you need. But here's the green batter.........

Now, once you have your cake batter tinted whatever color your heart desires, simply put MOST of it in your bundt pan. You need to save a little for a muffin. I used regular muffin size in the past but decided the head would be better as a monster muffin size. If you only have regular muffin pans, it works fine too. Also I decided when I constructed this cake, that I would make a regular muffin as well next time to round off his little behind, but it isn't necessary...

Once your cake and muffin(s) are cooled get your platter or whatever you are going to serve it on ready. I found this great microwave tray at Goodwill for $2, but in the past I always just cut a piece of cardboard and covered it with foil.

Now, cut your bundt in half and place on your platter in an "S" shape.Then add a bit of icing to the bottom of your muffin (I cut a bit off the bottom and the top of the base to make it sit better and used a toothpick to hold it in place (just in case). For my icing, I just used a can of plain white icing and tinted it blue with Wilton's royal blue iciing color. I added a little at a time to get the right shade, I didn't want it to be too dark and over power all the candy decorations.



First mix needed more blue



Now I coated the cake with my blue icing....usually I am waaaaay more anal about spreading it on, I like to keep it kind of thick and try to maintain the curves from the bundt form but today I was in a hurry and just slathered it on...

Now to cut one large marshmellow in half, the sticky inside is perfect for holding the M&M for the eyes. I stick a toothpick through the back down into the muffin part to hold it in place, probably not necessary but I wanted to be sure...then I cut some licorice into different sizes, then made little cuts on the end to look like "feelers" and stuck those down in where I had attached the muffin to the body. I didn't love how empty it looked, or really how my licorice appeared so I added some red Dots candy along there and was happy enough to keep going...

I also took a red Dot and rolled a can of soup over it until it became this adorable little tongue. In the past I have used gum drops and cut out adorable little lips but...I like this too. Next I cut more Dots candy in half and placed here and there (gummy side down) Then I added some Sixlets I found at the $1 store and filled in with the rest of the M&Ms and Dots until he could hold no more. The icing had dried a bit while I worked and the round candy caused some gaps in the icing. I just used a toothpick to add a little of the left over icing around the candy,
I think I decided that next time I am going to crumble some Oreos (to look like dirt) and top off with the gummy worms around him but for today, I only had the worms...

There you have it, a cake mix, some candy and a little time and you have a special fun cake for your little one! I don't think he turned out half bad for being made on the fly with only a few things to decorate him...