Never fear, I’m doing much better now. Thanks to everyone who read and responded to my overly emotional post on Monday. Your words were little rays of light, as always.
We’ve been busy around the homestead, prepping for Lucy’s first BIG trip. We’re flying to Houston on Saturday so we can introduce baby Lucy to the original Lucy, my sweet maternal grandmother. I’m partially excited, partially terrified. Right now, traveling with a newborn seems about as easy as giving birth.
So in light of our impending travels, I’m sharing this bright and fun birthday cake (in hopes that it will bolster my courage!). This was the first cake I’ve decorated since last fall, when I was in the middle of my first trimester. Decorating cakes while in the thick of morning sickness isn’t fun, but decorating cakes with a newborn is an entirely different type of challenge! This Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake was delivered to a birthday party on Sunday for two very lovely little girls. I hope they enjoyed it…and you know I’m already plotting and planning for Lucy’s first birthday fete!
In the past, I’ve used rather expensive food dyes to color my cakes, but with a tight budget and timeline this year, I was thrilled to find that McCormick food colors worked wonderfully! Not only was I able to find them easily at the grocery store, but I loved how I was able to emulate Eric Carle’s overlapping layers of color in the caterpillar’s body. I used this standard pack of colors, which allows for an impressive variety of shades if you’re willing to mix and experiment (and isn’t that the best part?).
I wish I could tell you an exact formulation for this colorful fondant caterpillar, but I had too much fun experimenting to keep track of how many drops of food color I used. What I can tell you is this: a little goes a long way and these colors work great for fondant and frosting.
