Behold, the easiest fancy cake you’ll ever make!
There’s a reason you don’t see many cakes on this blog. Cupcakes, yes. I love decorating cupcakes, but full-size cakes are so. much. WORK. Spare me the crumb coats, hours in the fridge, tedious smoothing of topcoats, meticulous piping, and strategic sprinkle placement. I admire anybody who can decorate a fancy cake, but it’s just not for me.
However, I knew the day was fast approaching when I could avoid it no longer. This whole Very Hungry Caterpillar menu has a birthday party theme, and my last two blog desserts were cupcakes. I knew it was time for a full-size cake. My bone-deep hatred of cake decorating inspired me to get creative, and I gotta say this cake turned out GORGEOUS. Plus, it was genuinely easy.
I just made 3 layers of the go-to chocolate cake recipe from my cookbook, a triple batch of my favorite vanilla buttercream (also from my cookbook), and Life, Love and Sugar’s recipe for chocolate drip ganache. If you’ve never done a drip top, don’t worry. This was my first time too, and it was really easy and forgiving.
Here are a few tools that I found super helpful (though they’re not required):
- Turntable. This makes it a lot easier to get a smooth finish on the sides, and it allows you to focus on the timing of your ganache drips instead of trying to turn a heavy plate smoothly at the same time. I took a detachable one from underneath a rotating serving plate my grandma gave me, and it worked great!
- Large frosting knife. If you have a bench scraper, use that to get a smooth finish on your frosting, but if not a big frosting knife will do. It also helps smooth the ganache.
- Tall enough fridge space for a 3-tier cake. I’m lucky enough to have a basement fridge with one shelf removed. If you’ll be storing this in your main fridge, plan accordingly.
- Squeeze bottle. You can add your drip top with a spoon, but if you’re new to the method (like me) a squeeze bottle gives you lots more control.
I shared the finished cake with my nieces and nephew, who came after I took pictures. It was EXTREMELY well received (this is a big deal, since my 8-year-old niece has an even more discerning dessert palate than Paul Hollywood). Enjoy!
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Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake
“On Saturday night he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon. That night he had a stomach ache!”
— The Very Hungry Caterpillar
INGREDIENTS:
- FOR THE CAKE
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tsp vanilla
- 6 eggs, room temp
- 7 1/2 tbsp sour cream
- 2 1/4 tsp distilled white vinegar
- 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
- FOR THE FROSTING
- 9 cups powdered sugar, separated
- 2 1/4 cups butter, softened
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp milk, separated
- 4 tsp vanilla
- 27 drops green gel food coloring
- 3 drops yellow gel food coloring
- NOTE: This is a lot of frosting, so you may need to make it in 2 batches. If so, I recommend making 2/3 of it in one batch for the filling and crumb coat, then the remaining 1/3 later when you’re ready to add the final coat.
- FOR THE DRIP TOP
- 6 oz 60% dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- FOR THE DECORATIONS
- 1 cherry, 5 green apple Jolly Rancher lollipops
- Extreme Sour Chewy Sweet Tarts
Makes a 3-tier, 9-inch chocolate cake
INSTRUCTIONS:
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- TO MAKE THE CAKE. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat 3 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with 9-inch parchment paper circles (you can make your own with regular parchment paper using this method). Coat the tops of the parchment circles with cooking spray. Set pans aside.
- Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter on medium speed in a large bowl. Beat in the sugar and vanilla until combined. Then beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the sour cream and vinegar. Alternate beating in the dry mix and buttermilk.
- Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops of the cakes spring back when firmly tapped with a finger.
- Allow to rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife and remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.
- TO MAKE THE FROSTING. Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter on medium speed in a standing mixer until smooth. Beat in 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat until combined, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary. Stir the food coloring into the milk until well combined. Beat the vanilla and 2 tablespoons of milk into the butter mix. Alternate beating in the remaining powdered sugar and milk.
- TO ASSEMBLE/FROST. Place one layer of cake onto an appropriately sized cardboard cake circle or serving plate. Spread frosting over the top in an even layer until it is about 1/4-1/2 inch high. Repeat with another layer of cake. Add the final layer on top and cover with a crumb coat (a very thin layer of frosting, just enough to mostly hide the color of the cake). Apply a crumb coat to the sides of the cake. Place cake in the fridge for 1 hour.
- When chilled, apply a final layer of frosting on the top and sides about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. The easiest way to get it mostly smooth is to use a bench scraper while turning the cake on a turntable. However, the decorations will cover most of it, so don’t sweat it if it’s not perfectly smooth.
- Place the cake in the fridge until ready to add the drip top (a cold cake keeps the warm ganache from melting the frosting and gives you more control over the length of the drips).
- TO MAKE THE DRIP TOP. Break your chocolate into small pieces and place in a liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
- Place the heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for about 1 minute (take it out early if it starts to bubble up). Pour the cream over the chocolate chips, making sure to cover as many of them as possible. Allow to rest 3-5 minutes. Stir gently (to avoid incorporating too much air) until consistency is smooth. If there are still some lumps, microwave for 10 second increments as necessary. Transfer to a squeeze bottle (you can do the drips with a spoon, but a bottle gives you more control). Allow to rest for 10 minutes prior to using. While you wait, place an empty bowl in the fridge.
- Remove the bowl from the fridge turn it over on a plate. Pipe some test drips along the top edge so you get a sense of how fast it will move and how long you should squeeze to get the drip lengths you want.
- Remove your cake from the fridge. Starting around the edge of the top of the cake first, squeeze the ganache just over the side, turning the turntable as you go. I recommend staggering the lengths so you don’t have to stress about getting them all exactly perfect. When you have completed all your drips, fill in the center, working quickly so the ganache does not get too firm to spread. I recommend adding it mostly to the center and spreading it to the edges with a frosting knife. Spread until it just touches the ring of ganache on the edge. Place in the fridge to set.
- TO DECORATE. Transfer remainder of frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe small mounds around the top of the cake. Place a chewy Sweet Tart on top of each mound. Place Sweet Tarts around the bottom of the cake, pressing lightly to adhere.
- To decorate the red lollipop, dab on leftover frosting with a toothpick to make eyes. For the nose, you can dab on some extra ganache or use a black food marker. Since I had some purple chewy Jolly Rancher candies left over from recipe testing, I cut one up to make antennae and stuck them on with left over frosting. You can also cut up a purple chewy Sweet Tart for antennae, since you’ll already have some on hand.
- Stick the red lollipop in the top of the cake, followed by the 5 green lollipops, stuck in at various heights to make a hump.
- Chill until 30 minutes before serving. Serve at a Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party!
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Check out my other cake recipes!
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