Caterpillar Cake

Photo: flickr user Ben Sutherland

Ingredients

1 pkt white cake mix prepared as directed

2 tablespoons rainbow-colored sprinkles

2 cans vanilla frosting - (16 oz ea)

teaspoon green food color

1 Snowball

(a coconut and marshamllow covered chocolate cake

4 smalls gumdrops - (2 yellow and 2 purple)

1 lrg red gumdrop

2 smalls pretzel sticks

7 pieces candy corn

cup dry roasted peanuts separated into halve

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Add the sprinkles to the prepared batter, stir quickly and pour into the Bundt pan. Bake according to the package directions. Allow to cool slightly then remove to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Cut the cake crosswise into three equal pieces.

In a medium bowl, combine the frosting and food color, mix well. Place the cake pieces flat-side down on a serving plate. Connect the cut edges with the colored frosting to form an "S" shape. Frost the cake.

Starting at one side of the cake, drag the back of a spoon to the other side of the cake to make ridges across the whole cake. Press the Snowball at one end of the cake to form a head.

Stick one purple gumdrop on the end of each pretzel stick and stick them into the top of the head as antennae. Secure the yellow gumdrop eyes to the head with toothpicks.

Slice the red gumdrop in half horizontally then in half vertically. Secure one piece of the red gumdrop with a toothpick to form the mouth.

Press the large ends of the candy corn into the frosting just behind the head to form the ruff around the head.

Place the peanuts in clusters of three along both sides of the caterpillar cake to form feet. Serve.

This recipe yields 12 servings.

Comments: You might want to crush some chocolate graham crackers and spread them on the platter around the caterpillar cake, to look like soil that the caterpillar is crawling in!