Itsy Bitsy Foodies

For my son’s 2nd birthday I made a tower of Sesame Street cupcakes topped with an Elmo cake.  Decorated with frosting in bright primary colors, the characters were easily identifiable and the kids loved being able to pick out their favorite character.  The characters were easy to create using candies and if you have older kids they can even help decorate the cupcakes. 

Ingredients

Chocolate cake, baked in cupcakes

Pound cake, baked in semi-circular molds

Buttercream frosting

Red food coloring

Yellow food coloring

Blue food coloring

Green food coloring

Black food coloring

Divide the buttercream frosting into separate bowls to color for the different Sesame Street characters, leaving some white to help make the eyes.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes:

Frost the cupcakes with blue frosting.  To make the eyes, attach chocolate chips to white chocolate pieces using white frosting.  Place the eyes onto the blue frosting.  Cut a mini chocolate chip cookie in half and insert it into Cookie Monster’s mouth.

Elmo Cupcakes:

Frost the cupcakes with red frosting.  To make the eyes, attach chocolate chips to white chocolate pieces using white frosting.  Place the eyes onto the red frosting.  Make an orange nose by molding orange gum drop candies together.  Cut an Oreo cookie in half and split it open, using the half without the white filling as the mouth.

Big Bird Cupcakes:

Frost the cupcakes with yellow frosting.  To make the eyes, attach chocolate chips to white chocolate pieces using white frosting.  Using a toothpick, draw a line above the chocolate chip with blue frosting.  Place the eyes onto the yellow frosting.  Cut long triangles out of large yellow gum drop wedges and press them together to form an open beak.

Oscar the Grouch Cupcakes:

Frost the cupcakes with green frosting.  To make the eyes, attach chocolate chips to white chocolate pieces using white frosting.  Place the eyes onto the green frosting.  Using black frosting, pipe curled eyebrows above the eyes to give Oscar his grouchy look.  Cut an Oreo cookie in half and split it open, using the half without the white filling as the mouth.

Elmo Cake:

I used a Wilton cake pan made for 3D sport balls that came with two semi-circular pans.  I followed the instructions that came with the cake pan, pouring 2 1/4 cups cake batter into each pan, baking a pound cake in the two semi-circular pans. 

Once the cakes are completely cooled, cut the round bottom off of one cake half so that the bottom of the ball will rest on a flat surface.  Ice the two halves together and then ice the outside of the Elmo head with red buttercream frosting.  (I piped the icing with a large star tip to help create fluffy peaks for Elmo’s hair but you could also create the same effect by spreading the frosting with a knife or a spatula.)

Frost Elmo’s mouth using black frosting.

To make Elmo’s eyes, coat two Oreo cookies with white buttercream frosting and let them harden on waxed paper.  Cut the points off of two Hershey’s kisses and attach them to the Oreo eyes with white frosting.  Cut two slits on the top of Elmo’s head and insert the Oreo cookies.

I molded orange gum drop candies together to form a large oval nose.

Inspiration for the Sesame Street cupcakes came from: Charmaine’s Pastry Blog.

Inspiration for the Cookie Monster cupcakes came from a picture that I saw on Hostess with the Mostess.