I made this ladybug cake for my daughter’s two year birthday. She is a fan of ladybugs and was a ladybug for Halloween so I knew she would love a ladybug cake. Both the cake and cup cakes were made of devils food cake mix.
I used apples sauce in place of the oil in the cake mix for extra moistness. I baked the ladybug cake in a round Pyrex dish, the head of the ladybug in a 6″ Pyrex dish and the cup cakes in cup cake cups.
After the body of the cake cooled I sliced it in two halves (removing the top layer) and spreading a Raspberry jam as the inside filling and then put the top layer back on. I used red frosting for the body of the ladybug cake and cup cakes.
On the body of the ladybug cake I used Grasshopper mint fudge cookies as the spots and black licorice for the legs, back stripe and antennas. For the cup cakes I used milk chocolate chips for the spots and black licorice for the antennas and for the heads on the cup cakes I cut the Grasshopper mint fudge cookies in half.
For the eyes and mouth on the ladybug cake I used white cream cheese frosting with my frosting gun and then inserted one chocolate chip for each pupil. On the cup cakes I use the frosting again for the eyes and inserted one mini chocolate chip for each eye.
Note: I did have problems making my white cream cheese frosting red with food coloring and had to purge the entire batch as it remained pink and never turned red. My suggestion would be to just buy the red frosting or use the red fondant.
Very nice! Might I suggest using food coloring paste to make red? It is much more concentrated and you can get the red that you’re looking for.