1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Place the Dr. Oetker White Baking Cases into a bun tin. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs (if the mixture starts to curdle, add a little flour). Using a metal spoon, fold in the flour and Dr. Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa Powder.
2. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into the cases, then bake for 15-20 mins until well risen and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack.
3. Once cool, smooth the Dr. Oetker Chocolate Buttercream Style Icing over the top of each cupcake – you can use a palette knife or the back of a spoon to do this.
4. Using the Dr. Oetker Coloured Fondant Icing, start making the bugs.
- To make the snails, knead the blue fondant until soft and pliable. Roll into a long, thin sausage shape about 15-20cm, then roll it around itself to create a snail shell. Repeat to make 5 or 6 shells. Take a small amount of the yellow fondant and knead until soft and pliable, then roll into a thicker sausage shape than the shells. Wrap halfway around the shell to create the snail’s head and tail. Repeat so you have a body for all the shells. Finally, place 2 very small balls of black fondant on each of the heads to create the eyes. Leave to set.
- To make the caterpillar, knead the green fondant until soft and pliable. Take a marble-sized piece and roll into a ball, then repeat until you have 12 balls. Repeat with the yellow fondant to create 18 balls, and then the red to create 6 balls – these should be slightly larger than the green and yellow ones. Starting with the red ball as the head, stick the fondant balls together to create 6 caterpillars. Finally, place 2 very small balls of black fondant on each caterpillar head to create the eyes. Leave to set.
- To make the ladybirds, roll 5 red fondant balls, roughly 2cm in diameter, then flatten each one slightly and use a knife to carefully make an indent down the centre to create the wings. Roll 5 black marble-sized balls and stick them to the red fondant balls to create the heads. Add some small black balls onto the red fondant to create dots.
5. Place the fondant bugs on top of your iced cakes. For an even more creative finish, you can sprinkle over some crushed chocolate biscuits to make it look like soil, if you like.