I'm a big fan of themes for parties, so I'm pretty excited that I now have a new person to party style for. Unlike Andrew, Evie isn't able to voice her objections to the themes that I pick.

After a little bit of pin-spiration I decided on a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme for Evie's welcome party. When Evie was a newborn we called her our very hungry caterpillar. It seemed like all she did was eat and sleep. Also, when we wrap her for sleep it looks like she is in a cocoon. When I unwrap her after a nap I often tell her that she is my beautiful butterfly... awwww.

But truthfully, one of the main reasons I picked this theme was so I could do a Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake cake. I've had my eye on it for quite a while and have been looking for an excuse to make it.

The head of the caterpillar is a vanilla cake decorated in red fondant. I bought the red fondant precoloured which saved me a bit of time. It also meant that I didn't have to have hands stained with red food colouring. Although I made the eyes, antennae and feet using white icing and food colouring so my hands didn't escape completely. Did you know that black food colouring turns your hands an interesting shade of purple?

The body is made up of 48 cupcakes decorated with green butter cream icing. I used a mix of chocolate, vanilla and vanilla gluten-free cupcakes. Because I had so much stuff to bake and a baby to look after I totally cheated this time and used a box mix for the cupcakes and the cake. So the cake didn't taste as good as it usually does but it sure looked pretty.

Here is the recipe for the Cherry Ripe Mud Cake that I baked for Andrew for his birthday. It was passed on from the Darbys, Andrew's cousins in Ballarat. I'm generously sharing it with the world. There was quite an interest on twitter for the recipe.

Cherry Ripe Mud Cake

250g unsalted butter, chopped 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder 400ml coconut milk 200g dark chocolate, chopped coarsely 2 cups caster sugar ¾ cup self raising flour 1 cup plain flour ¼ cup cocoa powder 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla essence 3 x 85g Cherry Ripe bars, chopped coarsely

Pre-heat oven to slow (150°C / 300°F). Grease deep 22cm-round cake pan. Line base and inside with baking paper.

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add coffee, coconut milk, chocolate and sugar. Stir over heat until chocolate melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to room temperature.

Whisk in sifted dry ingredients, then eggs and essence. Stir in two bars of the cherry ripe. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Top with remaining cherry ripe. Bake in slow oven for about 1h 45m. Stand cake for 10 minutes. Turn, top-side up, onto wire rack to cool.

Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar, with cream or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

Baker's Notes:

• I have a fan-forced oven and I baked it for 1 hour and 20 minutes in a 150°C oven. Tara, Andrew's cousin, bakes it in her fan-forced oven for 2 hours at 140°C.
• The actual recipe calls for chocolate frosting on top of the cake and chocolate panels on the side of the cake. I think you might go into a sugar-induced coma if you ate a piece of that cake. It's already a very rich cake so I was advised to just go with a light dusting of icing sugar on top of the cake. Let me know if you want the chocolate frosting / chocolate panel addendum to the recipe.

What is a Cherry Ripe?
Our non-Australian readers probably haven't heard of a Cherry Ripe. A Cherry Ripe is an Australian chocolate bar made by Cadbury. Its filling consists of pieces of cherry and coconut and the bar is covered in dark chocolate. It's Australia's oldest chocolate bar. In London, you can buy Cherry Ripes at the Australia Shop at Convent Garden. They cost £1.60 but they are worth every penny.