Ants at a picnic Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of the cake pan with wax paper; grease and flour it.

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions and pour it into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Transfer the cake to a serving platter. Tint 1/2 cup of vanilla frosting red and then spoon it into a resealable plastic bag with the corner snipped off; set aside. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Pipe a grid on the cake with 1-1/2-inch squares. Fill in every other square with the remaining red frosting.

To decorate The Platter: Using your fingertips, soften and shape 8 yellow STARBURSTBrand Fruit Chews into one 4-1/2-inch circle. If necessary, trim any rough edges of the circle with scissors. Place this circle in the center of the cake (you can also microwave the STARBURST Brand Fruit Chews for 5 to 10 seconds to soften them before shaping).

The Hamburgers: Unwrap and roughly chop 6 SNICKERS Brand Minis. Soften them in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds. When cool enough to handle, form patties about the size of the vanilla wafers. Sandwich each patty in between two vanilla wafers. Again, cupcakes can be used instead of Vanilla Wafers. Just cut them to look like hamburger buns. Makes 4 hamburgers The Hot Dogs: Gently soften 3 red STARBURST Brand Fruit Chews. Roll each one into a small hot dog. Gently cut the vanilla wafers in half by lightly sawing the cookie using a serrated knife. Sandwich one "hot dog" in between two halves of a vanilla wafer. Arrange these along with the "hamburgers" on top of the platter in the center of the cake. Or, use cupcakes, again, to make hot dog shaped buns (this can be slightly difficult). Makes 3 hot dogs The Ants: Arrange 2 brown M&M'S Brand Milk Chocolate Candies together for each ant's body. Pipe legs with the chocolate decorating frosting. Arrange several "ants" going towards the center of the cake. Line the cake's base with assorted colors of M&M'S Brand Milk Chocolate Candies. You can also use the chocolate decorating frosting to make all the ant's bodies.

Decorating Tips: Use green, yellow, and red frosting to make "lettuce", "ketchup", and "mustard". Also, to simplify decorating the cake: Instead of coloring in squares to make a checkerboard cloth, simply pipe red icing into a grid and then decorate the top with gummy hotdogs and hamburgers. Or, use squares of red fruit leather to form the checkerboard pattern. Makes 1 cake that servers about 9."