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    Home » Cakes and Desserts

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    Butterfly Cakes

    3 Butterfly Cakes on a patterned plate
    Butterfly Cakes on a patterned plate

    Butterfly Cakes are easy to make and fun to assemble. Good for beginner bakers or children to make for tea. Step-by-step instructions to make the butterflies are included.

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    Butterfly Cakes on a glass plate
    Butterfly Cakes

    Butterfly Cakes are fun to make and great for an afternoon's baking with the children. I make these in fairy cake cases so they're small and won't spoil a meal - and they're always good instead of pudding. You could make them for children's parties, where they always go down well.

    Ring the changes

    I've used vanilla buttercream, but you could make a chocolate version by substituting a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder for icing sugar. The icing won't be quite as sweet, but that isn't really an issue with these little cakes. You could also put jam in the buttercream as a flavouring, which avoids artificial flavours. Unless you sieve the jam there will be bits - but you might not mind that.

    Make cupcakes instead of fairy cakes

    If you want to make cupcakes, buy the larger paper cases (and tins) and make half as many (about 10 instead of 20).

    Step-by-step instructions for assembling Butterfly Cakes

    1. Use a small, sharp knife to cut a cone-shaped out of the cake. Start near one edge and push the point down and towards the centre. Keeping the point in the same place, move the knife around the cake
    Fairy cake with centre hollowed out
    1. Fill the cavity with buttercream and cut the cone shape in half
    Fairy cake with hollow centrefilled with buttercream and wings cut out
    1. Position the 'wings' on the cake
    Assembled Butterfly Cake

    What equipment do you need?

    12-hole bun tins - These tins are the perfect size for jam tarts and for fairy cakes. Unlike muffin tins, the paper cases sit above the edge of the depressions, which is absolutely fine. For this recipe, you will need two bun tins.

    If you like this...

    ...Why don't you try:

    Two jammy buns on a small flowered plate. One bun is split open to see the strawberry jam inside.

    Jammy Buns

    Easy recipe for jammy buns. Ideal for baking with children and for birthday parties. Essentially fairy cakes with a jammy surprise in the middle.

    Cherry Buns

    Cherry Buns are fun and easy to make with kids. Great for a family tea or party.
    Rock Buns on a patterned plate

    Rock Buns

    Rock buns are quick and easy to make and delicious to eat 30 minutes later. They're an ideal first bake for children.

    Stockists

    12-hole bun tin

    12-hole bun tins

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    Fairy cake paper cases

    Fairy cake cases

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    Hover over any picture on the page and hit the Save button to pin the image to one of your Pinterest boards.

    3 Butterfly Cakes on a patterned plate
    Butterfly Cakes
    Butterfly Cakes on a glass plate
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    Butterfly Cakes

    Butterfly Cakes are easy to make and fun to assemble. Great for kids to make for tea.
    Prep Time20 mins
    Cook Time20 mins
    Total Time40 mins
    Course: Teatime
    Cuisine: British
    Keyword: beginner baker, cooking with kids, easy, small cakes
    Servings: 20 fairy cakes
    Author: [email protected] Cooks

    Ingredients

    For the Cakes:

    • 125 g butter at room temperature
    • 125 g caster sugar
    • 2 large eggs
    • 150 g self-raising flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder (5ml)
    • Large pinch of salt
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)

    For the Buttercream:

    • 100 g butter at room temperature
    • 200 g icing sugar
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)
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    Equipment

    12-hole bun tin
    2 12-hole bun tins
    Fairy cake paper cases
    Fairy cake cases

    Instructions

    PREPARATION:

    • Preheat the oven to 190°C/ 170°C fan/ gas mark 5/ 375°F
    • Line the bun tins with 20 paper cases

    For the cakes:

    • Beat the cake ingredients together thoroughly using any method: wooden spoon, hand or stand mixer, or processor
      (Butter, caster sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract)
    • Put a heaped teaspoon of mixture into each paper case
    • Cook for 15-20 minutes until the cake surface springs back when you touch it lightly with your fingertip
    • Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

    For the buttercream:

    • Beat the softened butter and vanilla extract with an electric whisk
    • Add the icing sugar gradually, beating well as you go

    To decorate the cakes:

    • Use a small, sharp knife to cut a cone-shaped out of the cake. Start near one edge and push the point down and towards the centre. Keeping the point in the same place, move the knife round the cake.
    • Fill the cavity with buttercream
    • Cut the cone shape in half
    • Position the 'wings' on the cake

    Video

    More Cakes and Desserts

    • Blackberry and Apple Crumble
    • Blackberry Scones
    • Cherry Buns
    • Rock Buns

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    Hi, I'm Susie. Mostly I love cooking and baking, but combining work and home life often leaves me feeling that providing healthy, tasty food for my family is a chore. On those days I am decidedly an Everyday Cook...

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