Butterfly cakes
Butterfly cakes are a classic children’s bake. This recipe is so easy to do kids will love making them as well as eating them.
Butterfly cakes are a great traditional children’s bake.
I remember making these when I was young and was inspired to make them with my kids after seeing a recipe in one of Mary Berry’s cook books.
They are a fantastic way of jazzing up some regular cupcakes into something a bit fun and special. They take hardly any extra effort, making them perfect for children’s birthday parties and special occasions.
Do you have to make your own cupcakes?
No. The great thing about these butterfly cupcakes is that you can use your favourite cupcake recipe whether that is from a cake packet mix or even plain shop bought ones.
The fun starts when you’ve baked the cupcake, so you can even make these in advance then get your ids to help you decorate them.
How can kids help make butterfly cakes?
One of the best things about this Mary Berry recipe is that all the ingredients get mixed together in one bowl.
It’s a simple case of weighing everything out and giving it all a good mix. This ‘all in one’ method is the perfect easy way or getting kids involved baking in the kitchen.
If you want to make life really easy, you can also make a start to the cupcakes yourself and just get your kids to help you decorate them.
This is a good option if you have very young children with a short attention span.
Other fun cupcakes for kids
If you and your kids love making cupcakes, check out some of our other easy cupcake recipes below:
Chocolate chip cupcakes
Nutella cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes
Funfetti cupcakes
Rainbow cupcakes
Monster cupcakes
Chocolate butterfly cakes
Fairy cakes
Victoria sponge
Tottenham cake
Vanilla traybake
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these butterfly cakes.
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Hand held mixer
Wooden spoons
Spatula
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Muffin tin
Cupcake cases
Wire rack
Piping bag
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Ingredients
100g (½ cup or 1 stick) butter/margarine
100g (½ cup) caster sugar
100g (¾ cup) self raising flour*
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
For the icing
175g (¾ cup) butter
350g (3 cups) icing sugar
If you don’t have any self raising flour, use ¾ cup of plain or all-purpose flour and add an extra ¾ tsp of baking powder.
How to make butterfly cakes
Preheat your oven to 200C / 180C Fan / 390F
Get your kids to line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases.
Mix everything together
Get your kids to measure out all the ingredients in turn and add them to a free-standing mixer or large mixing bowl.
Start with the butter or margarine. Chop the butter into small pieces before adding it to your bowl. If it’s too hard, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds just to soften it up.
Next, get your kids to weigh out the flour and caster sugar and add them to your mixing bowl.
While they are doing that, add the baking powder.
Lastly, get your kids to crack the eggs into a small bowl. If any shell goes in (as it tends to when little kids are involved), fish it out with a larger bit of shell. Shell sticks to shell better than it does to your finger!
Once all your ingredients have been measured out get your kids to mix it all together with the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, a hand held mixer or even some wooden spoons.
Keep mixing until it has come together in a nice smooth batter. It’ll take a few minutes. If you need to, scrape down the sides of your bowl with a spatula.
Bake the butterfly cupcakes
Get your kids to fill the paper cases with cupcake batter.
We find the easiest way of doing this is to use an ice-cream scoop. It dispenses the perfect amount of batter and saves a lot of mess.
If you don’t have an ice-cream scoop, use a large dessert or soup spoon
Add batter until the paper cases are around ¾ full.
Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 15-20 minutes. They’re ready when they have risen and turned a nice golden brown colour.
Remove them from the oven and leave them to cool in the tin for a few minutes before carefully removing them from the tin and popping them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate the butterfly cakes
Make the icing by beating the butter and icing sugar together with the k paddle or your free-standing mixer a hand held mixer or wooden spoons.
While the butter icing is mixing (the longer you mix it the softer it will become), cut a slice off the top of each cupcake. Then cut each slice in half. These will form the ‘butterflies’.
Put your icing in a piping bag with a large star shaped nozzle.
Get your kids to pipe a swirl of icing onto each cupcake and then put the two half slices on top arranged to look like butterflies.
If your kids are young and find the piping too difficult, you can do the piping and they can add the butterflies on top.
If you don’t have a piping bag use a palette knife or butter knife to spread the icing on top before adding the butter.
Dust with icing sugar.
Serve and enjoy.
Butterfly cakes
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Freestanding mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Hand held mixer
- Wooden spoons
- Spatula
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Muffin tin
- Cupcake cases
- Wire rack
- Piping bag
Ingredients
- 100 g (½ cup or 1 stick) butter/margarine
- 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar
- 100 g (¾ cup) self raising flour*
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
For the icing
- 175 g (¾ cup) butter
- 350 g (3 cups) icing sugar
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 200C / 180C Fan / 390F and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases.
Mix everything together
- Measure out all the ingredients in turn and add them to a free-standing mixer or large mixing bowl.
- Once all your ingredients have been measured out mix it all together with the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, a hand held mixer or even some wooden spoons.
- Keep mixing until it has come together in a nice smooth batter. It'll take a few minutes. If you need to, scrape down the sides of your bowl with a spatula.
Bake the butterfly cupcakes
- Fill the paper cases with cupcake batter. Add batter until the paper cases are around ¾ full.
- We find the easiest way of doing this is to use an ice-cream scoop. It dispenses the perfect amount of batter and saves a lot of mess. If you don't have an ice-cream scoop, use a large dessert or soup spoon
- Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 15-20 minutes. They're ready when they have risen and turned a nice golden brown colour.
- Remove them from the oven and leave them to cool in the tin for a few minutes before carefully removing them from the tin and popping them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate the butterfly cakes
- Make the icing by beating the butter and icing sugar together with the k paddle or your free-standing mixer a hand held mixer or wooden spoons.
- While the butter icing is mixing (the longer you mix it the softer it will become), cut a slice off the top of each cupcake. Then cut each slice in half. These will form the 'butterflies'.
- Put your icing in a piping bag with a large star shaped nozzle. Swirl some icing onto each cupcake and then put the two half slices on top arranged to look like butterflies.
- Dust with icing sugar. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Pin butterfly cakes for later
If you liked these butterfly cakes, you’ll love our Mary Berry fairy cakes, our Victoria sponge recipe and our other easy bakes for kids.
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