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How to make a butterfly cake Liv Hansen, Professional Baker and Author
Cut out the butterfly wings
* Start with a 9’ round cake and using a serrated knife cut off the dome. Flip it over. (It’s best to chill your cakes in the freezer for about 30 to 45 minutes before cutting them to reduce the number of crumbs.)
* Cut it in half right down the middle, keeping the two halves together so that it still looks like a round cake.
* To make the wings cut/form a peace sign from the two halves, using toothpicks to guide your lines.
* Remove the toothpicks, flip over the pieces and rotate them to make wings. Basically the edges of the cake will now be facing inwards and be spread apart slightly to make four distinct areas.
* For a bigger butterfly cake you can modify the recipe by adding a second layer of cake on top of the base. If you decide to put a second layer on the cake it’s a good idea to do the crumb coat (see below) before you cut it out.
Crumb coat the butterfly cake
* The crumb coat is a thin coat of frosting that you spread over the entire cake that seals in your crumbs. This will prevent crumbs from showing through the frosting of your butterfly cake.
* Set your crumb coating by placing it in the freezer for 30 minutes after you have frosted it.
Frosting the butterfly cake
* Using an offset spatula (or a table knife or back of a spoon) place big dollops of frosting on the four pieces. You’ll want a nice thick coat of frosting on the cake about ¼ inch thick. Work with the frosting to smooth it out, making sure everything is covered.
* Dip your spatula into a bowl of hot water between applications to keep it nice and clean for spreading the frosting.
* To get clean lines scrape off excess frosting after it’s totally covered.
* Be generous with your frosting so that you don’t actually hit the cake while you are frosting it.
Decorating the butterfly wings
* Choose three colors of frosting, either pre-made in tubes at the store or make your own using food coloring. If you make your own you’ll want to fill your frosting color into pastry cones so you can more easily work with it.
* Take one color and make a dollop on the wing close to the outside edge. Be somewhat generous with the frosting because you’ll need it to be big enough to spread. Then take your spatula and spread the dollop inward toward the center of the butterfly cake.
* Once you’ve completed the first color, clean your spatula using the hot water, place a different colored dollop of frosting next to the first and again use your spatula to pull the frosting toward the inside of the cake. Repeat with the third color. Then repeat these steps on each of the remaining wedges of cake.
Final touches
* You can always go back and accent your frosting by piping extra frosting on top of the colored frosting.
* For best results hold the pastry bag toward the top and use your other hand to guide it. If you are right handed hold the bag in your right hand and if you are left handed hold it in your left hand. Don’t squeeze it in the middle because the icing can come out of the back and you have less control.
* Add candies such as candy-coated almonds to the wings. Place them on top of the colored frosting in the outside corners.
* Then for the body you can place a long, colorful candy stick directly in the middle of the cake.
* Lastly, if you want your butterfly cakes to really shimmer you can sprinkle them with sanding sugar, which is a coarse sugar. Sprinkle it on top to give it a little sparkle.
Betty Crocker's butterfly cake recipe serves 12.
Note From Grandpa Mike
Liv:
What colorful fun!
You can also add some color with these Butterfly pics that you can add to your creation.
For more Butterfly Party fun, I found these great Butterfly party supplies that include everything you need for a fun party your birthday child will love.
