Pretty Little Butterfly Cakes (aka Fairy Cakes)

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Make these Pretty Little Butterfly Cakes (aka Fairy Cakes) for a lovely mid-morning snack, or for a birthday party. Or a random Tuesday. 

I so MISS morning tea, done properly. It doesn’t seem to be much of a thing here in the US, but I live in hope that it eventually catches on.

Need convincing? What is “Morning Tea”? Well, officially
A small meal or snack eaten between breakfast and lunch; a period of time set aside for this purpose, taken as a break from schoolwork, work, a conference, etc. 

Unofficially, It involves much sitting around, tea drinking, and eating of butterfly cakes.

Convinced yet?

Want to know something even better? There’s also such a thing as AFTERNOON TEA. Anything that potentially involves cake, gets a vote from me as valid, and essential.

When I lived in Brisbane (Australia), there was this little place I liked to stop by and grab a mid morning treat – and I almost always went for butterfly cakes. Fluffy cupcakes with “proper filling” aka, not frosting, topped with sprinkles. Yes please! They’re known and fairy cakes in some parts of the world, but whatever you call them – they’re super fun and delicious!

I’ve been making this fairy cakes recipe since forever, and it’s always popular with young and …. well, more mature. Ha. These have always been super popular at birthday parties. Just change up the colors on the sprinkles and the paper cases/paper liners, and you can pretty much match any theme needed.

My little boys LOVE Butterfly Cupcakes – they love pulling off the wings (sounds so psychotic, but it is about the cake, people the CAKE), and then using them to scoop out the filling. They then devour the rest of the cake. It’s a PROCESS.

How to make Butterfly Cakes

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Line a 12 well cupcake pan/muffin pan with paper liners. In your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and a very pale yellow color.
• Add the vanilla extract, milk and the eggs (one at a time) beating well. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
• Fold the flour mixture into the batter, until just combined. Portion the batter into the paper lined muffin cups evenly. 
• Bake for 15-20 minutes. Tops should be lightly golden brown, and spring back when touched.
• Transfer to wire racks, and cool completely before decorating.

For the Sweetened Whipped Cream

• In a medium sized bowl, sprinkle the powdered sugar over the top of the heavy whipping cream.
• Beat until stiff peaks form, but don’t go too far and make it butter!

Assembly

• Using a sharp knife cut a circle (about the size of a quarter) out from the of each cupcake. 
• Cut the tops in half and set aside. 
• Pipe whipped cream into each cupcake hole,
• Finish the butterfly cakes by placing two cake pieces over the cream to resemble butterfly wings.
• Sprinkle with sprinkles and dust with icing sugar.
• Devour.

The key here really is to not use frosting. WHIP SOME CREAM WITH A LITTLE POWDERED SUGAR, FOLKS!!

FAQs and Kylee’s Notes

If you want to get fancy, add some pieces of licorice for butterfly antennas. Otherwise, keep it simple (and delicious).

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Pretty Little Butterfly Cupcakes

Make these Pretty Little Butterfly Cupcakes for a lovely mid-morning snack, or for a birthday party. Or a random Tuesday. 

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Australia, New Zealand

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Decorating time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 28 minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 308kcal

Author: Kylee Cooks

Want to scale this recipe?Simply click on the serving amount and move the slider up or down – the recipe will automatically adjust!

Ingredients

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup milk

For the Sweetened Whipped Cream

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 Tbs powdered sugar

Serving

• 1 Tbs sprinkles
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Line a 12 well cupcake pan with paper liners. In your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and a very pale yellow color.
• Add the vanilla, milk and the eggs (one at a time) beating well. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
• Fold the flour mixture into the batter, until just combined. Portion the batter into the paper liners evenly. 
• Bake for 15-20 minutes. Tops should be lightly browned, and spring back when touched.
• Transfer to a cooling rack, and cool completely before decorating.

For the Sweetened Whipped Cream

• In a medium sized bowl, sprinkle the powdered sugar over the top of the heavy whipping cream.
• Beat until stiff peaks form, but don’t go too far and make it butter!

Assembly

• Using a sharp knife cut a circle (about the size of a quarter) out from the of each cupcake. 
  
• Cut the tops in half and set aside. 
• Pipe whipped cream into each cupcake hole,
• Finish the butterfly cakes by placing two cake pieces over the cream to create wings.
• Sprinkle with sprinkles and dust with powdered sugar.
• Devour.

Nutrition

Calories: 308kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 96mg | Potassium: 141mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 865IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @kyleecooks or tag #kyleecooks!