Butterfly Cakes
If you need a quick and easy cake recipe for a baby shower why not give this one a try.
Ingredients for the cakes
1½ cups (6 ounces) self-rising flour
½ cup (4 ounces) superfine sugar (caster sugar)
½ cup (4 ounces) soft margarine, or softened butter
2 eggs
A few drops of vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
A teaspoon of warm water
Ingredients for the buttercream
1½ cups (6 ounces) confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar or icing sugar)
⅓ cup (3 ounces) softened butter or soft margarine
A couple of drops of vanilla extract
You will also need
A cupcake pan or muffin tin
12 paper baking cups
Cooking instructions
Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (190°C).
Step 2 - Sit the paper baking cups in the cupcake pan.
Step 3 - Put the flour, superfine sugar, margarine, eggs, vanilla extract, the salt, and the warm water all together in a large mixing bowl.
Step 4 - Beat until smooth (an electric hand mixer makes this job easy).
Step 5 - Spoon the mixture into the paper liners - divide it equally between them.
Step 6 - Gently tap the pan a couple of times to settle the mixture.
Step 7 - Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cakes are golden and nicely risen.
Step 8 - Remove from the oven and transfer the cakes to a wire cooling rack. Leave to cool.
Buttercream - how to
Step 1 - When the cakes are cold, put the confectioners' sugar, the butter and the vanilla extract into a bowl.
Step 2 - Beat together with a wooden spoon until the icing is light and fluffy.
Step 3 - Cut shallow rounds out of the center of the top of each cake. (Leave about half an inch around the edge intact.)
Step 4 - Fill the cake hollows with buttercream, or pipe a buttercream swirl.
Step 5 - Carefully cut all of the little cake sponge rounds in two.
Step 6 - Then simply sit 2 cake sponge semicircles, at an angle, in the buttercream of each cake - so that they look like the wings of a butterfly.
Step 7 - Sprinkle or sift your butterfly cakes with confectioners' sugar.
Cook's tip
You can buy paper baking cups in some really pretty colors and fun designs. Patterns available include rubber duckies, jungle animals, teddies, baby feet and flowers. They're just perfect for baby showers!