Butterfly Cakes

By krystallondon

Just like jam tarts these Butterfly Cakes are probably what introduced people to baking when they were a child. Be it eating them at the school fete or baking them with mum. Given it is poorly timed National Baking Week these cakes were perfect to bake. I say poorly timed because some schools are on half term at the moment and the National Baking Week website is bigging up all of their teaching packs. I would have loved to have linked some of my teaching in with this week.

The WI wouldn’t approve of these Butterfly Cake and they wouldn’t win any prizes in a village fete, why? Because hidden under the fluffy buttercream is a pool of raspberry jam. An ingredient that is banned by Butterfly Cake aficionados. Goodness I’m such a rebel!

Ingredients

• 140 g unsalted butter, softened
• 140 g vanilla sugar (you can use normal caster)
• 3 eggs
• 100 g self-raising flour
• 25 g custard powder (or cornflour)
• jam
• for the buttercream
• 100 g butter, softened
• 200 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp water
• hundreds and thousands (optional)

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

1) Preheat oven to 190oc. Arrange cake cases in fairy cake tin. Beat together butter and vanilla sugar then one by one beat in the eggs. If the eggs begin to curdle stir in a small amount of the flour.

2) Into the bowl sift flour and custard then fold into the batter until ingredients are well combined. Half fill each cake case with the batter.

3) Bake for 15 min until risen and golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

4) To make the icing beat together the butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of water until icing with light and fluffy.

5) Using a knife carefully cut the top off the cake then cut this small piece in half. In the hole you have created spoon in 1/2 tsp of jam then cover with the buttercream. Place to 2 cake halves on top of the buttercream and arrange like butterfly wings. Decorate with hundreds & thousands.