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| Image courtesy of pixabay |
with some buttercream. The giant white chocolate buttons were carefully
cut in half, before being positioned in the buttercream frosting. A
small blob of the blackberry jam was spooned on top of these classic cakes.
us on a family visit. They were well received by our niece, Laura, who
hid them in her kitchen cupboard to prevent her two young children
seeing them before they'd had their dinner. The following day Laura reported
that the buns had been very much enjoyed.
So let's get to it and bake!
Butterfly Buns with White Chocolate Wings. Yum
Yield: 10 cupcakes
Serves: 10
Difficulty: Easy
Time: hands on time about 35 minutes; plus 20 - 25 minutes bake time; cooling time.
Freezable: Yes, undecorated
Storage: Airtight container for 3 or 4 days.
You will need:
Electric Hand Held Beater (optional)
Wooden Spoon
Sieve
Spatula or large Metal Spoon
Muffin Sized Paper Cases
Muffin Baking Tray
Small heavy based Pan
Sharp Kitchen Knife
Piping Bag
Piping Nozzle (I used a star shape)
For the sponge mixture
170g Unsalted Butter, softened
85g Golden Caster Sugar
85g Caster Sugar
3 large Eggs, beaten
3 tbsp Milk
1tsp Vanilla Extract
170g SR Flour
For the jam
1 Punnet Blackberries
2 tbsp Sugar
3 tbsp Water
or
3-4 tbsp of your favourite red/purple jam
For the buttercream
120g Softened Butter
250g Icing Sugar, plus a little extra for dusting the cupcakes
Splash of Milk
For the wing decoration
10 Giant White Chocolate Buttons, decorated with sprinkled (We purchased ours from Wilkinson's Pick and Mix counter)
How to make them:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190c / Fan 170c / Gas 5. Place the paper muffin cases into the muffin tray.
2. Make the sponge. Place the
softened butter and sugar into a good sized bowl and beat together with a
wooden spoon or electric beaters until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg a little
at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and milk and beat to combine. Sieve the flour into the
bowl. Using a spatula or large metal spoon fold this in gently.
3. Fill the paper cases.
Use a teaspoon to fill the paper cases. You're aiming for them to be around half to two-thirds full. You may decide to weigh
each muffin to ensure equal sizes. Each paper case will weigh about 63g -65g.
4. Bake.
Place the muffin tray in the pre-heated oven and bake for about 20 - 25
minutes. You may need to rotate the tray after 15 minutes of baking.
Remove the tray from the oven once the cupcakes are fully baked, with a golden top and a sponge which springs back when touched.
Carefully remove each cupcake from the baking tray hollow and place on a
cooling tray.
5. Meanwhile, make the jam (optional).
Place the blackberries (fresh or frozen) into a small pan. Add the water and sugar. Place the pan over a low to medium heat. The sugar will soon dissolve and the blackberries will gradually begin to release their juice and start to cook down. Use a teaspoon to taste the blackberry mixture, adding more sugar if required. Stir the fruit periodically. Allow the jam to slowly bubble for around 5 - 10 minutes, stirring regularly. The jam will begin to reduce in volume. Remove the pan from the heat. Using a teaspoon, remove a small amount of jam from the pan and place onto a tea plate. Place the tea plate into the fridge for around 5 minutes. Remove the plate from the fridge. Slide your finger along the plate to touch the side of the jam, if the jam crinkles it is ready to use, if it is still loose and not crinkling cook the jam for a further 5 minutes. Re-test in the same way.
6. Make the buttercream. Place the softened butter into a good sized bowl. Sieve most of the icing sugar
into the butter. Use a wooden spoon to combine the two ingredients.
Once combined beat well to create a creamy frosting. Taste and add
more icing sugar if necessary. Add a little milk if the mixture feels
particularly thick, (I added 2 capfuls). Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
7. Cut the giant white chocolate drops in half. Boil a kettle of water. Hold the blade of the kitchen knife over the steam to allow the knife to warm through. Use some kitchen roll to remove any moisture from the blade of the knife. Place the chocolate drop onto a flat surface. Holding it steady, carefully use a sawing motion to cut the chocolate in half.
8. Decorate the butterfly buns. Take a sharp knife and cut a circle out of the top of each cake about 1cm from the edge. Use the prongs of a fork to scrape out a little more of the sponge if necessary to make a slightly deeper hole. Using a teaspoon, half fill the cavity with jam. Pipe a generous swirl of buttercream over the top of the jam. Position two white chocolate halves in the buttercream, angled in a 'V' shape. With a teaspoon, place a small amount of jam on top of the buns, approximately where the two chocolate button halves meet. Place a little icing sugar into a sieve and sprinkle lightly over the decorated buns.
Enjoy!
Notes:
a) I'd recommend purchasing a few extra giant white chocolate buttons in case you find that they break when cutting them in half (I had two breakages 2)
b) Consider freezing the off-cuts of sponge to use in the base of a trifle another day.
Kat BakingExplorer
These sound so delicious! I love that you used white chocolate for the wings, thanks for entering into Treat Petite!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Kat, they were really yummy and I know I'll definately use the white chocolate wings in the future.
Thanks for popping and commenting Kat,
Angela x
Stuart Vettese
Love the use of the white chocolate buttons with sprinkles! Thanks for entering these into Treat Petite x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Stuart, they were a lot of fun 🙂
Thanks for hosting,
Angela x
Jenny - Monkey and Mouse
I loved making them with my mum too, carefully positing the cake wings too. Love the idea of making more colourful wings! We never put eyes on ours, I had never really thought about it, we don't even include jam, just icing (and lot of it!). Thanks so much for linking up to #HowtoSunday x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, yeah you've got to have lashings of icing 😉 I think butterfly buns are one of those bakes most of us remember making in our childhood.
Thanks for popping by Jenny and of course for hosting a great linky,
Angela x
Helen Costello
I love your recommendation to buy a few more chocolate buttons in case they break! What about the 50+ I would eat whilst decorating the cakes 😉 Thanks again for joining in with #BakeoftheWeek with another wonderful post x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha 🙂 I may have 'deliberately' broken a couple of our chocolate buttons when I assembled the butterflies 😉
Thaks for popping by and your lovely comments Helen,
Angela x
Charlotte TheMummyToolbox
These look so pretty! and definitely better than mine! I love the idea of hollowing them out and the wings are so cool! love a good pick and mix, thanks for linking to #YumTum this week.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thank you Charlotte 🙂 Hollowing them out simply gave a little more room for the jam which contrasted nicely against the sweetness of the buttercream frosting. I was really pleased with how effective the wings were, they gave a little more fun to a classic cake which most of us enjoyed making in childhood.
Thanks for popping by and of course for hosting,
Angela x
Alison
What a lovely idea. They look so pretty. Bet they were tasty as well
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
They certainly were Alison, the blackberry jam was delicious in it and was a wonderful contrast against the buttercream both in terms of colour and flavour.
Thanks for your lovely comment,
Angela x
Midgie
Ah they are gorgeous! Love the idea of using Jazzies as the wings thats fab! #howtosundays
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
🙂 Aw thank Midgie. The idea of the chocolate Jazzies wings came to me when OH & I were dreaming up another bake 🙂
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Blissful Domestication
I haven't made butterfly cakes since I was a kid, and I honestly can't remember if we did eyes or not! I do remember going to the shop though with 20p and getting a bag full of sweets! #HowtoSunday x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
It sounds as though you should perhaps make some butterfly buns if you've not made them since your were small 😉 Hahaha, those 10p or 20p bags of sweets were always a lot of fun - my brother an I would spend ages trying to decide what to out into our paper bags 🙂
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Sarah CraftInvaders
These look so pretty - really lovely idea 🙂
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Sarah,
Angela x
Hayley @ Snap Happy Bakes
Love the white chocolate wings idea, my nephew would love these 🙂 Thanks for sharing #CookBlogShare
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Hayley, they went down really well with our young nephew and niece too 🙂
Angela x
Jo
These look adorable! I never knew people gave their butterflies "eyes." I rarely go to the effort of putting on wings but I often used to bake jam inside my buns. They're so good fresh from the oven!
I am loving that you made the wings from jazzies/snowies. They are my favourite pick n mix too and it makes me sad that it's so difficult to come across them these days (or it is for me anyway.) A couple of years ago Tesco sold giant versions of them in the baking aisle but I've never seen them again 🙁
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Until recently I always assumed that everybody put 'eyes' on their butterfly buns so was surprised when I realised the vast majority of people don't. The idea of baking the jam inside the cupcake mix sounds really yummy, something I'll have to try.
Jazzies are great aren't they. I must say mr E & I struggled to source these too. As I mentioned, we eventually bought some from Wilkinsons having been disappointed with other sources.....sounds like there's a gap in the market there Jo 😉
Thanks for your lovely comment Jo,
Angela x
Sarah James
I love your butterfly cakes Angela, they really are so pretty and dainty too. I've never come across butterfly eyes before but next time I make some butterfly cakes I'll definitely be putting a little spot of jam on them and using chocolate buttons, a great idea xx
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thank you Sarah 🙂 though in reality the buns were a little digger than dainty having been made in muffin sized paper cases 😉
Thanks for your lovely comments,
Angela x
Eb Gargano
Wow, I've never heard of butterfly cakes having eyes before! But I love the idea 🙂 And what a fab Idea to use those pretty chocolate buttons for wings! Your cakes look gorgeous and I bet they taste fab 🙂 I do remember sweet shops very fondly - there was one on my way to school when I was a teenager. It's a good job we had a good long walk to school to burn off all those calories! Eb x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
It always fascinates me that with one straightforward classic recipe people can approach it in different ways (in this case with or without eyes). We were a few miles from secondary school so we usually caught a commissioned bus which effectively dropped us off outside the school - so no sweet shop visits for us (apart from a Friday lunchtime when we looked forward to going to the local village for chippy dinner and a 'browse' in the local sweet shop....happy days 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comments Eb,
Angela x
Eb Gargano
Oooh - I remember the chippy dinners. We had a chip shop very close to school. Again - good job I had a long walk to school!! And happy days indeed 🙂 Eb x
Betty Stamp
It makes me happy that your butterflies have eyes! What a shame if they didn't! I disagree with Mary Berry on this one I have to say.
I remember the days when penny sweets were actually a penny…happy days they were !
Thanks for sharing
Betty x
The Betty Stamp
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
🙂 It makes the butterfly happy too Betty as it can see where it's going....though perhaps it doesn't want to see itself being eaten 😉 It was a simpler life when penny sweets were a penny wasn't it,
Thanks for popping by and leaving a lovely comment,
Angela x
Glasses Shop
Nice article, love your sharing
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you, it makes my day when I hear that people like what I share 🙂
Thanks for popping by and leaving a lovely comment,
Angela x
Rebecca Beesley
these look SO soft and fluffy! x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thank you Rebecca, i must admit i was really pleased with how well the sponge came out 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comment,
Angela x
Sarah Trivuncic
I think you've taken fairy cakes to a whole new level! Love the idea of the jazzies and jam filling! Thanks for joining in with #BAKEoftheWEEK !
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, for the life of me I couldn't remember what those little white chocolate drops were called....thank you for reminding me:-) and for your lovely comment Sarah 🙂
Angela x