When I was growing up we called these fluffy petite delicacies. . . butterfly cakes.
But you may know then as fairy cakes.
In our house, these little individual cakes topped with their fairy wings were not ‘everyday’ cakes.
Of course I wished they were. . . but they were more of a weekend special my mother served for gatherings and tea parties.
Filled with cream and jam and topped with a dusting of the finest sugar, these little darlings never fail to make people smile.
I’m not sure of the origin of this recipe.
It was passed down from my mum, who had it handwritten in her 1960’s exercise book that held her most used recipes. . . so it’s a classic.
I’ve been making it all my adult life and it’s definitely one of our family favourites.
Butterfly Cakes
2 eggs, 4oz butter, ¾ cup caster sugar, 1 ½ cups self raising flour, ½ cup milk.
1. Preheat oven to 180.
2. Line a 12 cup cupcake pan with paper cases.
3. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl of electric mixer and beat for 3 minutes.
4. Spoon into paper cases and put in the oven for about 20 minutes until golden and crisp on top. Place on a wire rack to cool.
To assemble:
Using a sharp knife, slice out a round disc from the top of the cake. Cut this piece in half to form two wings.
Fill the centre of cake with a large teaspoon of raspberry jam and top with whipped cream.
Insert the cake wings into the cream. [I like to add another little drop of jam between the wings].
Just before serving, dust the cakes with icing sugar.
My family will be enjoying these butterfly cakes for afternoon tea today.
It’s not a special occasion . . . just a cold winter’s afternoon that requires a little ‘yumminess’ to put a smile on everyone’s faces.
Happy crafting my friends!
Hugs
♥
Kerryanne
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Looks so good and so so different of our French cakes !
xoxo from PARIS
Joëlle
Oh yes Joelle… very different to your French cakes. If I had to choose I’d go for the French cakes every time. I love them!!
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
They certainly do look yummy.
Butterfly cakes were the first cakes that Mum let my sister & I make. We weren’t allowed to use real cream – we used butter cream and decorated them with those little silver balls (I hated those but they looked so pretty as the butterfly body LOL).
Toni xx
I hate those little silver balls too Toni!! Thank you for sharing your childhood memories of making butterfly cakes.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
Hey Kerryanne! YUMMY!! I’m coming to your place for afternoon tea!! :0) Butterfly cakes were special birthday treats or party sweets and I haven’t had one for YEARS. Must have been a week for cold weather comfort cooking though … I hit the kitchen yesterday to make ginger slice … also yummy, tho not quite as photogenic. Enjoy your treats – Bear Hugs! KRIS
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I enjoy reading about your family’s interesting past and your childhood customs. These little cakes are darling, and I can just imagine a child’s delight at having them for special occasions.
Thanks Laurel. I suppose our customs here in Australia may be different to yours in the US, but I do fondly remember the delight of butterfly cakes as a child.
They look delicious and I’ll have to give them a try.
Thanks Kerryanne
I can highly recommend them. They are also nice with a big dollop of lemon curd instead of the jam. 🙂
Those look so yummy and I love the name!
Don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that didn’t like a Butterfly Cake 🙂
I’ve never heard of these, Kerryanne. They’re really pretty and I’ll bet they taste yummy too!
They are essentially a plain light weight, sponge like cupcake filled with cream and jam. I guess you could describe them as mini sponge cakes. Isn’t it funny how we assume that we all have the same things. Butterfly Cakes are something most Aussies kids would have had growing up.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne