Party Palooza #10 - The butterfly birthday cake

Hello!  It's hump day everyone and I'm looking forward to the slide into the weekend - aren't you?

When I made this cake for Eloise's 6th birthday last June, many readers asked for the instructions - well that time has come!  I made it again for another little lady's 6th birthday - Stephanie, the child who only eats my cake!  She requested the cake so that's easy for me!


Cake
First of all, I used a double mix of my butter cake, and baked it in a round tin - the day before.  I froze it overnight before decorating.  It's easier to cut semi-frozen and much easier to ice.  Less crumbs.  Crumbs are the enemy of icing you know...


Icing
The icing is 200g softened butter with 3 cups of icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and colourings you want - plus enough milk to give it a smooth spreadable consistency - a few tablespoons in this case.


Decorations:
For this case I used the little tubes of fruit  chalky-type sweets - like mini fruit tingles - but you could use real ones.  On Eloise's cake I used fondant icing..  Plus you'll need some fairy or dollar fives.  The antennae I've used musk sticks but you could use licorice.  The body is a summer roll bar, but you could use any bar or even a row of marshmallows!  Get Creative!


Assembly
Start off by cutting your cake like this:

I've numbered them here so you can see how you assemble them to make the butterfly.

Then assemble them into the butterfly shape on the plate/board you intend to serve on. (Tip: If you're not a confident icer - cut up some 4 inch squares of baking paper and place under the edges of each piece - that way when you ice and make a mess you can just slide them out)

Then ice your cake!  I keep a cup of hot water to dip the knife in, helps you spread smooth and remove excess icing from the knife..  I also dip a cotton bud in it and clean up any bits that drop on the plate..

Then start decorating.  First the outline of the wings, then add your dollar-fives.  If they spill over where they shouldn't (see below) just use a pastry brush to brush away.

Next push the musk sticks (antennae) into the top

Lastly add your summer roll to the centre...

And isn't it pretty?

So here's the birthday girl and her cake...

She was chuffed and of course, ate all her piece... Happy birthday Stephanie!

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