Sunday 13 June 2010

Butterfly Cakes

Some of my friends ran in the Race for Life today, raising money for Cancer Research UK. I made some butterfly cakes for them as a well deserved treat. These are pretty cup cakes with the middle dug out, cut in half and stuck back on top, resembling wings. They are really easy to make, and take very little time, if you want to have a go, and I really would recommend it, then here's what you need to do.

Butterfly CakeCake mixture is one of the simplest things, you only need to remember what the ingredients are, not the amounts or proportions. These ingredients are eggs, butter, sugar and flour. All you do is weigh the eggs before you crack them, then use that as the measure for all the other ingredients. So assuming 3 eggs weigh 170g (6oz) then you'll need 170g (6oz) of butter, sugar and flour.

So without further ado, here's how to make 12 yummy muffin sized butterfly cakes. All my measurements are based on 3 large eggs weighing 170g (6oz), if you are using a different size of egg, or your eggs weigh a little differently then adjust your measurements to suit how much your eggs weigh.

For the cake mixture:
170g (6oz) softened butter (unsalted)
170g (6oz) caster sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
170g (6oz) self raising flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 dessertspoons of milk
1 dessertspoon of vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the icing:
85g (3oz) softened butter (unsalted)
200g (7oz) icing sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of milk

First of all, it's really important for the butter to be very soft, you should be able to push a knife through it flat side down. If you keep your butter in the fridge then you’ll need to take it out the night before and let it soften naturally. You can use margarine instead if you prefer, but I find butter tastes better. Margarine should still be very soft though, so remove it from the fridge at least half an hour before you begin.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 180oC, 350oF or 160oC for fan assisted ovens.

Start by whisking the butter, an electric whisk will really help here. Then add the sugar and keep whisking until it's fluffy and pale. Now add the beaten eggs a little at a time, continuously mixing after each addition. Once you've added all the egg, mix in the vanilla extract.

Hold a sieve high above the mixing bowl (at least 15cm, 6 inches) and add half of the flour, but don't whisk it. Instead use a wooden spoon to fold the mixture in on itself, combining all of the flour.

A very important ingredient of cakes is air, that's what all that whisking and sieving was doing, adding air. Folding the mixture rather than whisking it keeps the air in and makes wonderfully fluffy, spongy cakes.

Finally, add the milk, oil, baking powder and sift in the remaining flour. Keep folding the mixture in on itself using the wooden spoon until you've got a smooth, consistent mixture.

Place a dozen muffin cake cases into the holes in a muffin cake tin and spoon in the mixture (a second spoon will help push the mixture off the spoon into the cup). Don't overfill them, they'll rise in the oven to about twice the size!

Now place them on the middle shelf in the oven, close the door and wait 20-25 minutes. Whatever you do, don't open the oven door before this. If you do then the hot air will rush out of the oven and you're cakes will not rise properly and won't taste wonderfully fluffy. A timer will help you a lot here.

While they're cooking, you can make the icing. Whisk the butter to ensure it's really soft, then gradually sift in the icing sugar while you continue to whisk. Now add the vanilla extract and milk and keep whisking until the mixture has a fluffy consistency, adding more milk if necessary.

Once 20-25 minutes have passed you'll need to check your cakes are cooked properly, do this by gently pressing a finger in the middle of one them, if it bounces back without leaving an impression, then it's cooked. If not then give them another 5 minutes in the oven.

After they're cooked, remove them from their tin and let them cool for about half an hour. Then using a knife cut a diamond shape into the top of each cake. Dig out the centre of the cake and generously fill it with icing. Turn your diamond shape of cake upside down on the work surface and cut in two along the longest points to make the wings and then stick these either side of the centre of the cake using the icing as glue.

To make them extra special sprinkle some icing sugar on top to give them a frosting. The hardest part now will be sharing them.

If you only have a cup cake tin handy, and not a muffin tin, then you can still make wonderful butterfly cakes, just use 2 eggs (and 110g of butter, sugar and flour) for the cakes, reduce the cooking time to 15-20 minutes and use 55g butter and 130g icing sugar for the icing.

No comments: