Vanilla Butterfly Cakes

Today’s recipe for Vanilla Butterfly Cakes is one from my very favourite cookery book, a little scuffed and much thumbed Be-Ro book.

*Printable Recipe at the end of the post*

Dainty Little Cakes – Perfect for Children’s Birthday Parties

Jelly and icecream, meat paste sandwiches, little waxed paper bowls of trifle with jelly, a jolly birthday cake, bowls of crisps and a plate of Vanilla Butterfly Cakes.

These were the birthday party teas I remember when I was little. With game such as “pass the parcel“, “musical chairs” and “pin the tail on the donkey“.

Today’s recipe for Vanilla Butterfly Cakes is one from my very favourite cookery book, a little scuffed and much thumbed Be-Ro book.

Passed on to my late mum by her mum, my grandmother, this little vintage book is extremely precious and would be the first book I’d pack if the house was on fire.

The book is still used by myself regularly – for tea time treats, birthdays, picnics and when I want to immerse myself in baking for the weekly biscuit and cake tin.

Butterfly cakes, not to be confused with fairy cakes, are small individual cakes, topped with buttercream and “cake wings”.

Fairy cakes on the other hand are also small individual cakes, but are usually decorated with icing and hundreds & thousands” (multi-coloured sprinkles)

Both cakes were the mainstay of my childhood, and they made a regular appearance on the sunday tea time table, as well as for parties, Christmas and Easter.

In the old days, or olden times as I used to say! They were made with vanilla essence, an artificial vanilla flavouring; nowadays I use vanilla extract, which is made from pure vanilla pods.

Before serving these Vanilla Butterfly Cakes after baking, don’t forget to give them a liberal dusting of icing sugar, and make sure you allow 2 cakes per person, as these are not like their overblown American cousins, cupcakes.

There’s nothing wrong with a cupcake, but they tend to have too much icing/frosting for my taste, making them too sweet and sickly.

Plus, they are pretty enormous! I much prefer these dainty, elegant little cakes, which aren’t at all pretentious or gaudy.

I hope you enjoy making these if you try this old recipe, and don’t forget you need a SMALL patty/cake tin for these, with small cake cases – NOT muffin cases or a muffin tin.

The recipe is shared below, and PLEASE do let me know if you make these, Karen

Substitutions and Notes

• You can add colouring to the buttercream and other flavourings such as lemon essence, coffee essence etc.
• Sometimes a small spoon of jam is added to the top of the cake before the buttercream is added.
• Lemon makes a lovely addition – add the zest of a lemon the cake mixture and a spoon of lemon curd to the buttercream.

More Small Cakes, Fairy Cakes and Butterfly Cakes

• Lemon Curd Fairy Cakes
• Redcurrant Fairy Cakes with Raspberries
• Strawberry Iced Butterfly Fairy Cakes

• Blackberry Fairy Cake Buns (Muffins)
• Old-Fashioned Almond Rice Cakes
• Toffee Salted Caramel Fudge Cakes

More Be-Ro Recipes

• London “Bath” Buns
• Australian Crunchies (Traybake)
• Hikers’ Walnut Bread

• Old-Fashioned Milk Chocolate Cake
• Rock Cakes (Rock Buns)
• Drop Scones (Scotch Pancakes)

Pin me for Later Baking

Recipe for Vanilla Butterfly Cakes