Butterfly Cupcakes
These classic Butterfly Cupcakes are a nostalgic kids birthday party cupcake that is soft, filled with jam and cream and dusted with icing sugar.
Ingredients
Butterfly Cupcakes
- 375 g cake flour see notes
- 210 g caster sugar see notes
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 85 g unsalted butter softened
- 2 large eggs room temperature (55g each)
- 375 g milk room temperature (see notes)
- 60 g vegetable oil or canola oil
- 60 g Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Chantilly Cream
- 125 g heavy cream cold (see notes)
- 30 g powdered sugar sifted, plus extra to dust (icing sugar)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract see notes
- 60 g mascarpone cold (see notes)
- 150 g raspberry jam mix before using
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat a fan forced oven to 120C / 250F (140C / 275F for no fan). Line two cupcake/muffin trays with cupcake liners. See notes for measurements.
- Combine dry ingredients - In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Use a whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Cream butter, sugar and eggs - In a separate bowl, add the softened butter, sugar and vanilla and mix on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl using a spatula. Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds each time and scraping down the bowl after each addition.
- Add remaining wet ingredients - Add the Greek yogurt, vegetable oil and half the milk and mix until well combined.
- Finish batter - Pour in all of the dry ingredients and remaining milk and mix on medium low speed until no dry ingredients are showing taking care to make sure there are no dry ingredients showing at the bottom.
- Bake - Use an ice cream scoop or two tablespoons to transfer the batter into the cupcake liners filling them up 3/4 of the way. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely
Chantilly Cream
- Prepare mascarpone cheese - Begin by mixing your mascarpone cheese to smoothen it out. Some brands are smooth, some are a little stiffer. This will prevent it from making your Chantilly cream lumpy.
- Whip all ingredients - Add all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl (glass or metal, not plastic) and use an electric hand mixer fitted with beaters or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to whip until you reach stiff peaks. This usually takes about 3 - 4 minutes to achieve. What you’re looking for is a smooth but stiff whipped cream, not one that looks split. If it looks split or separated, congratulations, you’re on your way to making butter!
To Decorate
- To trim cupcakes - Use a round cookie cutter about 1 cm smaller than the top of your cupcakes to gently indent the cupcakes. You’ll use a serrated knife to cut a cone shape into each cupcake about 2cm in depth (not all the way to the bottom of the cupcakes!). Go slow and cut them as neatly as you can using the circle as a guide of where to cut.
- To decorate - Fit the end of a piping bag with an open star tip and fill with cream. Fill the hole in the cupcakes with a little bit of jam and then pipe a circle of cream. Fill the circle with more jam and place each half of your cupcake tops on top in the shape of butterfly wings. Dust with powdered sugar an hour before serving. These cupcakes are best served the day they’re made.
Notes
Cake Flour - Cake flour is a low protein flour that is used to make desserts light and moist. You can use store bought which has a much finer flour consistency, or simply make your own with my simple recipe. Click here to get the recipe and learn all the tips and tricks.
Caster sugar - also known as superfine sugar is finer than granulated sugar and gives you a finer crumb when making cakes. If you don’t have access to caster sugar, you can use granulated sugar.
Milk - it’s really important that your milk is at room temperature for this cake to come out nice and fluffy. Room temperature is about 21C / 71F. You can warm your milk up slightly on the stove or in the microwave for 20 seconds.
Heavy cream - make sure you use cream labelled heavy cream for this recipe. Whipping cream will work but won’t be as stiff as heavy cream. Low fat cream will not work.
Mascarpone - is an Italian cheese that is similar in flavor to sour cream, but more creamy and less sour. Opt in for a better brand one as they tend to be thicker and make sure it’s cold straight out of the fridge! Make sure you give your mascarpone cheese a mix before using. Some brands are soft, some are firm and can cause your Chantilly cream to go lumpy.
Vanilla - I have a great recipe for Vanilla extract here on the blog which is alcohol based. It can be used for most recipes. However, I would advise against using it for whipped creams (yes, even stabilized ones like this one) or meringues as it can muck around with the air whipped in the mixtures. Instead use a syrup based vanilla extract. I find vanilla bean paste is best.
Storage - These cupcakes are best served the day they’re made but can be stored in an airtight container, in the fridge for one day. Always store these cupcakes in the fridge and thaw a little before serving. The cream can soften if it’s a warm day and go sour in warm weather.
Nutrition - is based approximate and is based on per cupcake. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.
A note on measurements - this recipe is offered in weight measurements. This is in an effort to offer the most accurate way to get the best results. Cup measurements simply aren’t accurate enough for a recipe that needs precision and cup sizes differ depending on where you are in the world. Here is where you can learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales!
Nutrition
Calories:422kcal | Carbohydrates:46g | Protein:8g | Fat:17g | Saturated Fat:10g | Polyunsaturated Fat:1g | Monounsaturated Fat:4g | Trans Fat:0.3g | Cholesterol:79mg | Sodium:288mg | Potassium:173mg | Fiber:1g | Sugar:15g | Vitamin A:580IU | Vitamin C:2mg | Calcium:158mg | Iron:1mg
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