Looking for easy butterfly birthday cake ideas? Here is a simple birthday cake with butterfly design you can make.
This is a sheet cake, cut into a butterfly shape and decorated into a girly butterfly birthday cake. The top of the butterfly cake is covered in fondant, and the sides as well as the yellow, blue, green, black and orange icing that make up the butterfly wing design is in royal icing.
Made this butterfly birthday cake way back in 2007. This was one of the cakes I made very early in my cake decorating journey.
The cake was carved out of a 6 inches by 10 inches rectangle cake. I used a butterfly template which I drew by hand as a guide to cut the butterfly shaped cake. If you are not into drawing your own butterfly template, you can source for one from the internet. Look for 'butterfly coloring pages' and you will find lots of ideas that you can use as butterfly template for cake.
I baked the cake using my butter pound cake recipe which is vanilla flavored, but if you like you can also make a chocolate butterfly cake using my chocolate cake recipe here. To make the size of this cake, use the recipe provided for an 8 inches square chocolate cake.
The cake is decorated in fondant and royal icing. If you prefer the entire cake to be covered in fondant, you can always do so. Alternatively, you can omit the fondant and cover the butterfly cake entirely in buttercream for a buttercream butterfly birthday cake.
Overall, this is a fairly easy butterfly birthday cake to make and decorate. You can further customize the design on the wings as well as the colors used to decorate your butterfly cake. You can even turn this cake into a rainbow butterfly birthday cake by choosing rainbow icing colors to decorate the wings.
How to Make a Butterfly Birthday Cake
These were the supplies I used to make the butterfly birthday cake:
- Cake - I baked a rectangle cake measuring 6.5" by 10" using my butter pound cake recipe. I baked two of these cakes and sandwiched them with buttercream.
- Buttercream - I used vanilla buttercream to fill the cake. I also used buttercream to crumb coat the cake. Click here for my buttercream recipe.
- Fondant - I used very little fondant on this cake. Only the top of the cake was covered in fondant. I used my homemade fondant. See how I made my own fondant here.
- Royal icing - Royal icing was the main icing used for decorating the cake. I also used royal icing to decorate the sides of the cake. For the butterfly wings, I used Wilton
gel colors in red, golden yellow, royal blue, and moss green. I also tinted some of the icing in black for the butterfly body. - Butterfly template - I searched the internet for a butterfly template, resized the image such that it would fit my rectangle cake, and printed it out.
- Piping tips and piping bags - I used Wilton piping bags for this project. As for the tips, I used Wilton round tip #3 and star tip #16.
gel colors in red, golden yellow, royal blue, and moss green. I also tinted some of the icing in black for the butterfly body.
The butterfly template
- First was the butterfly template. I drew the butterfly template by hand. For consistent sizing of the wings, fold your paper into 2 and draw one half size of the butterfly. Still keeping the paper folded, but the butterfly following the outline and then open up the fold. This way, you will get both sides of the wings and body is the exact same shape and size.
- If you are not into drawing, you can get a butterfly template from your child's coloring books or simply get a template from the internet. Search for 'butterfly coloring pages' and you will find lots of pretty templates you can use for your cake. Do remember to resize the template to fit your cake before printing. Learn how to resize your templates with my easy tutorial here.
Baking and carving the birthday cake
- Next was baking the birthday cake. I baked 2 rectangle cakes (6.5 inches by 10 inches), sandwiched both with buttercream. And then, using my prepared butterfly cake template, I carved the cake to make a butterfly shaped cake.
- I then placed the carved cake on a cake board, and crumb coated it with a thin layer of buttercream.
Covering the birthday cake with fondant
- Once the basics were done, I rolled out my white fondant to about ⅛ inch thick and again, using the same butterfly template I used for the cake, cut out the butterfly shape. I dusted the cut fondant with icing sugar and loosely rolled it into my rolling pin. This way, you can avoid the fondant form stretching and loosing its shape as you are lifting it.
- Gently unroll the fondant piece onto the buttercream crumb coated cake and position it to fit onto the butterfly shaped cake.
- If there is excess fondant on the sides, use a sharp knife to trim it off. If for some reasons the fondant piece is smaller than the cake, you can stretch it gently to cover the top of the cake entirely.
The birthday cake sides
- Next was the sides of the butterfly birthday cake. For this, I used a star tip and white royal icing for the vertical lines of icing, all around the cake.
Decorating the butterfly wings
- And then I went on to decorate the wings. I had royal icing tinted in red, blue, yellow, and green and used round piping tips. I piped everything freehand here (which is why the design is not exactly the same on both wings. Had I used a template, I would have achieved a consistent pattern on both the wings, but for some reason, I did not. And if you intend to make a similar butterfly birthday cake, it would help greatly if you mark the designs on the cake using either a toothpick or small knife before piping). I started with the outlines in yellow. I used a round piping tip and made medium-sized dots all around the butterfly border.
- Next were the red and green dotted lines for the upper and lower wings. Again, I used round piping tips and made the medium-sized dots, following the shape formed by the yellow dots earlier as close as possible.
The butterfly body
- And then I piped the butterfly body on the butterfly themed birthday cake. I also used a round tip, piped the outline, and then filled the inside with black icing in horizontal lines. Using the same black icing, I made two antennae for the butterfly on the cake board.
- After that, I completed the rest of the butterfly wing design, piping the outlines first and then filling the insides. I also piped 2 yellow dots for the butterfly's eyes.
And that was how I decorated my easy butterfly shaped butterfly birthday cake.
Like this butterfly birthday cake idea and tutorial? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:
- Belle Cake Design - A Beauty and the Beast Cake
- Doll Cake Design for Birthday - How to Make
- Unicorn Birthday Cake - How to Make
- Happy Birthday Cupcakes - Elegant Cupcakes for Mom
- How to Make a Rosette Cake - Buttercream Cake Recipe
- 70th Birthday Cake for Mom - Elegant Design for Mom
- Daisy Cookies - Pretty Flower Cookies with Royal Icing
- Elegant Butterflies Wedding Cake - A Decorating Tutorial
- Flower Cake with Edible Butterflies - A Decorating Tutorial
Recipe (Printable)
Here is the full printable version of my butterfly birthday cake recipe and decorating tutorial.
Butterfly Birthday Cake
Here is an easy butterfly birthday cake carved and shaped out of a sheet cake and decorated into a lovely, girly butterfly themed cake design.
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Yield: 1 6 inches by 10 inches butterfly shaped cake
Equipment
- Butterfly paper template
- Round piping tip #3
- Star piping tip #16
- Piping bags
- Knife
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Cake
- 600 g butter
- 600 g castor sugar
- 600 g self-raising flour
- 10 eggs
- 150 ml milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ⅔ teaspoon vanilla essence
Frosting
- Buttercream
- Royal Icing
- Fondant
- Wilton food coloring in red golden yellow, royal blue, and moss green
Instructions
Baking the cake
- Preheat oven to 170 °Celsius.
- Beat butter and sugar till soft and creamy for about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour.
- Finally, add in vanilla essence and combine well. Pour batter into two greased and floured cake pans (6 inches by 10 inches rectangle pans) and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the top of the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. The cakes are done when a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out without any wet batter.
- Remove cakes from oven and let them cool completely before icing and decorating.
The butterfly template
- Draw the butterfly template by hand. For consistent sizing of the wings, fold your paper into 2 and draw one half size of the butterfly. Still keeping the paper folded, cut the butterfly following the outline and then open up the fold. This way, you will get both sides of the wings and body is the exact same shape and size.
- If you are not into drawing, you can get a butterfly template from your child's coloring books or simply get a template from the internet. Search for 'butterfly coloring pages' and you will find lots of pretty templates you can use for your cake. Do remember to resize the template to fit your cake before printing. Learn how to resize your templates with my easy tutorial here.
Preparing the cake and carving it
- Once the cakes have completely cooled down, level the tops and sandwiched both with buttercream. And then, using the prepared butterfly cake template, carve the cake to make a butterfly shaped cake.
- Place the carved cake on a cake board, and crumb coat it with a thin layer of buttercream.
Covering the butterfly cake with fondant
- Once the basics are done, roll out some white fondant to about ⅛ inch thick and again, using the same butterfly template used to cut the cake, cut out the butterfly shape. Dust the cut fondant with icing sugar and loosely roll it into a long rolling pin. This way, you can avoid the fondant form stretching and loosing its shape as you are lifting it.
- Gently unroll the fondant piece onto the buttercream crumb coated cake and position it to fit onto the butterfly shaped cake.
- If there is excess fondant on the sides, use a sharp knife to trim it off. If for some reasons the fondant piece is smaller than the cake, you can stretch it gently to cover the top of the cake entirely.
The sides of the cake
- Next is the sides of the butterfly birthday cake. For this, use the star tip and white royal icing for the vertical lines of icing, all around the cake.
Decorating the butterfly wings design
- Tint the royal icing in red, blue, yellow, and green. Start with the outlines in yellow. Use a round piping tip and make medium-sized dots all around the butterfly border.
- Next are the red and green dotted lines for the upper and lower wings. Again, use a round piping tip and make the medium-sized dots, following the shape formed by the yellow dots earlier as close as possible.
The butterfly body
- Pipe the butterfly body on the butterfly themed birthday cake. Use a round tip, pipe the outline, and then fill the inside with black icing in horizontal lines. Using the same black icing, make two antennae for the butterfly on the cake board.
- After that, complete the rest of the butterfly wing design, piping the outlines first and then filling the insides. Finally, pipe 2 yellow dots on the head for the eyes.
Nutrition
Calories: 9521.9kcal | Carbohydrates: 1045.8g | Protein: 137.5g | Fat: 545.3g | Saturated Fat: 326.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 31.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 144g | Trans Fat: 19.8g | Cholesterol: 2945.4mg | Sodium: 6252.9mg | Potassium: 1606.4mg | Fiber: 14.4g | Sugar: 610.9g | Vitamin A: 17632.6IU | Calcium: 971.9mg | Iron: 14.1mg
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Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
Happy decorating 🙂
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