A childhood classic perfect for kids of all ages. Butterfly cupcakes are easy to make and versatile.

Ingredients (makes 12 cupcakes and 1 spare if you’re lucky!)

• 150 g / 5.3 oz butter/margarine
• 150 g / 5.3 oz self-raising flour
• 150 g / 5.3 oz sugar
• 3 eggs (medium)
• 3 level teaspoons baking powder
• Gel food colouring optional
• Flavouring optional

For the buttercream:

• 75 g /2.6 oz butter/margarine and 150 g / 5.3 oz icing sugar

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 degree C for fan ovens/ 356 degrees F or Gas Mark 4). Put your 12 cupcake cases into your tray. Have a spare standing by in case your mixture goes a bit further and you can get an extra 1 out of the mix.

Cream together the butter and sugar then add the eggs. Beat until the mixture is smooth.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until well combined.

At this point I added half a teaspoon of caramel flavouring (just for a change!). I then split the mixture in two. To one half I added pink gel colouring. To the other half I added yellow. I wanted to do this to make the cupcakes a little more visually interesting. But without colouring they taste just as wonderful.

Put a dessertspoonful of the mixture into each case. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until they’ve risen and are slightly springy to the touch. I tend not to go by time but by when I can tell they’re done. I don’t trust my oven!

Leave to cool. Meanwhile make the buttercream by beating the icing sugar and margarine/butter to form a smooth paste. You can either pipe your buttercream onto your cupcakes or just spoon it on depending on how much time/equipment you have.

To make the “butterflies”: cut a section from the top of each cupcake using a sharp knife. If you want chunkier wings, cut a deeper hole, as shown in the first of the two pictures above. This also means your cupcakes will have more buttercream to the centre.

To make finer, thinner wings, cut a shallow layer from the top of the cupcake. This is shown in the second picture above.

You can see a mixture of both types – chunky and fine wings – in the pics of the finished cupcakes.

To make the wings, cut the circles of cake you have taken from each cupcake down the middle to give you two “wings”. Pipe or spoon your buttercream into the top of the cupcakes. Stick the wings to the cupcake.

Finally, using a tea strainer as a mini-sieve, I dusted the cupcakes with icing sugar. I also added a few pink sugar sprinkles.

© Claire Huston / Art and Soul