Birthday Butterflies

Some people may think it a little sad to have to bake their own birthday cupcakes. But I say "Bring it on!" I actually had fun thinking about all the possibilities and I ended up choosing pink butterfly cupcakes for several reasons. I wanted to use a fun idea out of my cupcake book, I love cherry frosting, I wanted to do something unique to impress my sister, and I also had all the ingredients. So, yellow almond cake, cherry frosting and white chocolate butterflies were the perfect thing!

Making the white chocolate butterflies was tricky. I had practiced them a while back, and luckily this time they turned out much better. Basically I melted white chocolate in a ziplock bag in the microwave. Then I cut a tiny tip of one of the corners off and pipped it like frosting. I drew out some butterflies and flowers and then put wax paper on top so I would have a template to follow. I also included a little food coloring to fill in some butterflies.

The cake recipe is one from my Better Homes and Gardens book (which I LOVE by the way).

Yellow Cake
3/4 C butter
3 eggs
2 1/2 C flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (but I used almond extract)
1 1/4 C milk

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Grease and flour cake pans/cupcake pan (I don't know what I had to grease and flour but I did). In a bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Preheat oven to 375. In a mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating until well combined. Beat 2 more minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between. Beat in vanilla (or other extract). Alternately add four mixture and milk, beating on low until just combined. Spread batter into greased pans.
3. Baking varies. 20-25 minutes for two 9 inch pans, 30-35 for 8 inch pans (the recipe didn't include times for cupcakes, I think it took somewhere around 25-28 minutes, I just kept an eye on them). Frost after they have cooled.




The cherry frosting is a Betty Crocker store bought kind. Maybe it is a cop-out, but I really really love it! I think they stopped making it for a while and I searched the shelves whenever I walked by. One day last year I saw it and was extremely excited about it. It tastes just like I remember!

Of course I couldn't have birthday cake without ice cream. And thanks to a sweet deal this week, I got a good kind for an amazing price! I picked out cherry chocolate chip because it seemed like it would go great!

The overall verdict? Definitely a yummy birthday treat! However, the almondy cake was masked by the cherry frosting. But I loved the way the ice cream and frosting tasted together! And I was definitely proud that they turned out so pretty.