Mary Berry Butterfly Cakes

Mary Berry’s butterfly cakes are fairy cakes with the tops sliced off, halved and set into piped buttercream at an angle to look like butterfly wings, dusted with icing sugar. The sponges bake at 200°C (Gas 6) for 15-20 minutes and the recipe makes about 18 cakes. The buttercream uses 175g softened butter beaten with 350g sifted icing sugar.

Berry’s headnote in the Ultimate Cake Book (2003) says “butterfly cakes are quick and easy to make and very effective for a children’s party.” What makes them special isn’t the sponge or the icing, it’s the assembly. You cut a disc from the top of each cake, cut that disc in half, then push the two halves into the buttercream at an angle so they stick up like wings.

The note in Berry’s Secrets of Success that applies directly here is about sifting: “Icing sugar must be sifted when no heat is involved, otherwise it can be very lumpy.” Since the buttercream is made cold, unsifted icing sugar leaves gritty lumps that block the piping nozzle. Sift it before it goes anywhere near the butter.

Mary Berry Butterfly Cakes

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Calories

215

kcal

Total time

40

minutes

From the Ultimate Cake Book (2003), Berry’s classic fairy cake sponge topped with piped buttercream and sliced sponge wings dusted with icing sugar. A children’s party staple.

Ingredients

• For the cakes:

• 100g (4 oz) soft margarine

• 100g (4 oz) caster sugar

• 2 eggs

• 100g (4 oz) self-raising flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• For the buttercream:

• 175g (6 oz) butter, softened

• 350g (12 oz) icing sugar, sifted

• icing sugar, for dusting

Directions

• Prepare: Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Place about 18 paper cake cases in bun tins.
• Mix: Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat well for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is well blended and smooth. Half fill the paper cases with the mixture.
• Bake: Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the cakes are well risen and golden brown. Lift the cakes out of the bun tins and cool on a wire rack.
• Make the buttercream: Beat the butter and icing sugar together until well blended.
• Assemble the wings: Cut a slice from the top of each cake and cut this slice in half. Pipe a swirl of buttercream into the centre of each cake and place the half slices of cake into the buttercream at an angle to resemble butterfly wings. Dust the cakes with icing sugar to finish.

Notes

• Calories: Sponge: 1,605 ÷ 18 = 89. Buttercream: 175g butter (1,255) + 350g icing sugar (1,379) = 2,634 ÷ 18 = 146. Total: 235 → adjusted for piping waste = 215 kcal per cake
  

FAQs

How do I cut the wings without breaking them?

Use a small sharp knife and cut at a slight angle inward, about 1cm deep. The disc you remove should be shallow, like a lid, not a deep cone. If you cut too deep, there’s not enough sponge left to hold the buttercream. Cut the disc cleanly in half with one firm slice so you get two even wings.

Berry doesn’t add detail here, but her Orange Butterfly Cakes in Mary Berry Cooks (2014) say to cut “a disc from the top of each cake, leaving a little rim around the edge.” That rim is key because it creates a well for the buttercream to sit in. Without it, the icing slides off the sides.

What other butterfly cake variations does Berry have?

Berry has three butterfly cake variations in the Ultimate Cake Book (2003). The plain version here, a Chocolate Butterfly Cake that uses the same plain sponge but fills it with chocolate buttercream made from cocoa dissolved in hot water, and she notes you can “replace 1 oz (25 g) of the flour for the cakes with cocoa to make the cakes chocolate too.”

Her Orange Butterfly Cakes in Mary Berry Cooks (2014) are the most developed version. She adds orange zest to the sponge, fills each cake with half a teaspoon of orange curd before piping the buttercream on top, and her granddaughter Abby weighed each one at 35g per case “so they were all perfect and even.”

Can I make the buttercream ahead?

Berry doesn’t give a prepare ahead note for this recipe, but her Orange Butterfly Cakes in Mary Berry Cooks (2014) say “the cakes will keep in a cake tin for up to 3-4 days” and “can be frozen for up to 1 month.” The buttercream acts as a seal that keeps the sponge moist.

Make the buttercream up to 2 days ahead and store it covered in the fridge. Bring it back to room temperature and beat again before piping, as cold buttercream is stiff and won’t pipe smoothly.

Can I use a chocolate buttercream instead?

Berry’s Chocolate Butterfly Cakes in the same chapter use exactly this. She dissolves 2 tablespoons of cocoa in 3 tablespoons of hot water, lets it cool slightly, then beats it into 175g softened butter and 350g sifted icing sugar. Berry says “chocolate butter cream looks very attractive on a plain fairy cake.”

The cocoa needs to cool before it goes into the butter, otherwise it melts the butter and the icing turns runny. I dissolve the cocoa first while the sponges are baking, which gives it plenty of time to cool. The chocolate version is richer and slightly less sweet than the plain.

Why does Berry use so much buttercream for 18 small cakes?

The quantities look generous: 175g butter and 350g icing sugar for 18 fairy-sized cakes. But the buttercream needs to be piped in a tall enough swirl to hold the wings upright. A thin scrape of icing won’t anchor the sponge halves and they’ll fall flat on the plate.

Berry says to “pipe a swirl” which means using a piping bag with a star nozzle, building height in the centre. If you have leftover icing, it freezes well or keeps covered in the fridge for a week.