Butterfly Cupcakes

If you’re a fan of butterfly cupcakes, you’ll be thrilled to learn that you have many options when it comes to creating beautiful butterfly decorations. Butterflies can be made from just about any cake decorating material…fondant, icing, candy and even rice paper.
It doesn’t matter what level your decorating skills are, you’ll find an idea on this page you can use to create stunning butterflies for your cupcakes.

Royal Icing Butterfly Cupcakes

Etheral and light, you’ll be captivated by these beautiful butterfly cupcakes. Suitable for just about any gathering—wedding, birthday or bridal shower—you’ll have no trouble finding an occasion to serve these pretty delights.

Bakery/Cake Goods needed:

• Your favorite batch of vanilla cupcakes
• Your favorite Butter Cream Frosting tinted pink (we used Wilton’s paste icing color in Pink)

Butterfly Cupcakes Supplies:

• 1 recipe royal icing
  (you can use your own favorite recipe or check out ours below*)
• Clean, Grease-free Icing Bags
• Bag Coupler and Round Icing Tip #3
• Round Icing Tips #3 and #4
• Leaf Tip #67
• Butterfly template
  (you can make your own, or use our template)
• Wax Paper

Flower Decorating Supplies:

• Small premade batch of fondant
• Pink and blue paste food color
• Green paste food color
• Small floral/petal cutter
• White candy sprinkles
• Round wood dowel
• Small rolling pin
• Wax Paper

Cupcake Icing Tools

• Ateco #804 Round Icing Tip
• Icing Bag

Finishing Touches

• Green cupcake wrappers or Lacey Cupcake Wrappers

Directions for making the butterflies:

Step 1: Load your icing bag with royal icing. Be sure you are using a clean bag or a bag that you have not used regular icing in. Oil or grease breaks down royal icing and it will not maintain its consistency. Attach the bag coupler and #4 icing tip. Make sure those two items are grease free as well.

Step 2: Tape the butterfly template to a flat surface and cover with wax paper. (Download our free butterfly template here.) Trace the lines with the royal icing. Change to the #3 tip and pipe the wing veins. Let icing dry completely.

Directions for making the leaves:

Step 1: Tint a small amount of royal icing green. Fill a grease free icing bag with the royal icing and fit the opening with a #67 tip.

Step 2: Pipe out short icing leaves on wax paper. Set aside to harden.

Directions for making the flowers:

Step 1: Break the fondant into two pieces. Tint one part pink and the other part blue (you can choose any color, of course.) With each color, roll out the fondant with the small rolling pin on a flat surface. With the floral/petal cutter, cut out flower shapes. You’ll need two to three flowers for each cupcake. Gently shape the flower using a wooden dowel. [http://www.cupcakes-plain-and-fancy.com/flower-cupcake-decorations.html] For detailed instructions, please see the flower cupcake decorations page. Set aside the flowers to harden.

Step 2: Place a very small dab of butter cream inside each flower and add a white sprinkle to create the flower centers.

Directions for Icing the Cupcakes:

Step 1: Fill the icing bag with pink butter cream and fit the opening with a 804 tip. Using a circular motion, squeeze out icing to cover the top of the cupcakes.

Step 2: Place a left and right butterfly wing slightly off center on the cupcake. Add two to three small fondant flowers and a royal icing leaf. With the #3 tip and white butter cream, pipe the butterfly bodies and head. Your butterfly cupcakes are complete!

Directions Finishing Touches:
Assemble wrappers and place each cupcake inside by lowering the cupcake into each wrapper.

Edible Wafer Paper Butterflies

Wafer paper butterflies are created with paper made of potato starch, water and vegetable oil) and printed with food coloring.

Bakery/Cake Goods needed:

• Your favorite batch of vanilla or chocolate cupcakes with your choice of icing

Butterfly Decorations:

• 1 set of wafer paper butterflies in your choice of color
• Scissors (use a pair dedicated to food preparation)
• Royal Icing tinted black
• Pastry bag and Round Icing Tip

Directions for preparing the the butterflies:

Step 1: Remove wafer paper from packaging. (Butterflies are printed on flat sheets.)

Step 2: With food-safe scissors, carefully cut out butterflies. Gently fold butterfly down the center to create upright wings.

Step 3: Fit opening of the pastry bag with the round icing tip and fill with black royal icing. Carefully pipe out a body shape between the upright wings. Allow royal icing to dry.

Step 4: Carefully place butterflies on your cupcakes.

Fondant Butterfly Cupcakes

What makes these butterfly cupcakes stand out is the vibrant color contrast. A cupcake tower using these beauties will certainly make for a spectacular display. For variation, you can change the blue to any color you’d like, but the greater the contrast, the greater the drama.

Bakery/Cake Goods Needed:

• Your favorite batch of vanilla cupcakes
• Your favorite butter cream frosting

Butterfly Cupcake Decorating Supplies:

• 1 small batch of fondant
• Small metal butterfly-shaped cutter
  (we used the butterfly cutter from Wilton’s Garden Shapes Fondant Cut-Outs)
• Blue food coloring (we used Wilton’s paste food color in Royal Blue)
• Small sharp knife
• Small rolling pin
• Wax Paper
• Icing Bag
• Icing Coupler and Ring
• Wilton #4 Round Tip
• Pearlized Flower Stamens optional (we used Wilton’s flower stamens)
• Pearlized Sprinkles (we used Wilton’s Sugar Pearls in white)

Cupcake Icing Tools:

• Ateco #804 Round Tip
• Icing Bag

Finishing Touches:

• White or blue cupcake liners

To Make the Butterflies:

Step 1: Roll out white fondant on a flat surface. With the metal butterfly cutter, cut out shapes. Set aside on wax paper for several hours or overnight to harden.

Step 2: With a sharp knife, cut the butterfly in half.

Step 3: Place an icing coupler in the icing bag. Fit the opening with the #4 round tip and secure with the coupler ring. Fill bag with a small amount of white buttercream frosting.

Step 4: Pipe curly swirls on the butterfly wings. Place a white sprinkle in the center of the curl. Set aside.

Icing the Butterfly Cupcakes:

Step 1: Divide the butter cream in half. Tint one part blue and leave the other part white.

Step 2: Fill the icing bag with butter cream (blue or white) and fit the opening with a Ateco #804 Round metal tip.

Step 3: Starting from the outside edge of the cupcake, use a circular motion and squeeze the icing out to cover the cupcake.

Step 4: Continue icing the cupcakes in blue and white icing.

Decorating the Cupcakes:

Step 1: Carefully place each butterfly wing at an angle at the top of the cupcake. You will use two wings for each butterfly.

Step 2: Place an icing coupler in the icing bag. Fit the opening with the #4 round tip and secure with the coupler ring. Fill bag with a small amount of blue buttercream frosting. Starting at the top or head of the butterfly, pipe out a series of icing beads to form the head and body of the butterfly.

Step 3: If you are using the flower stamens, cut them in half and stick them into the head of the butterfly.

Step 4: Finish off the cupcake by sprinkling them with pearlized white sprinkles.