Another birthday for our household during this busy time of year! Luckily, younger sisters often look to their sis for inspiration so I was again tasked with a butterfly themed treat! Funfetti was the requested flavor, so I decided to pivot to a different recipe in search for a moister result than my last attempt. This recipe called for egg whites whipped into the butter to add extra lift. All this was so promising… until while cleaning up, I found my entire sugar bowl sitting there untouched. My eyes darted from my now cooling cupcakes back to the very full bowl of perfectly measured sugar. Wowie Wowie. How?! Why?!
Panicked, I looked to my wise sister for advice/rescue/life boat!!!! She so brilliantly recommended a simple syrup soak to salvage these sugar free punks. The funfetti-ness of the rainbow sprinkles in the batter actually added a good amount of sweetness on their own, but I couldn’t let them have to carry all that sugary weight.
At this point, you may be asking, why not just start over?? Number 1! Time, honey. I started this project on Friday, in anticipation of a Saturday party. Sure, I could have redone the batch, but…. I didn’t. Number 2! All those eggs! In this economy?? I had already committed 6 eggs to this recipe and I truly couldn’t bear the thought of a full dozen being used because of my mistake. So, I charged forward knowing full well these lil cupcake flavors/texture were going to be sacrificed for the sake of design. I really am NOT a fan of fashion over flavor. The whole point of dessert for me, is to be delighted with flavors and textures and tastebud joy! So, this was not my proudest moment, but the show must go on.
After accepting the truth of my dense lil cakies, I arranged them in a butterfly design. I whipped up a batch and a half of that russian buttercream (I think I have a favorite!!), flavored with clear vanilla for an extra carnival taste. I coated all the cupcakes with a solid white layer to serve as my -blank canvas-. I created a few bright color sub-frostings for a brilliantly colored butterfly. At this point, I put the cupcakes in the fridge, and my separated colored frosting bags on the counter, and took a break… circling back after date night (complete with a glass of wine for extra creativity), I got to work finishing my design!
I spread the different colors along the wings and body of the butterfly, and outlined with a thin black frosting. I then added some extra wing-like designs, cutie eyes, and stuck some toothpicks in the head for antennas!
For my first attempt at this type of pull apart cupcake cookie, I was pretty pleased with the design. Definitely a showstopper, with a quite stodgy sponge! Lessons were learned! Mistakes were made! A crazy looking butterfly came to be!
Already thinking ahead to our next birthday season a year ahead, and the request for a koala design. Excuse me while I get researching…