BUTTERFLY CAKES

Good Afternoon to you,

I have mentioned to you many times before, that when I am cooking or baking, memories surface, which I have not thought about in a long time and today's beautiful little cakes are no exception. These lovely little Butterfly Cakes brought back so many wonderful memories of when our girls were just little dots.

I was reading my newly acquired, Good Housekeeping Cookery Book, when I came across a black and white photograph of some little Butterfly Cakes. Do you know, I had not thought about these little cakes in years, but these Butterfly Cakes, were cakes, which I made by the dozen when Natasha and Danielle were little girls. They were always the "asked for" cakes when it came to birthday parties, although having said that, they were the "asked for" cake anytime I was baking. They were so easy to whip up, as they were a simple cake which the girls could help to  make.  They would help weigh the ingredients, mix the ingredients and the fun part for them was creating the little butterfly wings, which they loved doing. When I first started making these little lovelies the filling was made with butter cream and then, I came across Nutella, and yes you've guessed it, that became the filling of choice for Natasha and Danielle, but I have to tell you, that it was, one spoonful for the Butterfly cake and one spoonful for them! But today, my filling of choice is double cream mixed with strawberry conserve.

So I thought I would listen to some music, which I used to enjoy listening to when the girls were small.

Now, reading that sentence back, it sounds as if I enjoyed listening to Neil Diamond then and not now.  That could not be further from the truth as I love Neil's music.  George was lucky enough to see Neil Diamond in concert when he was visiting Berlin, in the mid 1970's.  He and his friend thought they would try and buy a ticket for Neil's performance, on the off chance of a ticket being available. They didn't hold out much hope, as they thought all the tickets would be sold, but do you know, they managed to buy two tickets, but you'll never guess where those seats were..... the front row..... yes, the front row, talk about being lucky.  George said, Neil's performance was amazing and he loved every minute of it.

Then, many years later, I had a wonderful surprise from Natasha, as she had bought me tickets for my birthday to see Neil playing in London.  I was so very excited to see Neil Diamond in concert, in fact it would be fair to say, I was beside myself with excitement, as it was such a lovely gift. When we arrived, the place was buzzing, you could feel the excitement way before Neil started playing. From the minute Neil walked onto the stage, the room erupted with people cheering and clapping and I have to tell you, it was the most fabulous concert I have ever seen.  Everyone was on their feet when he played his older songs, such as "Sweet Caroline" and "Song Song Blue", but he also played his newer music "Tennessee Moon" and "If I Lost My Way".  Of course these were his newer songs when we saw him in concert. All in all it was the most fabulous evening.

So whilst Neil is singing "Kentucky Woman" I am putting on my apron and sorting out the ingredients I need.

INGREDIENTS

175g unsalted butter (at room temperature)

175g sugar

2 eggs

275g  self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

120ml milk

HOW TO MAKE
BUTTERFLY CAKES

Makes 12 large butterfly cakes

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

1 x 12 holed muffin tin 

12 muffin cases

Cream the sugar

and

the butter

until light in colour

Whisk the two eggs together 

and beat into the butter mixture

Sift the flour,

the baking powder

and salt

and

fold into the mixture

You will find at this point that the texture is quite firm,
but don't worry,

 add the vanilla extract

and the milk 
and combine until you have a dropping consistency.

Place the muffin cases into the muffin tin

and

spoon in the cake mixture

Bake for 30 minutes until lightly golden
I have made large Butterfly cakes,
so if you are using a smaller muffin case
reduce the time but still bake until
lightly golden.

Place the cakes on a baking rack

and allow to cool.

The cakes need to be cold before you 

cut them, otherwise they will crumble.

Now for the fun bit,

this was the part that our girls loved,

creating the butterfly wings.

Cut a shallow hole 

from the top.

The piece you have just cut to create the hole,

 cut in half

to make the wings.

This is very simple but so much fun to do with little ones.

Fill the centre with the filling of your choice,

it could be Nutella (which our girls loved)

it could be butter cream

or as I have 

double cream mixed with a teaspoon of icing sugar

and a little strawberry conserve.

Then pop the "wings" onto the filling

as I have done. 

Do you know, it was so much fun recreating these Butterfly Cakes, although I have to tell you, the original cakes I made, were much smaller than the ones I have made today...... having said that, I think everything was much smaller back then.

I know Natasha and Danielle read Ivy, Phyllis and Me! and I wonder what their memories are of these delightful little cakes.

There are so many more fabulous little cakes in this cookery book, that I will certainly be going back in time and recreating some more.

So take care and I will see you on Wednesday.

This week I will be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways

and

Anyonita from Anyonita Nibbles