Butterfly Birthday Cake

One of my favorite things about a birthday party is the cake. Not particularly the eating of it. It's more about the excitement of a festive and beautifully decorated cake with candles burning and everyone gathered around. It's special and fun and exciting and I just love it! I remember my mother creating the most fantastic cakes. There was one that is etched into my memory... a wonderful, big elephant (my favorite animal) with a long trunk and a gloriously colorful blanket/saddle over its back. I loved it then and I love the memory of it now. It was so fun to watch Mom come up with the design and build the cake. You knew, as you watched her work, that it was all for you. All that effort and excitement was because you were special and it was your day that everyone was celebrating. It was thrilling as a child! I want to recreate that for my little ones now. It's my turn to shape and build and create a cake that my child will love. It is so fun!! My sweet baby daughter is turning a year old this week so I made our "little bug" a butterfly cake! She is a beautiful, tender-hearted, little darling with a personality that melts your heart. What a treasure she is to our family! Happy Birthday Nyah!! Butterfly Birthday Cake

submitted by Brittany ~ The Sisters Cafe

2 yellow or white cakes

Prepare cakes as directed on the box. Bake each in a 9x13 inch pan that has been greased and floured. Cool on rack. Once cooled, carefully remove cakes from pans by inverting and gently easing them out with a spatula if needed. Wrap in wax paper and freeze cakes. *freezing the cake makes it easier to cut and to frost.

Prepare a surface to present your cake on. It will be too big for a platter! I learned from Mom the trick of covering a large piece of cardboard with tin foil. Mine was 21 inches square - I used the side of a diaper box! :)

Unwrap one frozen cake and place gently on cutting board. Measuring lengthwise, mark a spot 8 inches across on top (about 2/3 of the way) and 4 inches across on the bottom (about 1/3 of the way ) - cut diagonally to connect the two points. Now make two diagonal cuts from the ends of the original diagonal cut to the opposite corners. This will remove thin triangle pieces of cake from the ends. You will be left with 2 big triangles - the top portion of the butterfly wings. Since I forgot to take a picture of this - I did a lovely drawing for you. It's not pretty but you get the idea, right? :)

With the second cake, make a long diagonal cut from one corner to the other. Then measure 4 inches in from each end and make a perpendicular cut directly to the opposite corner. (Since I am so horrible at describing this, here is a picture! I'm showing you how I measured the 4 inches in before cutting down to the corner.) You are left with 2 long triangle that will be the bottom portion of the wings.

Using one of the thin triangles discarded from the first cake, cut out the body of the butterfly. Now put your butterfly together! You can use the top picture as a guide. Here comes the fun part... you get to frost and decorate your masterpiece however you like! Have fun with it!

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened

8 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, cream butter. Beat in sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to reach desired consistency. Separate frosting into bowls and color as desired. (I would suggest using concentrated gel for making icing colors - I like Wilton and they have a great selection of colors. It makes much more vibrant colors with less dye than the food coloring drops.)