Black Butterfly Cake

Our contributor, Erin Gardner of Erin Bakes, is back with a new tutorial today!

I imagine witches must have amazing birthday parties.  Crazy, blow-out, over-the-top shindigs.  Playing games like ring around the cauldron and pin the tail on the black cat.  Sipping bubbling brew, while nibbling on eye of newt and toe of frog.  And I’m absolutely certain a witch’s birthday bash would have a killer cake.  One like this creepy beauty topped with a swarm of spooky, sparkly butterflies.  Today, I’m teaching you how to make this Black Butterfly Cake at home, just in time for Halloween.

BLACK BUTTERFLY CAKE
a tutorial by Erin Gardner

Supplies:
Cake
Black candy melts
Silver sanding sugar
Parchment paper
Black marker
Cardboard
Assorted sprinkles and edible stars

 

Bake a cake using one of our cake recipes or a box mix.  Assemble and frost with the icing of your choice.  My cake was iced with black buttercream frosting, mixed with pops of purple frosting.

Draw a set of butterfly wings on a piece of parchment paper.  I drew my butterfly wings free-hand.  You could also print out an image to trace if that’s easier for you.

Flip the parchment paper over so that the ink is facing down.

Melt black candy melts in the microwave as directed on the package.  Pour melted candy into a piping bag or paper cone.  Trace and fill in the butterfly wings.

Quickly pour the silver sanding sugar over the wings while they’re still wet.  Cover completely.

Allow the wings to firm up at room temperature, about 10 minutes.  Pour excess sanding sugar back into jar to use again.

Fold the piece of cardboard in half and open it back up, so that it forms a V shape.  Fold a piece of parchment paper in half and place it on top of the cardboard as a liner.

Pipe a line of black candy melts into the fold.  This will form your butterfly’s body.  Arrange the wings making sure they’re all in contact with the melted candy.

Pipe another line of black candy melts on top of your original line.  Set the butterfly aside to harden completely before using.

Use your spooky sparkly butterflies to dress up a buttercream cake or as creepy-cool cupcake toppers.  I also created a few tiny plain black butterflies to add to the starry, sparkly swarm.

To finish off my witchy creation, I added a mix of small edible silver stars, large silver candy stars, silver jimmies and black sugar pearls.  White rock candy crystals surround the base.

 

---

 
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Spooky Splatter Halloween
Mini Mice Cakes
Marshmallow Spiderweb Cake
Monster Eye Cake

---

 

Find all of our Halloween recipes and tutorials in our Halloween Cake Gallery!