Butterfly Buns
Oct22009
I do a lot of stuff to put myself in a book, including making and eating the food in the stories. So I was delighted when Rachel–aka Stroppy Brunette–told me about butterfly buns. Rachel has contributed above and beyond the call of duty to AKMG, giving me a real live country house in England to be my transplanted county house in southern Ohio and a picture of herself as a child that I find inspiring for Alice. And then she topped it off with butterfly buns, a British dessert that involves homemade cake and jam. Because I am lazy, and because Andie will be, too, I used cake mix and canned icing and got these:
These cakes are genius because they’re easy, they’re cute, and they help control the icing from going everywhere as they’re eaten. Also, did I mention cute?
Directions:
Make your cakes and when they’re cool, cut a circle from the tops.
Fill the resulting hole with jam or icing.
Take the cut out top, cut in half, reverse the halves and stick down into the icing so that the halves show up like butterfly wings.
Eat.
Thank you, Strop!
Note on the Butterfly Bun/Fairy Cake Discussion:
I have no clue either way so I did a Google image search for both. The images for Fairy Cakes were beautiful cupcakes, most of which had smooth tops. The images for Butterfly Buns were mostly these. Since it seems as though Fairy Cakes are the same as “beautiful cupcakes,” I can see where Butterfly Buns would fall under that heading (although probably not mine since mine are the quick-and-dirty version), but that not all Fairy Cakes would be Butterfly Buns. If that makes sense.
Yes, I am taking time out from the book. Back to that now.
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38 Comments to 'Butterfly Buns'
On October 2, 2009 at 9:45 am Mary Reade said...
Traditionally (or at least here in Ireland) these cakes were filled with jam (jelly to USA) and then whipped cream – rather than icing.
On October 2, 2009 at 11:05 am Jo Walton said...
We used to call those fairy cakes — I suppose because fairies also have wings.
On October 2, 2009 at 11:29 am Strop said...
Thank you, baby! Glad to help.
On October 2, 2009 at 11:47 am AgTigress said...
Those are fairy cakes! I have never heard them called ‘butterfly buns’: must be a regional dialect variant.
On October 2, 2009 at 12:30 pm Louis said...
Whatever they are called, they look good enough to eat and enjoy.
On October 2, 2009 at 12:32 pm Sara C said...
I love coming here. I always learn something. For years I have read about fairy cakes and never known what they were. Although in my imagination they were small cakes with pink icing. These are better.
On October 2, 2009 at 12:51 pm Strop said...
I have heard some people use the term ‘fairy cakes’ to refer to buns in general.
Extra variation (which I first met at the age of 8 in Mrs Sellers’ barn at the tea after a Briesfield village ramble): Top Hat buns. Cut the top off your bun, put in a big splodge of buttercream, then put the whole top back on. If you want to get really fancy, you make a batch of chocolate buns and a batch of plain then, wait for it, SWAP THE TOPS OVER!
Little things get you very excited when you grow up in a quiet village.
On October 2, 2009 at 1:48 pm McB said...
So that’s what a fairy cake is!
Jenny said …
Ah, but quick and dirty fairies are much more interesting. They probably have snark.
On October 2, 2009 at 4:01 pm Lori J. said...
That country house is freakin’ amazing. Jenny, are you using the original floorplan from this house for your book or making one up to suit your needs?
Great job, Strop.
On October 2, 2009 at 4:34 pm robena grant said...
Well, in the land down under, I grew up calling them angel cakes. Don’t know if other Aussies call them that. Maybe my Mum made it up. ; )
It was the same concept except we put heavily whipped cream in the center, then the wings on top, then a little dusting of icing sugar. Yum. Thay were my favorites, well, beside vanilla slices, and pavlova with fresh passionfruit, and sausage rolls, and … wah! I want to go home.
On October 2, 2009 at 6:55 pm misspiggy don'twannabe said...
Pavlova with fresh passionfruit sounds heavenly. What is pavlova (besides a ballerina)?
On October 2, 2009 at 11:37 pm Emily said...
Pavlova is a dirty great meringue – crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside – topped with whipped cream and then decorated, usually with passionfruit, kiwi fruit or strawberries around the edges – though my mum used to crush up mint crisp bars and sprinkle them on some of her pavs.
I know these as either angel cakes or butterfly cakes, with either whipped cream or cream and jam in them. Any food being called ‘fairy’ makes me think of fairy bread that someone mentioned below – hundreds and thousands sprinkled over white bread and margarine. An absolute must for any kids party.
On October 3, 2009 at 4:05 am Micki said...
Pavlova is heaven on earth. Mmmmm! The only thing I can think of that’s just as light and cloudlike is tiramisu made right. Mmmmm.
On October 2, 2009 at 4:57 pm Diane (TT) said...
See, I always vaguely thought that fairy cakes were angel food, on the principle that both are winged supernatural folk. It never occurred to me that the cakes would be winged!
I like the idea of Robena’s whipped cream better than either canned icing or jam, but jam AND whipped cream as at Mary’s in Ireland may be best of all (so long as it IS jam, not jelly, sorry!). The combination of fruit and rich flavor makes me happy – I put lemon curd and fresh raspberries on my toast this morning, and got the otherwise rotten day off to a pleasant start (the late afternoon wasn’t bad, but the middle of the day was Not Good).
I don’t think it’s a sign of laziness to use cake mix and canned icing if you’re willing to go to all the trouble of cutting neat circles in the tops of a bunch of cupcakes to make them look all butterfly- or fairy-like. That’s where my resolution fails me: I can bake from scratch (and sometimes make frosting just to eat), but all that repetitive decorating stuff makes me tired (a DOZEN cupcakes; maybe more). Especially across the back.
But I think there should be antennae and things on them, if YOU are the one making butterflies.
On October 2, 2009 at 5:03 pm Diane (TT) said...
PG – from the previous post. I actually have an album called “Best of Queen”, and, IMHO, the reason that Pratchett/ Gaiman consider that the evil thing into which tapes left in the car morph is that it lacks “Bohemian Rhapsody”. WTH?
Just a pet peeve.
On October 6, 2009 at 9:59 am PG said...
Diane (TT),
That’s a good theory, but I think the editions of Queen’s “Greatest Hits” that were available when “Good Omens” was being written and published (1990) were the 1981 U.S. and UK versions, both of which had “Bohemian Rhapsody,” at least according to wikipedia. Also, there’s a reference to “scaramouche” and “will not let him go” in the book, which implies that he must be listening to “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
On October 2, 2009 at 5:28 pm AgTigress said...
Nah, most of those ‘fairy cakes’ in the Google images are just little iced cakes. Fairy cakes must have wings. It’s a rule.
On October 2, 2009 at 10:52 pm MJ said...
“Nah”? AgTigress, I do believe we are corrupting you.
On October 2, 2009 at 5:39 pm Mel said...
Fairy cakes! At least for this Aussie gal growing up in the country. But with what Robena said about cream and icing sugar. A staple at “bring a plate” gatherings along with pikelets, scones, pavlova, lemon or jelly slice, sponge cake, lamingtons and chocolate ripple cake. And now I’m craving cake at 8.30am!
Other cupcakes were cupcakes or patty cakes (the little paper holders were called patty pans back then). I guess it’s maybe a generational thing…I was a kid in the 70′s/80′s but maybe earlier before there was as much US influence via our TV etc little cakes were patty cakes/fairy cakes here?
Of course, perhaps better than fairy cakes (or at least far easier) is fairy bread. Squishy no-nutritional value white bread spread with butter and sprinkled liberally with 100′s & 1000′s (which are little multi coloured round cake sprinkle things). Sugary heaven on a plate. Traditionally kids party food but why should kids have all the fun? Some people make them with the long tubey sprinkles but that’s all wrong *g*
On October 2, 2009 at 7:04 pm wendy said...
Butterfly cakes. 2 years ago my sister made many dozens of chocolate butterfly cakes and I cut out the wings and another sister filled each patty cake with fresh whipped cream. I’ve made myself salivate.
On October 2, 2009 at 10:36 pm Louis said...
One of my favorites is Angel Food Cake, made with a dozen or more egg whites plus the other ingredients. very light and melt in your mouth.
On October 2, 2009 at 11:41 pm robena grant said...
Well, Miss Piggy, Pavlova is THE Australian dessert.
It’s a meringue base (but one that has a little twist just to make it pure OZ in that it is slightly chewy rather than crisp like US meringue) I used to make them, but haven’t in a long time. In the center you put either vanilla ice cream, or heavy whipped cream, then passionfruit pulp squeezed over the top, and mmmmm, it’s delish. The only place I know in the US that has come even close is a restaurant in Manhattan, geez now I can’t think of it’s name, but it’s underneath the 59th Street bridge and kind of architecturaly famous. New Yorkers out there? help me out. I think it’s Gaustivino or something like that, maybe has two names. Anyway, their Pavlova is amazing.
But back to butterfly buns, fairy cakes, angel cakes, whatever, I’ve eaten one of everything in my kitchen that is remotely related tonight, and am still hungry.
On October 4, 2009 at 12:27 am Yvonne Lindsay said...
The NEW ZEALAND dessert, surely
On October 3, 2009 at 2:51 am Ericka said...
so i’m the only one who saw “butterfly buns” and started picturing little bug butts? *sigh*
those are quite cute though and i LOVE that house.
On October 3, 2009 at 8:06 pm Kay T said...
No, that is what I was thinking too. Or at least SOME type of butt.
On October 3, 2009 at 4:10 am Micki said...
A British person once told me that “fairy cakes” are teeny-tiny cakes served at girly parties. And left out for the fairies?
Anyway, butterfly buns — love this idea! Hate canned icing. I think the jam would be . . . I really can’t use “healthier” in this context, can I? LOL! But creativity is as creativity does; whatever works.
On October 3, 2009 at 4:35 am AgTigress said...
To me, the traditional element for sticking the ‘wings’ onto a fairy cake should not be icing, jam or whipped cream, but buttercream. But the other things would work fine, too.
Pavlova: one of the greatest achievements of Australian culture! A perfect, fresh strawberry or mixed berry pavlova is a sublime experience, with the contrasts of taste and texture provided by the smooth, silky richness of the cream, the delicate lightness and slight stickiness of the meringue and the juiciness and acidity of the fruit. As Robena has mentioned, the meringue must be chewy inside (dry-as-dust meringues are okay for individual cream-filled meringues, but not for a pavlova). I would also jib at the use of ice-cream: the filling should be fruit and fresh whipped cream, the latter very, very slightly sweetened with icing sugar.
On October 3, 2009 at 7:07 pm Micki said...
Can we just wallow in pavlova for a minute? The first time I had it, it was made by an authentic Australian, with whipped cream and strawberries and kiwis. Just gorgeous as far as presentation went (and this was in Nebraska in the late 80s, pre-Martha Stewart), and the texture? Like eating fluffy clouds . . . OMG. Orgasm on a plate. I’ve never been able to replicate it; just weird substitutions. The meringue is very . . . picky if you are trying to replicate a memory. But the weird substitutions have not been bad, either. Viva la experimentacion! (LOL, don’t think that’s really Spanish, but I gave it my best shot.)
On October 3, 2009 at 8:04 pm Kay T said...
Wow, this is exactly like I pictured the house in AKMG!
On October 3, 2009 at 11:59 pm marge said...
I was searching for images of butterfly buns and found knitted ones!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/3319568100_190a369578.jpg
On October 4, 2009 at 4:17 am Reb said...
Pavlova. NEW ZEALAND. Just mentioning this.
On October 4, 2009 at 4:22 am Reb said...
Oh, and I think of these as angel cakes too. Yum. You’ve driven me to the junk food cupboard, which contained (sniff) no cake. I’m settling for chocolate.
Do Americans do sugar on bread for kids’ parties? Thin white bread, no crusts, buttered, liberally coated in white sugar. Yummmmm. I’d probably find it disgusting now.
On October 5, 2009 at 6:26 am Carol-Ann McClay said...
I’m 36 and I still love sugar sandwiches. Why should the kids have all the fun
I also love ketchup sandwiches, but that’s a whole other thing.
And fairy cakes are best with just cream, just the way I like ‘em best (not big on icing, too sweet says the woman who eats sugar sandwiches!)
On October 4, 2009 at 4:32 am AgTigress said...
I should have mentioned that NEW ZEALAND claims to have invented the pavlova, rather than Australia. Sorry! I did not intend to start an Aussie/Kiwi war, and I know that both countries claim it. I don’t know the facts of the matter, but let’s just say that the dish is a significant contribution to world cuisine made by the Antipodes.
For anyone wishing to make one, remember to fold in a teaspoon of cornflour (cornstarch) and a teaspoon of white vinegar to the stiffly beaten egg-white and icing-sugar mixture at the very end, before spreading it on the baking sheet and building up the ‘walls’ by spooning or piping the mixture round the edges. Without those ingredients, the large quantity of meringue has a tendency to sag and weep. One wants it with a crisp crust and chewy centre.
On October 4, 2009 at 4:56 am Reb said...
Aha! I never knew that was why people use cornflour and vinegar. We never have, and ours has a perfect texture but a tendency to crack through the middle. Mountains of whipped cream hide a multitude of sins.
The Aussie/Kiwi war over pav amuses me greatly. If pav’s the most significant thing we can find to fight over, we’re doing okay.
On October 4, 2009 at 8:58 am AgTigress said...
“Mountains of whipped cream hide a multitude of sins”.
How very true! There are so many factors in making good meringue, including the freshness of the eggs, the temperature, the amount of beating, and of course the temperature of the oven, that I can well believe that it may be possible to turn it out perfectly without the cornflour and vinegar: I can only say that, when I make individual meringues, I don’t bother with those ingredients, and they’re fine, but for a pavlova, I have found that they help.
And you’re right — if all that Oz and NZ have to fight over is the glory of having created a superb dessert, they are doing better than most of us!
On October 4, 2009 at 9:25 am robena grant said...
Yep. Mum says it’s all about the vinegar. And hey, I thought we fought over rugby. ; )
Rachel, that is a fabulous house. I loved all the pics and the drive up to the house. It has just enough of a creepiness factor and I could feel the chill in the rooms. Somehow I missed the link in Jenny’s blog and went straight to the food. You can tell I’m on a diet, right?
On October 5, 2009 at 11:04 am Lori J. said...
Strop, I love your blog. Thanks for sharing.