Butterfly Cake

Yet another cake! This was an ambitious undertaking, as I attempted several techniques for the first time. You know, why not try something new for the first time when you are baking for someone else (and a little girl's birthday party nonetheless!)? No pressure or anything. It's my own fault-I always do this to myself!

Anyways, all I was told was that she wanted chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, and that she liked butterflies, and the colors pink, yellow, and purple. This is what I came up with:

Butterfly Cake:


Butterfly & Flower Cupcakes:


I'm pretty happy with how they came out, but man it was a lot of work! The butterflies are edible, made on rice paper, hand colored with edible markers, covered with clear gel, and cut out. Those took FOREVER (mostly due to the drying time between each layer, and the fact that I had never done them before).
Wiring the butterflies was nerve racking as I had no idea what I was doing or if it would even work! The grass and the pink flowers (on the cupcakes) are gum paste (first time working with gum paste), while the rest of the decorations are all buttercream. The lace work on the top layer was another first for me. I like the effect, but obviously I need more practice. All in all, I learned a lot from this cake.