Behind the Scenes: Butterfly Cupcakes

I've had requests to show how to make the Butterfly Cupcakes for Nancy P's birthday. I got the idea from this book although mine didn't really look like theirs by the time I was through.

I used a dozen cupcakes that I made myself.  Or, you could just buy a dozen and add the decorations.

 



Run for your lives!  It's a flesh-eating mutant cupcake!  (Not sure what happened to those two but they tasted good even with their mutantness.)





Draw some butterfly wings on parchment paper.  I used the patterns from the book although I googled "butterfly outlines" and got many good shapes from which to choose.




I made lots o' shapes because I figured I'd be messing up a few.  I figured correctly.





Melt about 4 squares of chocolate bark coating in the microwave.



Do the same for the white chocolate.  I used chocolate chips at first but they seemed to set up too fast so I would recommend the white bark coating for the wings.  I then did melt some white coating to supplement the chips since they hardened too fast.   I colored the discs with paste food coloring but I wasn't happy with the color blending so I would also recommend that you get the already colored discs.  That's what I will do next time.  This was the first time I had made these cupcakes and there are always things I do differently when I make recipes again.




I loaded up some disposable plastic piping bags.  These are Wilton's and I bought them at Michael's.  I have also seen them at Wal-Mart.  To keep the chocolate from running out as fast as you pour it in, I placed the bag in a tall drinking glass and then clothespinned the bag at the tip. I used a Wilton tip #7 but any small round tip will do.




Outline the butterfly wings with the chocolate first and then go back and add the colored chocolate to the inside.  Tap the pan to smooth out the chocolate.  The wings are supposed to be separated but it wasn't any big deal to cut them apart after they solidified. Just about all of mine ran together.



Next, use a toothpick to swirl the chocolates.





Add nonpareils to the butterflies while they are still soft.  Just a little bit at the tips of the wings.





Pipe the antennae, bodies, and anything else such as initials of the birthday girl.





Place the pans in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate sets.
Meanwhile, frost the cupcakes.  I used a homemade buttercream frosting.  Place 4 chocolate chips on each cupcake.  These will be supports for the wings. Note the chips in the bottom left cupcake.




Assemble the butterflies and head over to the birthday girl's house.



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