Butterfly recipes

[sister herb]

Yes, you read it right - butterfly recipes but no, these dishes have not been made from butterflies of course. They just look like them - more or less.

Butterfly Cakes

150g (5oz) baking margarine or butter
150g (5oz) (unrefined) caster sugar *See Note
3 eggs
150g (5oz) self-raising flour
½tsp baking powder
4tbsp raspberry jam
125g (4oz) fresh raspberries
icing sugar

Heat the oven to Gas 4, 180°C, fan160°C. Line a cupcake tray with papers.

Cream together the margarine or butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and again beat the mixture. Fold in the flour and baking powder and then spoon into the paper cases.

Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden and set. Remove and cool on a baking wire.

When cool, using a small knife, cut out a circle at the top of each cake and cut these in half.

Fill each cupcake with a little spoonful of jam, carefully press the straight sides of the cut pieces into the jam, then top each with a raspberry and dust lightly with some icing sugar.

Source: http://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/butterfly-cakes.html

*Note: Caster sugar

This is the British term for sugar with small grains that are between granulated and icing sugar in terms of fineness. It is sometimes spelled castor sugar, and is known as ‘superfine’ sugar in America. Caster sugar is obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet, and is valued for its quick-dissolving properties. The usual refined white variety of caster sugar will have been treated to remove molasses, and so will be free-flowing.

Ideal for meringues, caster sugar is used in baking, desserts, drinks and cocktails. It adds more volume to baked goods, and gives them a lighter texture. If you do not have caster sugar to hand, grind granulated sugar in a food processor for a couple of minutes.

Very fine crystals make this sugar excellent for sprinkling and including in recipes. It is known as caster sugar because it is suitable for placing in a caster - a jar or bottle with a perforated top, similar to a flour dredger.

Uses: For sprinkling over fresh fruit or cereals or including in creamed mixtures, meringues and baking.

To store: Keep in a cool, dry place for up to 1 year and once opened store in an airtight container to prevent the sugar from going hard or damp.

Unrefined golden caster sugar

This is the highest quality caster sugar available and is a great natural alternative to refined caster sugar. It has a warm golden colour from its unrefined nature and is fine grained with a subtle buttery taste, making it perfect for deliciously light sponges, shortbread and macaroons.

In this recipe you can also use simple granulated sugar. It is that sugar you most likely have in your kitchen.

 

[sister herb]

Butterfly Breads

1 Package Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 t)
1/4 c Warm Water
1/3 c Sugar
2 Large eggs
4 T Unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c Whole milk
1 t Pure vanilla extract
1/2 t Salt
2 1/2 – 3 c Unbleached all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, stir together the warm water, yeast and sugar, until combined. Let it stand until the mixture begins to froth.

Add the eggs, butter, milk and vanilla, beating until comined well. Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and knead. Knead for upto 6 minutes, adding more flour as required, until a smooth, shiny ball is formed. Remove the dough, clean the bowl, grease it with some butter and return the dough to the bowl. Coat it with some butter, cover with clean kitchen cloth and leave it to rise until doubled in size. You can put a piece of tape on the outside of the bowl to indicate what would be double so that you know when to begin working with it again. The high proportion of fat in the dough may cause it to rise slowly, so it should be kept in a warm place.

Once the double mark is reached, turn out the dough and tear as much as required to shape. The butterflies are each made of 7 small balls of dough, elongated where necessary. The antenna are shaped seperately and added later. Keep the remainder of the dough covered under a damp cloth as it dries out easily. Feel free to embellish your shapes with raisins, cloves or any other condiment that would lend itself to eyes, ears and other parts of a critters body. Let the shaped loaves rise once again for 45 minutes to an hour. Keep them covered though. Brush them with a glaze of 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water before they go into the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F/175 C. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Watch out for thin extremeties while baking, they can burn easily. Covering with foil is always an option if there is a burning situation.

Let the loaves cool on the baking sheet for a while but dislodge them while they are still warm and transfer to a cooling rack, if you don’t simply finish them off immediately.

Serve with berry jam.

Source: http://photographsandrecipes.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/butterfly-bread-celebrate-summer/

 

[sister herb]

Butterfly Cookies

Sugar Cookies

1-1/8 cup unsalted butter
1-1/4 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. Cream together the butter and sugar. I set the butter out on the counter for about 30 minutes, chopped into small squares, to bring it to room temperature before beginning. (I have had bad luck with using the microwave to bring butter to room temperature.)

2. Beat in the eggs (I set these out on the counter with the butter to bring them to room temperature too), vanilla, and almond flavorings.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

4. One cup at a time, mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Scraping down your bowl as needed.

5. Divide dough up into three sections, Saran wrap, and refrigerate overnight. (For some reason cookies just taste better when the dough is refrigerated overnight.)

6. When you are ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes so it’s not too hard to work with.

7. After rolling and cutting your dough, set your dough shapes in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking to reduce spreading.

8. Bake on parchment paper lined baking sheets at 350 F/175 C for 6 to 8 minutes.

9. After removing the cookies from the oven, let them sit for a couple of minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Source: http://sugarkissed.net/sugar-cookie-recipe/


For decoration you need:

Cookies cut using a butterfly cookie cutter (or make your own butterfly pattern by paper and cut carefully butterflies from the dough)

Cake frosting. Colored by food coloring, colors which you like the most.
Usefull one is icing sugar - water- frosting (mix icing sugar and water until you get paste, color if you like by food coloringd).

Different kind of candies for decorating your butterflies.

 

[sister herb]

Idea for party:

Butterfly Fruit Plate

Oranges
Lemons
Strawberries
Black Grapes
Kiwi Fruit
Red Grapes
Green Grapes
Starfish fruit

1. Make template for butterfly.
2. Trace on to foam board.
3. Cut out the foam board.
4. Wrap with aluminum foil.
5. Slice oranges, oranges, and kiwifruit.
6. Place fruits on it and serve with picks nearby.
7. Enjoy.

Source: http://noshingwithnancy.blogspot.fi/2013/04/butterfly-fruit-plate.html

 

[sister herb]

Decorating idea for cup cakes:

You need:

cupcakes
frosting
hard pretzels*
candies

(imaginative power)

* Pretzels / Pretzel Sticks

Small salty snacks. Many different shapes.