It’s my birthday next week, and as is customary, I must provide cakes for everyone at work…. However, currently I work across 3 sites… 3 lots of people…. 3 lots of cake.

For the first lot of cakes, which I took into work with me today, I made vegan gingerbread men (post to follow), vegan coconut macaroons, vanilla cupcakes, and some………….. Chocolate and Raspberry Butterfly Cakes.

My go to chocolate cake recipe is just a simple one, and generally varies by the size of eggs used. For those that love an intense chocolate hit, I use one third cocoa powder with the flour, however, I have found that most prefer a less chocolatey cake (what craziness!), so I generally use a quarter cocoa powder when making them for everyone else. I have included the full recipe below. (Note: my vanilla cake recipe is exactly the same, but all flour instead of using a quarter cocoa powder, as used in Mr M’s Birthday Cake)

To mix it up and add a little bit extra, I made cheat’s raspberry buttercream to make them into butterfly cakes.

My Basic Go-To Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Makes 12 full to the brim and domed muffin sized cakes.

Ingredients

200g butter or margarine (I often use good old Stork, much easier to work with in a lot of ways than pesky butter with the softening….)
200g caster sugar
3 large free range eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
65g cocoa powder
135g self raising flour

50g butter/ margarine
Icing sugar
Raspberry jam.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again until combined.

Add the flour and cocoa powder and mix until just combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.

Spoon into the cases and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, mix up some buttercream with the butter/margarine and enough icing sugar to your preference, then add raspberry jam (or any other jam that you fancy) until you have reached a lovely pink colour. I used shop bought (oh the shame!), but if you’ve got some lovely homemade stuff then all the better! (Note: you could use fresh raspberries instead, but the extra liquid might make the buttercream go slightly weird, so reduce to a compote first)

Slice off the tops of the cooled cakes and cut the tops into two. Apply a nice blob of raspberry buttercream to the top of the cake then apply the “wings”.

The hint of raspberry in the buttercream lifts them from regular butterfly cakes into something a little bit extra special.

P.s. sorry about the lack of pictures in this post… I forgot! Also for the odd colours going on, I really need to get a (better) camera… oh and skills to use it….