I’ve recently shared two cakes that were embellished with fondant butterflies, my daughter’s Butterfly Birthday Cake (above, right) and most recently the Purple Ombre Mini Cakes (above, left). As promised, I’ve prepared a tutorial for making these easy and beautiful fondant accents.
~ How To Make Fondant Butterflies ~
1. Color your fondant as desired, and roll out to about 1/8 inch thick.
Note ~ If you are new to working with fondant, I have a full post, Fondant 101 that shows how to color and roll out fondant, and lots of different ways to use fondant.
2.-3. Use an impression mat of some kind to press a pattern onto the fondant. I used an Embossing Folder by Cuttlebug, which is really a scrapbooking tool, sold at craft stores with paper crafting items.
4.-5. Use a butterfly cutter (this one can be bought at Global Sugar Art or similar cutters from Country Kitchen SweetArt) to cut the fondant.
6. Carefully lay the butterfly shapes in a “valley” created by folding a piece of sturdy cardstock into a V shape (as shown). This will allow the butterflies to dry with their wings “in flight”. Of course if you’d like the wings flat, simply dry on a flat surface. To prevent the butterflies from sticking to the paper, use paper with some texture on it, and/or dust the paper slightly with corn starch or powdered sugar (before laying butterflies on it). Allow fondant butterflies to dry 12-24 hours (or more) before adding to cakes or cupcakes.
Add your fondant butterflies to cakes, cupcakes or any special treat. The cakes above show the butterflies in two sizes, small on the Butterfly Birthday Cake on the left, and large on the Purple Ombre Mini Cake on the right (sources for the cutters linked above).
Happy Decorating!
oh wow..i have a pile of cuttlebug folders and i was wondering if this would work a little while back and then i forgot about it….thankyou, so glad i stumbled across your lovely blog …im so going to try this now. xx
Hi Glory
I tried to make these yesterday but the colours just didn’t come out properly at all. They all looked very dull and kind of greyish. The batter itself looked very vibrant when I’d coloured it, but once it baked the colour seemed to have been drained out. I did use gel colouring.
Any ideas why and how I might correct that?
Thanks a million, love your blog!
You make everything look so easy…love your work. Thank you so much for sharing!
I absolutley love these butterflies!! I am planning on making them for my nieces b-day party, but I need to make 80 of them. Can you make these ahead of time & if so do you recommend freezing them?
Yes, you can make them several weeks ahead of time. Just store them away from sunlight and also away from moisture (do not freeze or refrigerate). Keep them in a tupperware type container, maybe between paper towels (make sure they are very dry- one or two days) before putting them in a container.
So cute. I've been wanting to try fondant for a long time.
Glory, I love all of your beautiful creations. Thank you for your generosity in sharing all your secrets. 🙂
I use those embossing folders too! A lot cheaper than the ones you get from the cake decorating shops!
Great tutorial Glory
Di x
Wow, this is totally beautiful and amazing! 🙂