This super easy butterfly buns recipe is sliced on top, then filled with delicious raspberry jam and a dusting of icing sugar. They always look so pretty with butterfly wings using minimal effort!

Close up of a butterfly bun with raspberry jam and icing on a white plate

One of my earliest memories of indulging in school party food were yummy butterfly buns. PS, I call them buns, being from Yorkshire, which used to amuse my "cupcake" Southern colleagues!

And it wasn't until I started making them myself a few years ago that I realised why. They're what I consider the easiest bun recipe you can make. Especially with children. And they look so elegant in my opinion.

But if you want to go that extra mile, there are many other butterfly cupcake decorating ideas you can do. Let's explore them!

Dusting finished butterfly cupcakes in the kitchen

Variations of Butterfly Cupcake Toppers

In my easy butterfly buns, I simply hull out the tops, then fill with jam followed with a light dusting of icing sugar.

Note: it doesn't need to be butterfly buns with jam. (I made a Queens Jam recipe this week and had half a jar spare, which inspired a raspberry bun recipe!)

However, alternative butterfly buns recipes you can create are:

Fill the concave tops with Betty Crocker vanilla icing first
Butterfly buns with fresh cream
Dip the butterfly wings in buttercream, then dip in decorative sprinkles
Add a teaspoon of Nutella for chocolate butterfly buns
Replace a tablespoon of flour with cocoa powder
Add fresh fruit, such as strawberries or raspberries

Close up of a golden easy butterfly cupcake filled with Queens jam and dusted with icing sugar on white plate

What is a Butterfly Bun?

As mentioned earlier, a butterfly bun is also known as a butterfly cupcake, depending on where you come from. Or, just simply, butterfly cake. It's also like a fairy cupcake.

I make them using my simple sponge cake recipe where each ingredient have the same weight ratios. So, theoretically, you could call these pound butterfly cakes.

And it's their butterfly wings appearance that gives them its name. These are simply cut out by hollowing a slight bit of the existing butterfly cakes, the cut in half.

How to Cut Butterfly Cakes

Once each butterfly cupcake is baked and cooled, to cut:

Use a knife
Hull out the tops at a slight angle
Note, you might need to angle the tip of the knife slightly downwards if your butterfly buns are very flat
Slice in half
Place them on top of your chosen ingredients for you butterfly toppings

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How to Make My Butterfly Buns Recipe

📖 Recipe