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These Gluten Free Butterfly Cakes take me right back to my childhood! Gluten free vanilla cakes filled with vanilla buttercream and topped with ‘butterflies’. Customise them with jam, lemon curd or sprinkles – or enjoy plain as part of a gluten free afternoon tea.
I always remember gluten free butterfly cakes as a child. With whipped buttercream and a super light and fluffy gluten free vanilla sponge, they are so delicious.
This is a really easy gluten free bake and great for making with kids. Make them as an alternative to my gluten free fairy cakes – or even better, make them both!
You can easily customise this butterfly cupcakes recipe to be dairy free as well and the vanilla buttercream can be flavoured however you like.
These are a great rainy day baking activity for kids in the school holidays and are also great for a birthday party, as celebration cakes, or as part of a gluten free afternoon tea.
If you like these, make sure to check out my gluten free vanilla cupcakes, my gluten free vanilla tray bake or my easy vanilla loaf cake recipes too.
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card below with the quantities and method for these butterfly cakes. But for the shopping list, you will need the following ingredients:
- Caster Sugar: Look for baker’s sugar in the US.
- Unsalted Butter: Or a vegan margarine such as Stork baking block for dairy free.
- Eggs: I use large UK eggs, you’ll need XL eggs in the US.
- Self Raising Gluten Free Flour: If you don’t have self rising flour, simply add 1.25 teaspoons of gluten free baking powder to a plain gluten free flour blend.
- Xanthan Gum: This is essential for stopping the fairy cakes becoming crumbly.
- Vanilla Extract
- Milk: Use a dairy free milk such as almond or soya milk for dairy free fairy cakes.
You’ll also need the following ingredients for the buttercream frosting
- Icing Sugar: Or confectioner’s sugar / powdered sugar in the US.
- Butter: It’s super important this is at room temperature to make good buttercream. Use a dairy free margarine instead for dairy free butterfly cakes.
How to make Gluten Free Butterfly Cakes
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy these gluten free butterfly cakes are to make:
Preheat the oven to 180’C (170’C fan) / Gas 4. Fill either one 18-hole or two 12-hole muffin tins with cake cases.
As a top tip, add a couple of grains of rice under each of the paper liners and it will stop the bottom of the paper cases becoming greasy when they bake!
Add the softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and creamy.
Crack the eggs into the mixing bowl and beat again for 30 seconds to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula.
Sift in the self-raising gluten free flour and xantham gum and then beat together with the electric whisk until everything is fully combined.
Add the milk 1 tbsp at a time, mixing in between. You want a fairly thick batter which drops from the spoon easily, so you may need either 2 or 3 tbsp of milk.
Spoon the mixture evenly between the cake cases and then place in the centre of an oven and bake for 20 minutes.
The cupcakes are done when they are well-risen, golden on top, and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool in the tray for at least 15 minutes before removing the cakes from the tin.
To decorate the butterfly cakes:
Make the buttercream frosting by beating together the icing sugar, butter, milk and vanilla extract until pale and creamy. It’s really important the butter is soft when you do this.
Use a sharp knife to cut a small circle out of the centre of each cake, about half the depth of the entire cake.
Use a palette knife, teaspoon or piping nozzle to fill the hole with buttercream frosting. Cut the circle of cake you removed in half and place it on top, like butterfly wings.
Sprinkle the cakes with icing sugar to finish before serving. There are also some ideas for variations below if you want to mix things up a bit!
Storing and Freezing
Once baked these gluten free butterfly cakes can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 5-7 days.
Don’t refrigerate them – gluten free cake tends to go dry and hard when kept in the fridge!
These vanilla butterfly cakes can be made ahead of time and frozen before decorating. Defrost at room temperature before topping with icing.
You can also freeze any leftover cakes once decorated and defrost them at room temperature whenever you need a cake fix.
Variations
Want to mix up these easy butterfly cakes and try something different? Here are a few variations you can try:
- Chocolate Butterfly Cakes: Add 2 tbsp cocoa powder to the cake mixture and a little cocoa powder to the buttercream to make chocolate butterfly cakes.
- Jammy Butterfly Cakes: Add a small spoonful of jam underneath the buttercream frosting, or drizzle a line of any jam – raspberry jam is my fave! – between the ‘wings’.
- Lemon Butterfly Cakes: Add the zest of a lemon to the cake batter and another to the buttercream for lemon butterfly cakes. You could also add some lemon curd under the frosting for extra zestiness!
- Sprinkles: Want jazzy butterflies? Add some (gluten free) sprinkles on top of the buttercream for super colourful butterfly cakes.
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Butterfly Cakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 125 g caster sugar
- 125 g unsalted butter, (softened)
- 2 large eggs, (see notes for egg free)
- 125 g self raising gluten free flour
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 tbsp milk
For the icing:
- 150 g icing sugar, (plus extra for dusting)
- 75 g unsalted butter, (at room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180'C (170'C fan) / Gas 4. Fill either one 18-hole or two 12-hole muffin tins with fairy cake cases. This recipe makes around 18 fairy cakes so I tend to use two 12-hole tins.
- Add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and creamy. (TIP: If the butter is hard, zap it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before adding it to the mixing bowl to make it easier!)
- Crack the eggs into the mixing bowl and beat again for 30 seconds to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula.
- Sift in the self-raising gluten free flour and xantham gum and then beat together with the electric whisk until everything is fully combined. Add the milk 1 tbsp at a time, mixing in between. You want a fairly thick batter which drops from the spoon easily, so you may need either 2 or 3 tbsp of milk.
- Spoon the mixture evenly between the cake cases and then place in the centre of an oven and bake for 20 minutes. The cupcakes are done when they are well-risen, golden on top, and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool in the tray for 10 minutes before removing the cakes from the tray to cool completely before icing.
To decorate the butterfly cakes
- Make the buttercream frosting by beating together the icing sugar, butter, milk and vanilla extract until pale and creamy.
- Use a sharp knife to cut a small circle out of the centre of each cake, about half the depth of the entire cake.
- Use a palette knife, teaspoon or piping nozzle to fill the hole with buttercream frosting. Cut the circle of cake you removed in half and place it on top, like butterfly wings.
- Sprinkle the cakes with icing sugar to finish before serving.
Notes
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups – I have weighed each item individually to ensure the conversion is accurate as possible. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this butterfly cakes recipe should look at each stage.
- Storing, Making Ahead and Freezing: Check out the post above this recipe card for more information on how to make these butterfly cakes ahead of time and how to freeze any leftovers.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about this Gluten Free Butterfly Cakes!
Nutrition
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