Fruit Butterfly: A Fun Cake to Make with Kids

by Lynn K.

This butterfly cake is very easy to make - and would be fun to customize with any sort of cake flavor and decorations you like. People are always amazed when they find out it's egg and dairy-free. My kids really had a great time helping make the cake and do the decorations. We had a lot of fun making the "butterfly" - both kids helped with designing the strawberry pattern and putting sanding sugar on top. 

The butterfly is made with Chocolate Wacky Cake with chocolate ganache, strawberries, and clear and red sanding sugars.  You can use any safe recipe for your children.  Earlier  Cake Week blog posts have shared tutorials on how to make wacky cake and frosting.

Bake the cake in a 9 inch circle pan. Once removed from the pan and cooled, cut it in half and flip the circle halves. Cut out small diamond shapes to make the "wings", then the use the diamonds placed in the center to become the butterfly's "body". This is what it looked like before frosting:

Ganache is dark chocolate gently melted with heavy cream (usually). To make dairy-free ganache, I followed this ganche tutorial  used "full fat" coconut milk (the kind in a can), safe chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life), and I added a little vanilla.

Tip for coconut milk in a can - the fat often separates. So what I do is put the UNOPENED can in a small bowl or cup of very hot water and let it sit for a minute or two. Then I shake the can to mix the coconut milk back up.

I don't have a kitchen scale, so I estimated amounts using the weight info from the chocolate chip and coconut milk packages. I've found it best to start with a little LESS coconut milk than I think I need, then add more if the ganache is too thick.

When the ganache is cooled but still a little warm, it is very pourable and works great to pour over cakes / cupcakes. When it cools you get a pretty shiny chocolate covered cake. 

Next, it's time to decorate your butterfly with sliced fruit, sanding sugars, or any other safe decoration for your child with food allergies. Kids love to help with this part. 

You can also use the same ganache recipe to make whipped ganache for cupcakes. I let the ganache cool all the way until it is pretty solid, then use a beater to whip it into a frosting consistency. It melts easily, so I kept these in the fridge until it is almost time for dessert.

Lynn K is a volunteer for Kids With Food Allergies Foundation and is a leader for breastfeeding, baby, toddler and preschooler support. She is a mother to two boys with food allergies.