Butterfly-Themed 7th Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

I was requested to make a cake and cupcake ensemble for a 7th birthday party last February 12th.  Before then, it’s been over three months since I last decorated a cake.  The birthday mom did her homework and she did her homework well.  One, she knew what she wanted: a butterfly theme.  Two, she knew how she wanted to display the cake and cupcakes and in fact already had a display stand built.  And three, she wanted the cake stand to be decorated with a satin cloth and she can’t be swayed into decorating the stand any other way.

Want to see how everything came together?  Well here it is without further ado…

The cake on the top of the display is 8-inch round, a combination of mocha chiffon and chocolate chiffon with  custard filling.  There are 50 vanilla chiffon cupcakes frosted with Italian meringue butter cream.

The gumpaste butterflies were done 48 hours ahead of time.  They were so much fun to make!

There are about 6 color combinations for the the butterflies.  They all started out white and then they were brushed with pearl dust for a shiny, shimmery and splendid finish. ;)

I decorated the cake with leaves and flowers and more butterflies.  I love how the colors came together.  I based the colors of the cake on the cupcake liners and birthday invitation, all of which were provided to me by the birthday mom. ;)

The birthday girl’s mom and I readily agreed on having just one candle.  I don’t really mind having a lot of candles on a cake but I think one is good enough, specially when the birthday celebrant’s age is already superimposed on the cake.  I’m also not a huge fan of number candles.  I am horrified every time a mom takes out a number candle and sticks it on a decorated cake.  So now, whenever I make cakes for friends, I make a friendly request that number candles not be used. Call it candle fetish! Hee hee.

Here’s a view of the cake from the back…

I was told the guests loved the ensemble and that the frosting was a huge hit..  And I am glad!!

I love children’s parties.  They are, in a lot of ways, different from children’s parties from my time, yet they are the same in that they are a celebration of the parents’ love for their children. Kids should understand that they will not be kids forever.  Before they know it, they’ll be visiting topacneproducts.org.  Scary thought, huh? Not fun at all. Hee hee. :D

Cheers y’all!