To make the cakes: Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake cases. Put all the ingredients (minus the jam) into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth. Don’t over beat.
Divide the mixture evenly between the paper cases, filling each to 3/4 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before leaving to cool completely on a wire rack. When the cakes have cooled, use an apple corer to remove the middle from each cake, saving it for later. Add 1 tsp of strawberry jam to the centre of each cake and replace the piece of cake, pushing it down on top of the jam.
To make the buttercream icing: Add butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl, then beat for about 5 minutes with an electric whisk until smooth. Pour the milk in gradually and only if you need to loosen the mixture.
When the cakes are cool, attach the star nozzle to a large piping bag and place it in a tall glass. Pull the top of the bag down around the glass, and fill the bag 2/3 full, pushing the buttercream down into the bag as you fill.
Lift the bag up from around the glass. From where the buttercream stops, push all the air up out of the bag and twist the bag right at the top of the buttercream. Hold the twist between your thumb and forefinger.
To pipe a swirl, Hold the twist between your thumb and forefinger and apply pressure to the top of the bag. Starting in the middle of the cake, pipe a star by squeezing a star shape, then releasing the pressure and pulling up quickly. This means your swirl doesn’t fall flat in the middle. Then, starting at the outside edge of the paper case, using it as a guide, follow it around, piping around the star and build up into a swirl.
When you reach the end of the swirl press down slightly, release the pressure and pull up quickly. Top immediately with flowers and butterflies.
Top tips for making this Mother's Day cupcake recipe
If you want to make the flowers from scratch you will need the following:
100g of ready-to-use sugar flower paste (such as Squires)
Edible glue or 5g piece of flower paste dissolved in 1tbsp boiling water to make a paste.
Food colouring paste of your choice (We used Sugarflair - a tiny amount of Red Extra for the pink, Grape Violet for the lilac, Gooseberry for the green, Egg Yellow for the yellow, Petal Blue for the butterfly.)
Various cutters to make the flowers and butterfly by hand (we used butterfly, flower, and daisy center cutters)
To make the sugar flowers and butterflies: Divide the flower paste into 4. Colour 1 section pink, 1 yellow, and 1 blue, keeping the 4th section white for the daisies.
Using your flower cutters, cut out 12 of each flower. Make the primrose and hydrangea look more realistic by using the petunia veiner - place the flower in the center of the veiner and press the 2 sides together.
With the leftover yellow paste, make 12 daisy centers using daisy center stamps. You should have some leftover white paste from making the daisies. Divide into 2 and colour 1 section lilac and 1 section green. Cut out lots of mini blossom flowers and a few leaf or heart-shapes for the leaves. Score the center of the leaves using the blunt side of a knife.
Add the pearl sprinkles to the center of the flowers by placing a touch of edible glue (you don’t need to buy glue, just make some by dissolving a 5g piece of flower paste in 1tbsp boiling water to make a paste) in the center and sticking the sprinkles in.
Roll the blue petal paste out to 1/8inch thick and leave to dry for 5 minutes before cutting the butterflies with a butterfly cutter.
Jessica Dady is Senior Content Editor at Goodto.com and has over 10 years of experience as a digital journalist, specialising in all things food, recipes, and SEO. From the best food hampers to cookbooks, from the best cake stands to baking sets, Jessica has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to must-have food products. A passionate baker, she spends much of her time creating celebration cakes for friends and family - particularly for her two lucky children.
Butterfly buns
