Pastel Butterflies Cake

It's been warm here in Mississippi for the past couple of days and although I love the cold, it definitely feels like spring is on the way (whether I like it or not).  Seeing tiny buds on the trees outside got me feeling a little whimsical and something reminded me of this Pastel Butterflies Cake.

I made this cake way back early 2012 - almost 5 years ago.  My skills weren't nearly as polished as they are now and I didn't have a fraction of the cake experience I have now.

And yet, it remains one of my all-time favorites. The pretty pastel colors. The tiny flowers and butterflies. And oh that poofy bow.

Although I feel like this cake design is timeless, nobody asks for poofy bows anymore. But dang, I sure did love making them when they were popular! I even made a tutorial for them way back in the day.

When I decided to share the cake again, I didn't completely rewrite the post. Everything from here on is the original writing, circa 2012. Enjoy!

Pastel Butterflies Cake

This Pastel Butterflies cakes was ordered for a sweet lady celebrating her 77th birthday! That definitely deserves cake, right?!

And her daughter told me she loved butterflies and flowers... and light blue, yellow and mint green. Such a pretty color palette and it felt so much like spring.

I did my best to every detail mentioned worked into the cake design.

It sort of surprised me, but she told me that she liked this cake I made for Sarah's birthday a couple of years ago.  Looking back, I see so much that was wrong with that cake (and the pics I took), but even with my self-critique, I did love that cake and Sarah did too!

So that was my goal.  I set out to recreate that cake.  But make it better.  Softer and prettier and a little more polished.  And with a lot less cornstarch on the inside of the bow (ha!).  Looking at it now, I think this style of cake would also be pretty for a wedding or baby shower... or even a wedding cake!

Instead of flat butterflies and flowers, I made them 3-D... and with more texture.  My bows have definitely improved since then, although I struggle with every single one I make!   You can see how to make poofy bows here.

For the flavors, she requested vanilla cake for the bottom tier, chocolate cake for the top tier and all vanilla buttercream filling.  Then I covered it with homemade marshmallow fondant and used that for all of the decorations.

What You'll Need for This Cake

Anyway, here's the rundown on the tools/materials I used for this cake:

• Marshmallow Fondant (MMF) - to cover the cake and make all decorations. If you don't want to do homemade, I recommend Satin Ice.
• Americolor Gel Colors:  Lemon Yellow, Sky Blue, and Leaf Green
• Tylose (added to the MMF for the bow and butterflies)
• White Almond Bark - to glue the bow together and glue it to the cake, and to glue on the butterflies
• FMM Ribbon Cutter - for the ribbons and bow
• PME Butterfly Plunger/Cutters
• Flower Plunger/Cutter from the Wilton Gum Paste Flowers Set
• Silicone Pearl Mold

You can see more of my favorite tools here.

Have any questions about this Pastel Butterflies Cake? Leave me a comment and I'll help out if I can!