Butterfly Cookies, Butterfly Cakes {Wafer Paper Tutorial}
My first glimpse of wafer paper butterflies was on this cake by Martha Stewart a few years ago. Have you seen it? It's just gorgeous. I love the simplicity of the white undecorated cake with the butterflies cascading up the side. Ever since I saw this cake I have been wanting to try wafer paper. I finally got the chance for L's birdy/Springtime birthday party, and found it was an easy process. Time consuming? Yes. Difficult? No.
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| Martha Stewart |
The delicate butterflies remind me of a display I saw a few years ago at Neiman Marcus. There were hundreds (thousands?) of strands of sparkling butterflies hung from the ceiling. Does NM still have this up? Hello... I have two small kids, I am not shopping at NM just to have my cashmere barfed on.
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| flickr photo |
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| L's birthday cookies. Try this Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe. Really. Try it. |
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| Butterflies come printed with edible ink on wafer paper sheets. They look rather dull at first, but come to life after a coat of writing gel and glitter. |
Want more butterflies? Click here to see my fave butterfly girl! And stay posted, I'll have a very special butterfly and food related giveaway to share with you very soon.
Materials for 24 edible wafer paper butterflies
Wafer paper sheets. I got mine at Fancy Flours. $10 for two 8 x 10" sheets.
Clear writing gel
Scissors
2 empty egg cartons
Edible glitter (I used shimmer dust for fondant I had on hand)
Spread a thin layer of clear writing gel over one butterfly. Carefully cut out. Sprinkle with edible glitter or shimmer. Gently bend the wings toward each other and place in an egg carton well to dry. Repeat until all the butterflies are finished. Butterflies can be made as far in advance as you like. I made mine weeks in advance and stored in a glass container. Before serving, use a little of the writing gel to "glue" your butterfly to your cookie or cake.