Ann Reardon

Chocolate Butterfly | How to Make Dainty Chocolate Butterflies

chocolate butterflies howtocookthat ann reardon

Chocolate butterflies sound kind of dreamy and magical. Paper thin chocolate wings fluttering by, landing on your cupcake to adorn it to perfection.  Or hiding in the garden to surprise and delight party guests.

chocolate butterfly ann reardon chocolate butterflies by Ann Reardon

Butterflies are dainty, so the chocolate equivalent needs to be delicate, elegant and delicious. To achieve this you can use tempered chocolate so that they are crisp at room temperature.  If you are making colorful butterflies I suggest that you use ‘fake’ white chocolate because the real white chocolate can be difficult to temper in small quantities. If you’re confused already then read this post that explains tempering and what chocolate to use for decorations.

chocolate butterflies how to cook that IMG_3710

Watch the video for a full tutorial on making these beautiful butterflies:

 

You will need:
300g (10.58 ounces) Chocolate (what chocolate to use) If you are making one toned butterflies you will not need this much chocolate, I have allowed plenty so that you can make several colours and have a decent amount in each bag so that it doesn’t set too quickly.
Oil based food coloring (available at cake decorating stores)
Non-stick baking paper (if you do not have non stick baking paper then check that the paper you are using allows the chocolate to slide off it easily once set).
Ziplock Bags or piping bags for the chocolate
Some pictures of real butterflies to give you an idea of the wing shape

Fold your baking paper in half to make a crease down the centre. Quickly pipe one side of the butterfly, fold the paper over and gently rub on the chocolate. Open again, pipe the body and antennae and then sit against a wall to allow it to set with the wings on an angle.
 
dainty chocolate butterflies

by Ann Reardon How To Cook That

 

2013

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

73 Comments View Comments

  1. Hi Ann, I love your butterflies and like to place some onto the weddingcake for my daughter next Saturday. I hope I can manage to make them at all. If yes, how can I transport them without melting or breaking in the car, they are really thin. I think its better do decorate the cake where the wedding celebration takes place. Thanks for your advice :-).

    • Hope it went well Eike!

  2. Hi Ann,

    Love all of your videos and hard work. How long will these butterflies keep? If I made them now, could I store them for a few weeks?

    Thank you,
    Dori

    • Hi Dori, If stored in a cool dark place these butterflies will keep for a few weeks.

  3. I am so sad, ann. It looks so easy, but i cant make it. It always gets like the picture shown. I used collata compound chocolate and water based food coloring. Does the mistake come from my food colouring?

    • Hi Anti, It is really important to use oil based colours, not water based.

  4. hi Ann,
    I really enjoy all ur videos. , thanks for all ur hardwork ,I really wanted to make these butterflies can I use wax paper for making them on?

  5. Rating: 5

    Hi, I made these and they turned out pretty nice, the problem was I ate them all up in just a second!

  6. I hope I am not disturbing you and do you remember me from the comments from which cream you should use. I didn’t understand can you say in detail you get onlh two colours of powder colours that to of not a good company

  7. You don’t get gell colours here in India so what should i use ann please help I have to take the chocolate butterflies to a birthday party……

    • Hi Aimen, There is a cake decorating store in india and they have colours – search color int heir search bar and you’ll find a good range http://www.ccdsshop.com/

  8. Hi! love your videos! I was just wondering how long can you keep them in the fridge Before you eat them? Thank you! <3

  9. Rating: 5

    here is a sponge cake that I made using your sponge cake recipe,butter cream,marshmallow fondant, and butterfly wings. Excuse the messiness of the cake, I had a brilliant (not) idea of trimming the cake to show the ombré effect and it turn out really bad.

  10. What fake chocolate should I use. The name of it?

    • Hi Monika, Check the ingredients on the packet of what you can find in your supermarket. If it uses vegetable fat instead of coco cutter it is a ‘fake’ chocolate.

  11. I did use non stick baking paper. Thank you Ann I just have to try it again

  12. Mine ones look good on the paper then when I peel them off they break why? Could be too thin?

    • Hi Netty make sure you are using non-stick baking paper they should just slide off

  13. Rating: 4

    Hi Ann!
    Please Help!
    I am really liking your vids!
    when I am baking chocolate decorations and stuff with chocolate my chocolate is ALWAYS setting really fast and before I can make some decorations like the butterflies and things.
    I live In New Zealand and mostly using Nestle chocolate melts.
    is it because I live in New Zealand or the chocolate melts I am using and is there something I can do to stop them from melting? PLEASE HELP!

    • just looked at one of your replies I am using a marble/stone bench but normally I am doing it over a chopping board?

  14. Hey ann. Just wondering what will happen if I use our natural food colouring instead of oil based for the white chocolate colouring. Also what will happen if I use actual white and dark chocolate. Will it just take longer to temper and melt at room temperature? Thanks. Oh and btw your the best YouTube cake and desert decorator I know of.
    Here is a pic of our food colouring

    • if it’s not oil based it will cause the chocolate to seize and go lumpy

  15. Cute

  16. Rating: 5

    Your tutorials are excellent. I have tried making those butterflies from tutorials from youtube (not yours) and it looks good after it set. Looks beautiful on my cake. However, yours seems simplier and prettier. I will have to try this. I am now a fan of yours. Here’s how mine looked like:

    • they look beautiful Maribe

  17. I made these and put them on my granddaughters lime green birthday cake and they turned out spectacular. I broke a few learning to make them but finally figured out that the outside needs to be a little thicker than I was making them. Thank you for taking the time to teach all of us. You are wonderful !

    • thanks Caroline so glad they worked out

  18. hi Ann, can I use melted chocolate chips for this?

  19. Ann, I’m probably the only fan that cannot make those butterflies. I
    have piped and piped, yet when I unfold the paper, I just get a blob. : (
    I am using the Wilton Light Cocoa melts, is that my problem. Does it
    need to be Dark chocolate or is there a certain temperature for the
    melting? I keep watching your video over and over & I’m doing what you are doing. I hope a hint from you you will help me. I am so excited
    to make these butterflies and sooo disappointed that I can’t. Thanks
    for your help.

    • hi sylvia, the wilton candy melts are not chocolate and don’t melt as well as chocolate does – they tend to be thicker, unless you add a thinning agent and then they don’t set as well. Try nestle white chocolate melts.

  20. I’ve viewed a number of YouTube videos on making chocolate decorations–and wanted to try butterflies. Yours is the BEST! I’m a new fan. Thank you!

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