Skinny Caffe Latte Butterfly Cakes

By Bakepedia on April 16, 2014

Who said eating lighter means that you cannot eat cupcakes? Feast your eyes on these deliciously delectable morsels.

_{Excerpted from “A LIGHTER WAY TO BAKE” by Lorraine Pascale. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from HarperCollinsPublishers. Photo Credit: Myles New.}

Skinny Caffe Latte Butterfly Cakes

Author: Lorraine Pascale

Makes: Makes 12 butterfly cakes

Ingredients

Sponge:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1⁄3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 egg white
2 tablespoons low-fat Greek yogurt
1 cup self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Frosting:

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons low-fat crème fraîche
1⁄3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon Baileys Irish cream liqueur

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl (or electric mixer set with a beater) until well combined. Then beat in the eggs, egg white and Greek yogurt. The mixture will start to look, well, a bit curdled, but keep on beating it for a moment or two, and then add the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract or seeds. Blend the coffee granules with 1 tablespoon of hot water and add to the mix. Stir everything together until it is all combined. Pouring the mixture from a pitcher or using two spoons (or I like to use a mechanical ice-cream scoop), divide the mixture among the 12 cups.
Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the cakes feel springy to the touch. Once the cupcakes are cooked, remove them from the oven and leave to cool in the pan.
Meanwhile, make the frosting. Simply mix together the crème fraîche, confectioners’ sugar and Irish cream liqueur in a medium bowl, using as few stirs as possible. Cover and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
Once the cupcakes are cool, slice the top off each cake and cut the pieces in half down the center to give two “wings.” Put a dollop of the frosting on top of each cake, then stick the two “wings” into the frosting of each one, with the center cut downward and the underneath cut outward. Arrange on a platter or cake stand, dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve.