Butterfly Cakes

Light vanilla cakes filled with jam and cream, wings dusted with icing sugar | A Great-Nan's recipe preserved on Hestia

These light, airy cakes are a testament to the beauty of simple ingredients and the joy of sharing something small and sweet. Handed down from a great-nan, they carry generations of afternoons spent baking something worth slowing down for.

Method

1. Preparation: Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time and mix well. 

2. Incorporation: Fold in the flour with the milk until combined. 

3. The Heat: Fill patty pans and cook for 15 minutes at 200°C. 

4. Final Touches: Once cool, cut out the centers. Place a little jam and cream inside, replace the halved centers to look like wings, and dust with icing sugar. 

Ritual of Presence

• The Sifting and the Folding: As you begin, notice the fine, cloud-like texture of the flour as it passes through the sieve. Use slow, deliberate "figure-eight" motions with your spoon, watching how the heavy butter and sugar base slowly accepts the lightness of the flour—a quiet alchemy of the hearth.

• The Intent of Lightness: Hold the intention of "lightness" in your mind as you work. Just as the cake batter must be treated gently to remain airy, allow your thoughts to lift away from the day's heavy obligations, rooting you in the present moment.

• Small Beauties: As you halve the centers to create "wings," acknowledge the small beauties that emerge from simple acts. This transformation reminds you that the small, everyday acts of your kitchen are the true architecture of a life well-lived.

• The Final Clearing: Let the final dusting of icing sugar represent a clearing of the mind—a soft, clean finish to a moment of dedicated presence. Before you share these cakes, take a final quiet moment to acknowledge the hands that made them—your own—and the legacy of care they carry forward.