How to Make 3-D Royal Icing Butterflies
Every so often I will see something, like a piece of art or even another baked good that is just so beautiful that I think to myself: “I must make this!"
After seeing these beautiful macarons on Instagram that were topped with 3-D butterflies, I was itching to find a reason to make cookies topped with butterflies. Since it’s now Fall, pumpkins made perfect sense!
What You Need
To make the butterflies, you will need:
A template of the butterfly wings (I printed several sizes)
Parchment paper or acetate
Piping consistency icing you your desired color(s)
Edible glitter (optional)
A boo-boo stick or other tool to help lift the butterfly wings off of the parchment paper
For the cookie base, you will need:
Sugar cookies cut to shape
Royal icing in piping and flood consistency
How to Make Them
To create the three-dimensional butterflies, you will want to print out a butterfly wing template and top the template with a piece of parchment paper or acetate which will serve as your “tracing paper”.
Cut a very small opening on the piping bag so that it produces a very narrow line of icing. Trace over the butterfly wing shape with the icing. If using glitter, sprinkle the glitter over the icing immediately. Let the wings dry completely (about 30-60 minutes).
To assemble to butterfly, pipe a small line of icing on the cookie or on a piece of parchment paper. Place some sort of support, like a piece or parchment or paper towel on either side of the line. Gently place the inside edge of the butterfly wing on top of the line of icing. Repeat with the second wing, the let the icing dry completely before removing the supports.
When the icing is dry, pipe another line of icing on top of the first small line of icing.
See the full process here: