This high altitude butterfly pea flower cake starts with a recipe for a soft and fluffy vanilla cake. To naturally color the cake a beautiful blue, I used butterfly pea flower powder in the cake and buttercream, which also intensifies the flavor of the vanilla.
You might also love this roundup of beautiful high altitude cake recipes for Easter, Mother’s Day and spring baking.
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What is Butterfly Pea Flower Powder?
Butterfly pea powder is made from the dried petals of the edible butterfly pea flower. Its color is a vibrant, deep blue, although when combined with an acid, such as lemon juice, it can change to pink or purple.
The powder can be used in smoothies or drinks, brewed into tea, or used as a natural blue food coloring in baked goods. I’m calling the gorgeous color of today’s cake “butterfly blue”.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Perfectly Soft, Fluffy and Moist. This vanilla cake is so light, fluffy and moist, with a subtle earthy richness from the flavor of the butterfly pea powder.
Naturally Colored. I intend to explore more natural food coloring options for my baking, and the blue color from the butterfly pea powder is just gorgeous in today’s cake. I also had some butterfly pea flower tea on hand, which I used to dye Easter eggs, along with some other vegetables and spices that we experimented with. The resulting color on the eggs was so beautiful, and I love that the dyes were all natural.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Cake Flour. With a lower percentage of protein than all-purpose flour, cake flour is best for today’s cake. It will make your cake softer, lighter and fluffier.
- Butterfly Pea Flower Powder. This is an edible, caffeine free powder ground from flower petals. I bought mine on Amazon. A little goes a long way.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F, position a rack in the center of the oven, and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then whisk to distribute the ingredients evenly.
- In a liquid measuring cup, measure the milk, then add the butterfly pea flower powder. Stir to dissolve.
- To the dry ingredients, add the blue milk, along with the eggs, egg whites, melted butter, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk for about 15-30 seconds, until well combined.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Tap a few times against the counter to pop any large air bubbles.
- Bake the cakes for about 21-25 minutes, or until a cake tester or a toothpick comes out clean, and the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Set the pans on a wire rack, cover them loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting. When ready to frost and assemble the cake, remove the cakes from the pans.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth, then beat in the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and butterfly pea flower powder.
- With the mixer running on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls, mixing until thick and combined.
- Increase speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency. Note that in warmer weather, when the butter is softer, you’ll rarely need to add the milk. I only added a small amount of the butterfly pea flower powder for a pale blue color; you can add more as desired for a richer color.
Assembly and Decorating
- Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream. See this post for a helpful video tutorial.
- To decorate the cake like the one shown in today’s recipe post, fit a piping bag with a coupler and tip #70, then fill with leftover buttercream.
- Pipe a ruffly border around the top and bottom edges of the cake, as shown in today’s video.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cake in an airtight container or cake carrier at room temperature for up to 2-3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
For a smaller cake, cut the cake recipe in half, and bake the cake in three 6-inch cake pans. Make just 3/4 the buttercream recipe for a 6-inch cake. The cake shown in today’s photos and video is a 6-inch cake.
The butterfly pea flower powder has a strong, earthy aroma on its own. However, it does not impart a strong flavor into the cake or buttercream, since only a small amount is used. I felt like the flavor it added simply enhanced the vanilla, giving it a richer flavor.
I used tip #70.
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Butterfly Pea Flower Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- 8-inch cake pans (x3)
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 ¼ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 2 tsp butterfly pea flower powder (see notes)
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 large egg whites (room temperature)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder, optional
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp butterfly pea flower powder
- 2 tbsp milk, only if needed for consistency
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F, position a rack in the center of the oven, and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then whisk to distribute the ingredients evenly.
- In a liquid measuring cup, measure the milk, then add the butterfly pea flower powder. Stir to dissolve.
- To the dry ingredients, add the blue milk, along with the eggs, egg whites, melted butter, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk for about 15-30 seconds, until well combined.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Tap a few times against the counter to pop any large air bubbles.
- Bake the cakes for about 21-25 minutes, or until a cake tester or a toothpick comes out clean, and the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Set the pans on a wire rack, cover them loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting. When ready to frost and assemble the cake, remove the cakes from the pans.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth, then beat in the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and butterfly pea flower powder.
- With the mixer running on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls, mixing until thick and combined.
- Increase speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency. Note that in warmer weather, when the butter is softer, you'll rarely need to add the milk. I only added a small amount of the butterfly pea flower powder for a pale blue color; you can add more as desired for a richer color.
Assembly and Decorating
- Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream. See this post for a helpful video tutorial.
- To decorate the cake like the one shown in today's recipe post, fit a piping bag with a coupler and tip #70, then fill with leftover buttercream.
- Pipe a ruffly border around the top and bottom edges of the cake, as shown in today's video.
Video
Notes
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container or cake carrier at room temperature for up to 2-3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
- For a smaller cake, cut the cake recipe in half, and bake the cake in three 6-inch cake pans. Make just 3/4 the buttercream recipe for a 6-inch cake. The cake shown in today’s photos and video is a 6-inch cake.
- The butterfly pea flower powder has a strong, earthy aroma on its own. However, it does not impart a strong flavor into the cake or buttercream, since only a small amount is used. I felt like the flavor it added simply enhanced the vanilla, giving it a richer flavor.
- If the cake batter is not blue enough for your liking, whisk in another 1-2 tsp of powder before baking your cake.
- Note that you should not change or substitute any of the ingredients in this recipe. Adding another acidic ingredient, such as buttermilk or lemon juice or sour cream, can change the blue color to purple.
- I wanted a very pale blue buttercream, so I used just a small amount of the powder and mixed it into the powdered sugar before whipping it with the butter. This gave it a pretty speckled look, with specks of undissolved powder visible in the buttercream. For a richer color, you can dissolve the powder in two teaspoons of milk to make a food coloring paste, then whip the paste into your buttercream.
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Would I need to consider changing anything to make these into cupcakes?
I’d recommend adding the butterfly pea flower powder to my vanilla cupcakes instead: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/high-altitude-vanilla-cupcakes/
I bought butterfly pea powder and it’s definitely purple not blue. Is there more than one variety of this powder? Thanks
Everything I’ve read about the powder indicates that it’s blue, not purple. It can, however, look purple, when combined with an acidic liquid. Have you tried adding a small amount to milk or water to see what it does? It should look blue. If you add something like lemon juice, that can turn it purple. I’m curious to hear what you find out with the brand you bought.