Marbled Fondant Butterfly Cookies

Measure out the sugar and softened butter into a large mixing bowl and mix them together. I use an electric whisk to do the hard work for me. When they are nicely mixed together, add in the egg and vanilla extract and whisk or mix again. Add the plain flour to the bowl and mix this all in too.

If you use an electric mixer, you'll now have a crumbly dough mix in your bowl. Now's the time to get your hands in and squeeze all the mixture together to make a nice, firm dough. Push the dough together into a large ball shape, cover in plastic food wrap and pop in the refrigerator for approx 30 minutes before cutting your butterfly shapes out.

Once the dough has been chilled in the refrigerator, you need to roll out the cookie dough. I never attempt to roll the whole amount in one go but prefer to take half of the dough and roll that out onto a large, flat surface. Whatever thickness you roll your dough out to is pretty much the thickness they will be once cooked. I aim for around 5mm thick.

Cut out your butterflies from the dough and put them onto lightly floured baking trays. Bake the butterfly cookies on Gas 4 (350°F / 177°C) for around 10-12 mins. They should be a nice golden brown color. Then pop them onto cooling racks and get on with making your fondant icing while they cool down.

Ready to roll fondant icing such as Regal-Ice is pre-colored and very easy to use. I'm not sure on the quantity that you'll need because that will vary but I generally use two colors to make the marbled icing and a large, fist-sized, amount of each one.

Follow the instructions for the fondant on the packet. I buy individual packets which I warm up between my hands before removing the fondant icing onto a surface that's got a sprinkling of confectioners' sugar or Icing sugar as we call it in the UK. Take an equal amount of two colors of fondant (I used red and yellow) and squash them together into a ball. Twist the ball of fondant in your hands and roll out. You should get a nice marbled effect. If the effect isn't what you hoped for, then simply scrunch it all up and roll again to a thickness you'd like to eat.

Grab your butterfly cutter and cut out your butterflies from the marbled fondant you've just made. Make sure you have some confectioners' sugar or icing sugar sprinkled underneath the fondant icing otherwise it might stick to your work surface.

Warm a small amount of apricot jam, about 1 tablespoon, in a small microwaveable bowl for about 10 seconds. Use a teaspoon to carefully spread a very tiny bit of jam onto a cooked butterfly cookie. You want just enough jam to make a fine layer over the top. Place a blunt knife under a cut fondant butterfly and place it over the top of the cookie and press lightly into place. Set on a tray to dry and you're done. Enjoy your yummy butterfly cookies!