Right, i'm making DD1 a butterfly cake. I need a quick icing tutorial

[thestringcheeseincident]

Do I ice it completely in buttercream (plan on doing a double layer one with jam and buttercream in the middle). Or do I get the ready to roll icing?
Not done more than a buttercream before.
Thanks .

Personally, I'd do it in rolled fondant (ready roll icing, or you can make your own - it's dead easy, plus nicer and easier to work than the bought stuff - I can give you a recipe if you like). Only thing is, if you want to colour it, you need to use paste or gel food colouring, as the liquid stuff will just make it sticky and nasty. You also need to have the cake at room temp, and don't put a fondant-covered cake in the fridge, as the fondant can sometimes weep).
To ice with rolled fondant, you need to crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream, then roll out the icing (not too thin) on cornflour, and just lift it over with the rolling pin and smooth it down. A ribbon round the bottom of the cake will hide any scruffy edges.
Once you get the hang of it, it's dead easy to use. You can paint it and everything. Will bung a picture of a butterfly cake I made recently on my profile, if I can find it.

All your cakes - I'd love your recipe for fondant icing. I always buy the ready made stuff but I'd love to make my own.

thank you so much allyourcake. I will heed your advice, probably just do a shop bought ready roll though. Really appreciate your advice and super tip with the ribbon. Cheers.

Littlefish, I basically use this one but I use a whole 2kg box of icing sugar, rather than the 8 cups specified, and I substitute 4 leaves of gelatin for the powdered stuff. I think I used spreadable butter instead of vegetable shortening last time too. Makes lovely icing.

thestringcheese, I can't take the credit, really. I watch FAR too much Ace of Cakes on the Good Food Network...
I'd love to be able to do a cake shaped like a full-sized motorbike, like they did...