I made this striking black velvet cake last Halloween and it has since become one of my most popular recipes (and a personal favorite of mine as well)! I love it for so many reasons. The cake layers are naturally pitch black, super moist, and have the flavor profile of an Oreo cookie. And since I recently discovered a way to make black buttercream without food color gel, the entire cake is 100% dye-free! So this year I knew I had to whip up a cupcake version in time for your Halloween party planning. 

One of the most wonderful things about these black velvet cupcakes is that they will NOT stain your mouth black or kick off any startling bathroom experiences (iykyk). The beautifully dark color of the cupcakes and buttercream comes from black cocoa powder, which doesn’t contain any dye. I was so thrilled when I realized I could make the entire recipe dye-free that I ate far too many of these cupcakes and kept checking my mouth in the mirror in amazement! 

What is Black Cocoa Powder?

Black cocoa powder is an ultra-Dutched cocoa powder, meaning it’s been treated with an alkaline solution to reduce its acidity. It’s very dark in color and while it isn’t as chocolatey as regular cocoa powder, it does have amazing flavor. It’s the main ingredient in Oreo cookie shells, and that’s basically what the cake layers end up tasting like. The best part about black cocoa powder is it gives the cake layers a rich black color without having to add any additional food coloring! That means it won’t turn your mouth crazy colors. 

Where to Find Black Cocoa Powder

You probably won’t be able to buy black cocoa powder at your local grocery store, but you might have some luck at a dedicated cake decorating supply shop. There aren’t many of those around me, so I get my black cocoa powder on Amazon. This brand is the darkest black cocoa powder I’ve found, and it makes a huge difference in the final results of the buttercream specifically. Other black cocoa powders aren’t as Dutched, but any brand will work in this recipe (see the recipe notes for more info on that). 

If you don’t want to get black cocoa powder online, you can substitute it with an equal amount of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder, which can be found at most grocery stores. It’ll make the cake batter and buttercream dark brown, so if you’re going for black colored cupcakes you’ll need to add some black food color gel to take it all the way. 

How to Decorate Black Velvet Cupcakes

You can decorate these black velvet cupcakes any way you want, but I went for a super simple yet elegant theme here. I used Wilton Tip 1M to pipe the black buttercream in a swirl and then sprinkled some metallic gold stars on top. 

Other design ideas: topping them with galaxy buttercream for a space-themed party, filling them with vanilla buttercream to go all the way with the Oreo cookie flavor, or keeping it creepy with some edible spiderwebs. However you decorate, these cupcakes will be a true crowd pleaser! 

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Black Velvet Cupcakes

100% dye-free black velvet cupcakes with black cocoa buttercream that are perfect for any spooky gathering. They're moist and decadent with the flavor profile of an Oreo cookie!

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Servings 14 cupcakes

Ingredients

Black Velvet Cupcakes

• 1 Cup (132g) all purpose flour
• 3/4 Cup (150g) granulated sugar
• 1/3 Cup (38g) black cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 Cup (60ml) vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) full-fat buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in notes
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) hot coffee or hot water

Dye-Free Black Buttercream

• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 Cups (300g) powdered sugar
• 1/2 Cup (56g) black cocoa powder**
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• pinch of salt

Instructions

Make the Black Velvet Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF/177ºC and line a cupcake pan with 12-15 liners.
• Place all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir on low for 30 seconds to fully combine them. Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and mix on low until just combined. With the mixer still on low, add the hot water in a slow stream, then turn the mixer to medium and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be very thin. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners (no more than ⅔ full) and bake for 15-18 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it. Cool completely before frosting.

Make the Black Buttercream

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed until creamy and light in color, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add half of the powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until just incorporated, then add the rest of the powdered sugar. With the mixer still in the off position, sift in the black cocoa powder and add the vanilla, milk, and salt. Mix on low until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.
• The buttercream will look dark brown at this point, but the color will darken significantly over the next several hours. See the recipe notes for storage instructions if you're not planning on piping the cupcakes the same day.

Assembly

• Once the black velvet cupcakes are completely cooled, frost them with the black buttercream. To create the look pictured, place the black buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 1M and pipe a swirl onto each cupcake. Top with edible metallic gold stars.

Notes

*DIY Buttermilk recipe: add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to a jar and top it with 1 Cup of whole milk. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes before using in the recipe. 

**Black Cocoa Powder: It’s important to use the darkest black cocoa powder possible to achieve a black color. Here’s the brand I used in this recipe. 

Make Ahead Tips: 

1. The black velvet cupcakes can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, they can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to two months. 
2. The black buttercream recipe can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. It will get significantly darker after 24 hours. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-mix with your stand mixer on low speed to bring it back to frosting consistency. 

These black velvet cupcakes are sure to be a hit at your next gathering! I hope you love them as much as I do. Let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you post a pic! I love to see what you create.

The post Black Velvet Cupcakes appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Whenever I share this black velvet cake recipe I get so excited to say that the cake layers don’t have any food coloring in them. The black cocoa powder turns those layers extra black in the baking process and the result is so striking! I originally paired it with this black buttercream recipe that uses minimal food coloring but I got to wondering if there was a way to make the entire cake dye-free, frosting and all. Well, that wondering turned into a straight up obsession and I tested tons of techniques and ingredients to finally find the perfect dye-free black buttercream recipe. Turns out it’s easier and less complicated than I thought! 

This gorgeous black buttercream recipe is awesome for a few reasons: 

• It DOESN’T turn your mouth black (or anything else )
• It uses ZERO food color gel
• There’s NO charcoal involved 
• It’s super EASY to make
• It tastes like OREO COOKIE BUTTER

Since I’m such a big fan of Oreos, I enjoyed quite a few spoonfuls and kept checking my mouth to see if my tongue would turn black but guess what? It didn’t! If you’ve been looking for a natural way to make dark black buttercream, this is it. 

The Secret Ingredient for Dye-Free Black Buttercream 

To get the blackest black buttercream naturally, you’ll need one special ingredient: EXTRA DARK black cocoa powder. During all of my recipe testing and experiments, I realized that not all black cocoa powders will get your frosting as dark as this kind. Just look at the difference between the brands below:

All black cocoa powder is essentially raw cacao powder that’s been Dutch-processed, or treated with an alkaline solution to reduce its acidity. The result of that chemical reaction is a darker colored cocoa powder and richer chocolate flavor. It’s what Oreo cookie shells are made with, so that’s the main note you get when you bake with black cocoa powder. 

The Experiments 

I was thoroughly obsessed with finding the perfect recipe for this black buttercream. So much that I went lots of directions with it. After realizing that black cocoa gets darker when heated or cooked, I understood why my cake layers got so dark without food coloring. So I tried lots of experiments with heat: blooming the black cocoa powder in melted butter, making an Ermine frosting with it, and cooking it into an inky black syrup with sugar and water (like this Sugarologie method), to name just a few. These experiments either resulted in a super dark brown buttercream or just didn’t have the right consistency in the end. 

I wanted to come up with a recipe that was straightforward and easy enough for anyone to make, and it wasn’t until I started researching different brands of black cocoa powder that I found this extra dark version. It is a game changer. It’s so much darker in color than any of the other brands I’ve tried, so I was able to sift it into my favorite buttercream recipe and the results were perfect. No cooking, no complicated steps, just a super straightforward method and the right product. 

It’s ready to use right away but look at how much darker it gets after 24 hours:

My New Favorite Black Buttercream Recipe

After seeing that I can make black buttercream without dye, it’s all I want to do going forward. I love not worrying about it coloring the teeth and tongues of party guests or hearing stories about startling bathroom experiences afterwards (iykyk). Plus, it’s silky smooth and tastes just like Oreo cookie butter so I was legitimately eating it by the spoonful! It pairs perfectly with my black velvet cake recipe or any cake that would pair well with dark chocolate frosting. Here’s a quick video I whipped up to show you how it’s made:

If you want more videos like this one, you’ll find more on my YouTube page! Be sure to hit the Subscribe button while you’re there so you never miss a new one.

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Dye-Free Black Buttercream

Silky smooth, naturally colored black buttercream made with the magic of black cocoa powder. No food color gel, charcoal, or complicated steps involved!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Servings 3 Cups

Ingredients

• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 Cups (300g) powdered sugar
• 1/2 Cup (56g) extra dark black cocoa powder*
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• pinch of salt

Instructions

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed until creamy and light in color, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add half of the powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until just incorporated, then add the rest of the powdered sugar. With the mixer still in the off position, sift in the black cocoa powder and add the vanilla, milk, and salt. Mix on low until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.
• Place the buttercream in an airtight container and allow the color to deepen for 24 hours or more. You can keep it at room temperature for one day or store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you're ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-mix with your stand mixer on low speed until the consistency is smooth.

Notes

*Black Cocoa Powder: It’s important to use the darkest black cocoa powder possible to achieve a black color. Here’s the brand I used in this recipe. 

Make Ahead Tips: this buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency. 

 

Yield: This buttercream makes enough to:

• Frost 12-15 cupcakes with a piping bag
• Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe. 

Did you make this dye-free black buttercream? I want to know what you paired it with and what you think! Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me. I love to see what you create!

The post EASY Dye-Free Black Buttercream Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

UPDATE 2023: I recently discovered a way to make black buttercream with ZERO food color gel and it’s my new favorite recipe because it won’t turn your mouth black and tastes like Oreo cookie butter! I updated the buttercream portion of the recipe to make this entire cake dye-free. If you’d prefer the original black frosting recipe (which uses minimal food color gel), you’ll find it here.

In honor of the spookiest season of all, I’ve whipped up a cake recipe that’s sure to satisfy all the Halloween lovers: black velvet. The cake layers are pitch black, super moist and decadent, naturally colored, and taste just like the delicious shell of an Oreo cookie! Paired with my favorite dye-free black buttercream recipe and lambeth piping, this black velvet cake is a real stunner. It’s elegant and a little eerie all at the same time, which makes it the perfect Halloween party cake! 

You’ve probably heard of red velvet cake (which could also be a very cool Halloween-themed cake depending on how you decorate it!), but you don’t really see black velvet cake any other time of year. It’s so delicious that I would totally eat this cake year round. I’m actually planning on using it in an Oreo-inspired cake recipe since it tastes so much like the cookie part! The color and the flavor both come from black cocoa powder, which I’ll explain more about below. 

First, look at how stunning these cake layers are with this black buttercream. The whole thing together tastes like if you sandwiched chocolate buttercream between Oreo cookie shells instead of creme filling. If you’re a chocolate lover like I am, you are going to love this black velvet cake. 

What is Black Cocoa Powder?

Black cocoa powder is basically an ultra Dutched cocoa powder, meaning it’s been treated with an alkaline solution to reduce its acidity. It’s very dark in color and while it isn’t as chocolatey as regular cocoa powder, it does have amazing flavor. It’s the main ingredient in Oreo cookie shells, and that’s basically what the cake layers end up tasting like. The best part about black cocoa powder is it gives the cake layers a rich black color without having to add any additional food coloring! That means it won’t turn your mouth crazy colors. 

I use this extra dark black cocoa powder in the frosting portion of this recipe, which makes it possible to create black buttercream without adding food color gel. The frosting ends up being a super dark brown color after you mix it up, but after 24 hours it darkens to a rich black color like magic! It won’t stain your mouth or kick off any startling bathroom experiences, plus it tastes like Oreo cookie butter so I’m in love.

Where to Find Black Cocoa Powder

You probably won’t be able to buy black cocoa powder at your local grocery store, but you might have some luck at a dedicated cake decorating supply shop. There aren’t many of those around me, so I get my black cocoa powder on Amazon. If you don’t want to get it online, you can substitute it with an equal amount of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder, which can be found at most grocery stores. It’ll make the cake batter dark brown, so if you’re going for a black colored cake you’ll need to add a squirt of black food color gel to take it all the way. 

What Makes it a Velvet Cake? 

The term “velvet cake” dates back to the 1800’s. The term was used to describe the soft, delicate texture of the cakes served at fancy dessert parties. Today, there are recipes for virtually every color of velvet cake – red velvet and white velvet being the most popular. The common denominator between all of the velvet cake recipes of today is the use of buttermilk. This ingredient helps give the cakes their velvety texture. 

How to Make a Lambeth Cake

After making these cake layers, I couldn’t stop imagining black lambeth piping as the final decoration. Turns out that lambeth was the perfect choice to turn this black velvet cake into a spooky showstopper. The thing about lambeth is you can add as many layers of piping as you want, so feel free to go overboard. Here’s how I decorated mine: 

I used the black buttercream to fill and stack the cake, crumb coat it, and frost it with a smooth buttercream finish. After chilling the cake until the frosting was firm, I made a template for the garlands using this same parchment paper technique from my cherry chip cake recipe. Then, I used the following piping tips to decorate:

• Wilton Tip 6B for the shell border around the bottom + top edges
• Wilton Tip 4B for the shell border above the bottom 6B shell
• Wilton Tip 104 for the ruffle garlands
• Wilton Tip 32 for the overlapping shells below the garlands 

My cherry chip cake recipe shows these piping techniques in more detail. I finished the look by placing a few round black sprinkles to accent the ruffle garlands and overlapping shells. However you decide to decorate, this cake is so much fun to make and completely delicious. It’s the perfect cake for this scary season and I hope you love it as much as I do!

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Black Velvet Cake

100% dye-free layers of velvety black cocoa cake and black chocolate buttercream dressed up with lambeth piping for the perfect mix of elegance and spookiness.

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 32 minutes

Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

Black Velvet Cake

• 2 Cups (265g) all purpose flour
• 1 2/3 Cups (340g) granulated sugar
• 2/3 Cup (80g) black cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 Cup (240ml) full-fat buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in notes
• 1 Cup (240ml) hot coffee or hot water

Dye-Free Black Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 5 Cups (600g) powdered sugar
• 1 Cup (112g) black cocoa powder**
• 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Instructions

Make the Black Velvet Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting the bottoms with a wax paper or parchment cake circle. 
• Place all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir on low for 30 seconds to fully combine them. Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and mix on low until just combined. With the mixer still on low, add the hot water in a slow stream, then turn the mixer to medium and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be very thin. 
• Pour into prepared cake pans no more than 2/3 full and bake for 32-36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Make the Black Buttercream

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed until creamy and light in color, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add half of the powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until just incorporated, then add the rest of the powdered sugar. With the mixer still in the off position, sift in the black cocoa powder and add the vanilla, milk, and salt. Mix on low until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.
• The buttercream will look dark brown at this point, but the color will darken significantly over the next several hours. See the recipe notes for storage instructions if you're not planning on frosting the cake the same day.

Assembly

• Once the cake layers have cooled completely, level them to your desired height. Fill and stack the layers with black buttercream, then crumb coat the cake with more black buttercream. Refrigerate the crumb coated cake for 20-30 minutes to let the frosting firm up.
• To create the design pictured, use the black buttercream to create a smooth finish on the cake, then refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Use the rest of the black buttercream to create lambeth piping (feel free to use this tutorial as guidance). Accent the lambeth piping with round black sprinkles where desired.

Notes

*DIY Buttermilk recipe: add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to a jar and top it with 1 Cup of whole milk. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes before using in the recipe. 

**For the darkest black buttercream, you’ll want to use extra dark black cocoa powder. This can also be used for the cake portion of the recipe.

Make ahead tips: 

1. The Black Velvet Cake layers can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing to room temperature. 
2. The Black Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency. 

This black velvet cake recipe is so perfect for any Halloween gathering! I hope you love it as much as I do. Let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you post a pic! I love to see what you create.

The post A Spooky Black Velvet Cake Recipe for Halloween appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

UPDATE 2023: I recently found a way to make black buttercream with ZERO food color gel, so if you’re looking for a dye-free alternative be sure to check out this recipe.

Spooky season is here and with it, lots of black buttercream cakes. I’m no stranger to the trend and before now I’ve stuck with a method of making my Favorite Chocolate Buttercream recipe and adding a few Tbsp of AmeriColor Super Black. Since this food color gel is tasteless, the black buttercream still tastes like chocolate buttercream but there is one little problem: it stains teeth temporarily (among other things). So I thought I’d do a little research and experimenting to see if I could create a black buttercream recipe that not only tastes great, it uses as little food coloring as possible to get a nice deep color. 

First, I ordered some black cocoa powder. It’s cocoa powder that has been heavily Dutched, aka alkalized. It helps provide a rich black color, so I swapped the cocoa powder in my Chocolate Buttercream recipe with it to see if it would be all it took. The results: a really dark brown buttercream that tasted a bit bitter, almost like a dark chocolate buttercream. I still needed to use about ½ tsp of AmeriColor Super Black to get it looking right, and it passed the “no teeth stain” test, but I really wanted to make it taste amazing. If flavor isn’t an option (or if you’re a fan of dark chocolate unlike myself), this route is definitely worth a try! 

Since I wanted to get that perfect balance of chocolate flavor, deep black color, and perfect consistency without using too much food coloring, I tried again. This time, I used a mix of half black cocoa powder and half regular (Hershey’s) cocoa powder. The results were again a dark brown color, and this time I had to use about ¾ tsp AmeriColor Super Black. BUT all that to say, this one is the winning black buttercream recipe in my eyes – it passes the “no teeth stain” test, has the perfect black color, and tastes just like my Favorite Chocolate Buttercream recipe. It’s the one I’ll put below. 

3 Key Elements for Black Buttercream Success

If you’ve ever tried to turn a big batch of vanilla buttercream black using only food coloring, you know that it takes a lot of coloring. So much that it can not only ruin the flavor and consistency of your buttercream, it’s costly and isn’t really fun to eat because everyone is left with a black mouth. Instead, going from a deep brown color (aka chocolate buttercream) to black is much easier and takes a lot less coloring. Before you get to buttercream making, here are three key things to keep in mind for black buttercream success: 

1. Start with a chocolate buttercream recipe. It’s much easier to go from brown buttercream to black than it is to go from white to black. By adding cocoa powder into the mix, you save yourself a lot of food color gel (and stress!). I prefer using half black cocoa powder + half regular cocoa powder in my recipe below. You can certainly substitute the regular cocoa powder in the recipe with all black cocoa to use even less food color gel, but the taste will be more like a dark chocolate as opposed to a milk chocolate buttercream.  
2. Use a concentrated black color gel. I swear by AmeriColor Super Black because it’s so concentrated that you truly don’t have to use a whole lot to get a rich black color. It’s also formulated in such a way that it won’t affect the flavor or consistency of your buttercream. 
3. Give it 24 hours to deepen in color. It may look like wet concrete when you first mix it up, but time is magic with this stuff. Give it at least 24 hours to deepen in color and you’ll be blown away at how dark it gets. This is definitely worth making ahead. 

Here’s a quick video that shows you how to whip this black buttercream recipe up.

PS: If you’re into recipe and cake decorating videos like this one, be sure to follow along on my YouTube channel! You’ll find my entire Cake Basics series in video format there, plus tons of recipes and cake decorating tutorials as well. Hit the subscribe button so you never miss a new one! Without further ado, here’s the recipe:

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Black Buttercream Recipe

A pitch black buttercream that checks all the boxes: decadent chocolate flavor, perfect consistency, and won't stain your teeth!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 3 Cups

Ingredients

• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 1/2 Cups (420g) powdered sugar
• 1/4 Cup (30g) black cocoa powder
• 1/4 Cup (20g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp AmeriColor Super Black or other black food color gel

Instructions

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed until creamy and light in color, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add the powdered sugar, cocoa powders, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Turn the mixer to low until all ingredients start to come together.
• Add the black food color gel, increase the speed to medium and beat for two full minutes. The color will resemble wet concrete at first, but will darken as time goes on.
• Place the buttercream in an airtight container and allow the color to deepen for 24 hours or more.

Notes

Make Ahead Tips: this buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency. 

Yield: This buttercream makes enough to:

• Frost 12-15 cupcakes with a piping bag
• Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe. 

Did you make this black buttercream recipe? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram and show me. I love to see what you create!

The post Black Buttercream Recipe with Minimal Food Coloring appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

This Witch Cauldron Cake is frosted with black buttercream, dripped with green (white chocolate) ganache, and topped with some creepy gummy candies and eyeballs. I finished it all off with a generous heap of green cotton candy to make it look like the cauldron steam. The full step-by-step with all my best tips on how to get pitch black buttercream, the perfect drippy ganache finish, and details on decorating is all over on The Cake Blog, so be sure to check out the tutorial there! In the meantime, here are some photos to inspire you:

Perfect amount of spooky and cute, right? I think so! Head to The Cake Blog to see the full tutorial and if you end up making this cake, be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco and @thecakeblog on Instagram. We love to see what you create! Happy Halloween season, people!

The post Halloween Witch Cauldron Cake appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I’m one of those people who starts making big plans for costume ideas months ahead of time and watches all the scary movies as soon as they hit Netflix. So when I saw some sneak peeks of SprinklePop’s Halloween sprinkle lineup, I couldn’t help my brain from bursting with spooky cake ideas! I got my hands on the Monster Mashup sprinkle mix as soon as it hit the shelves and got right to work on planning the ultimate Halloween cake.

The Monster Mashup sprinkle mix is just what it sounds like: a fun collection of monster-esque sprinkles mixed up with some pretty Halloween colored awesomeness. It’s well-saturated with cute candy mummies, googly eyes, and ghosts. Just look at the variety of shapes and colors you get:

In the spirit of Halloween, I decided that the perfect backdrop for these Monster Mashup sprinkles is black buttercream. Pitch black buttercream to be exact. Using a floating technique for placing the sprinkles, it almost looks like those googly eyes, mummies, and ghosts are levitating in the dark! To add to the spook-factor, I’ve also topped the cake with some white cotton candy that’s reminiscent of cauldron smoke.

And because I’m an ultra Halloween nerd, I also tinted the vanilla cake with orange food color gel underneath it all. Everyone knows orange and black are the signature colors of this horrifying holiday. Muah ha ha ha.

I’ve included a full written tutorial below for how to make and assemble this cake, from achieving pitch black buttercream to perfectly placing your Monster Mashup sprinkles. First, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the decorating process: 

Whether you’re in need of a Halloween party showstopper or you just want to make something for the love of spooky cakes, this one’s for you!

You Will Need:

• Chocolate buttercream (here’s the recipe I use)
• 2 tsp Americolor Super Black food color gel
• A great vanilla cake recipe
• A few drops of orange food color gel, optional
• Icing spatula and scraper
• SprinklePop Monster Mashup Sprinkles
• Piping Bag
• Wilton Piping Tip 1M (or another favorite piping tip)
• White cotton candy

Step 1: Make The Chocolate Buttercream

Going from large amounts of white buttercream to black is near impossible. I’ve successfully tinted small quantities before, but in my experience, the easiest way to turn large amounts of buttercream pitch black is to start with your favorite chocolate buttercream recipe. Since brown is not far from black on the color wheel, you won’t have to use a ton of food coloring to get there.

If you don’t yet have a favorite chocolate buttercream recipe, I’ve got a great one for you here! You’ll want to double that recipe to have enough for filling and frosting this cake.

Step 2: Tint The Chocolate Buttercream Black

To get the best consistency of black buttercream, you need a food color gel that’s so concentrated you don’t need to use the entire bottle. My absolute favorite food color gel for the job is Americolor Super Black. It’s a water-based gel and is so powerful you’ll only need a little bit of color! And best of all, it doesn’t affect the taste of your buttercream at all. Not even a little bit.

Once you’ve made your chocolate buttercream, add 2 tsp of Americolor Super Black and make sure it’s fully incorporated. I add it at the end while my buttercream is still in the stand mixer and let the paddle attachment do all the hard work for me.

Step 3: Let The Buttercream Set Overnight

After adding your food color gel, note that your chocolate buttercream won’t be pitch black right away. It’ll probably look a bit like dark concrete. The missing ingredient here is time. In order to let that food color gel work it’s magic, you’ll need to add your buttercream to an airtight container and stick it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, bring it back to room temperature and whip it all back up in your stand mixer.

What you’ll end up with is pitch black buttercream magic!

Step 4: Bake And Cool The Cakes

While your buttercream is setting in the fridge, whip up your favorite vanilla cake recipe and add a few drops of orange food color gel at the end to tint the cakes.

Bake the cakes according to your recipe instructions and let them cool completely before torting the layers to your desired height.

Step 5: Fill And Frost With Black Buttercream

Once your cakes are completely cool and leveled, fill and frost them with your black buttercream. I’ve created a smooth black buttercream finish as the backdrop for my sprinkles.

I use an offset icing spatula and bench scraper to achieve the perfect smooth buttercream finish, and if you need additional tips on how to create this look, you can check out this blog post on how to get the smoothest finish ever.

Step 6: Apply The Monster Mashup Sprinkles

Now for the fun part: adding the sprinkles! To achieve the floating monster sprinkle look, reserve some of the googly eyes, mummies, and ghosts from your Monster Mashup sprinkle mix and set them aside. While the buttercream is still soft enough for the sprinkles to adhere, pour a handful of the Halloween colored sprinkles into your hand and place them around the bottom of the cake.

Cover the entire bottom third of the cake this way, making the top edge of the sprinkle border slightly uneven as you go around.

Once your sprinkle border is complete, take the monster sprinkles you’ve reserved and place them one by one around the top two thirds of the cake. It looks best when there are more monsters toward the bottom and less toward the top. I’ve also chosen to add some of the colored jimmies one by one to fill in some of the blank spaces.

Step 7: Decorate The Top Of The Cake

When your spooky Monster Mashup sprinkle placement is complete, prepare a piping bag by fitting it with Wilton Tip 1M or another favorite piping tip of yours. Fill the piping bag with black buttercream and pipe a border around the top of the cake. I’ve chosen to pipe a few swirls around the top of the cake and sprinkle with more Monster Mashup sprinkles.

Stretch out the white cotton candy so it looks a little more like cauldron smoke and less like a clump of cotton, then place it on the top of your cake.

How cool is this cake? Definitely a showstopper for your Halloween festivities! This design will work with any of SprinklePop’s Halloween sprinkles, but I think the Monster Mashup does the trick quite well. Happy Halloween month to all!

The post Spooky Black Buttercream Halloween Cake appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Cool, right?! Whether you’re needing a buttercream backdrop for your next Star Wars cake or other space-themed creation, this technique was so quick and easy with a few supplies I picked up at my local JOANN store. From the space-colored buttercream to the star textures and sprinkle accents, I found everything I needed to get the look in a one-stop shop!

This Galaxy Cake all starts with a watercolor buttercream technique in a spacey colored palette: pink, blue, purple, and black. I used the Wilton Color Right Food Coloring System for each of the colors, and found it really easy to make a pitch black buttercream with the concentrated gel. It helps that you (surprisingly!) only need a little bit of black buttercream for this project, so if you’ve ever struggled with making a deep black color with vanilla buttercream, you won’t have to worry about that this time around. Just a few drops of black gel added to about ½ cup of vanilla buttercream and you’re good to go! 

To really enhance the look of a star-filled galaxy, I splatter painted the cake with diluted vanilla buttercream, added these gorgeous Silver Edible Glitter Stars, and topped it all off with a few clusters of these Silver Sprinkles. It turned out so galactic!

Here’s a quick video of the process so you can see all of the techniques in action before you read all about it below:

You Will Need:

• A 6-inch round cake that’s been crumb coated and chilled
• Cake turntable 
• 1.5 batches of vanilla buttercream
• Wilton Color Right Food Coloring System
• Bowls and spoons for color mixing
• Angled Spatula
• Icing Scraper
• Food-Grade Paint Brush
• Wilton Silver Edible Glitter Stars
• Wilton Silver Sprinkles

Step 1: Frost The Cake

With your crumb coated and chilled cake on the turntable, frost a thin layer of vanilla buttercream onto the top of the cake and smooth it down with your angled spatula.

Add a thin layer of vanilla buttercream to the sides of the cake and smooth it with your icing scraper until the sides are smooth and even. Then, swipe the crown of buttercream that appears around the top edges of the cake inward to create sharp edges.

At this point, I like to chill the frosted cake for about 20 minutes to let the buttercream set up. Frosting white buttercream underneath the galaxy finish saves on the amount of black buttercream you’ll need to use to cover it. Aka, no black stained teeth once you get to eat it!

Step 2: Color The Buttercream 

While the frosted cake is chilling in the refrigerator, it’s time to mix up your space-themed color palette. Add about a Tbsp of white buttercream into one bowl and set it aside, then divide the remaining buttercream into four separate bowls.

Using the Wilton Color Right Food Coloring System, mix a little Pink into one bowl, a little Blue into another, and a mixture of Pink and Blue into the third bowl to make a purple tone. In the last bowl, add a few drops of Black and mix it up until you’ve got a deep black tone.

Step 3: Create The Galaxy Buttercream Finish

On your frosted and chilled cake, add a few dabs of the pink buttercream to the sides and top of the cake with your angled spatula, then smooth it all with your icing scraper.

Next, add a few dabs of purple buttercream to the sides and top of the cake and smooth it with your icing scraper. Repeat this process with the blue buttercream until you’ve got a nice watercolor finish on your cake.

Finally, add the black buttercream over the top of everything and smooth it with your icing scraper. Continue to add and smooth the black buttercream until the colors underneath peek through just a little.

When you’re finished, pop the cake back into the refrigerator for another 15 minutes to let everything set up. 

Step 4: Splatter Paint The Stars

In the bowl of white buttercream you reserved in Step 2, add a few drops of water and mix it all together until it becomes a thick liquid.

Dip your food grade paintbrush into the diluted buttercream and splatter paint it all over the cake to create the look of stars. 

Step 5: Add Glitter Stars And Sprinkles 

Finally, add some Glitter Stars wherever your heart desires in your galaxy. It’s best to place a few on your finger and gently press them onto the cake. Use that same technique to add some clusters of Silver Sprinkles to your galaxy cake. Simply dip your finger into the sprinkles to get a nice finger-full, then gently press them onto the cake.

And there you have it! When you’re all done with your Galaxy Cake, feel free to turn on “Intergalactic” by Beastie Boys and dance around the kitchen. It’s only fitting!

Now that you know how to make the perfect Galaxy Cake, all that’s left to do is make a trip to your local JOANN store and pick up the supplies. If you don’t live near a JOANN, fear not! You’ll find everything you need on their website. I’m so blown away at all the cake decorating tools and supplies they offer, so no matter what you’re creating in the kitchen, know that they’ve got just the thing.  

Disclaimer: I was compensated by JOANN for my work of creating this project, styling, filming, photographing, and writing about their products. As always, all opinions are honest and my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support Sugar & Sparrow.

The post Galaxy Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.