The thing that makes this rainbow color palette extra cohesive is mixing up the primary colors first (pink, yellow, and blue), then mixing those colors together to make all the colors in between (orange, green, and purple). This process can help tie the color palette together better than mixing each of the 6 colors individually. You’re able to customize each color as you go along (add more pink to your purple to warm it up, add more blue to your green to cool it down, etc) without going overboard or making any color more vibrant than the rest. It helps to know a little bit about color theory for making adjustments, but even if you don’t know the first thing about color theory, this blog post should help.  

A Word About Color Gels + Buttercream

The color gels I love most for my cake projects are AmeriColor Soft Gel Pastes and the Wilton Color Right Performance Food Coloring System, and I always use them with American Buttercream. Note that if you’re using a different kind of buttercream, it may not take these color gels as easily. For meringue based buttercreams, I recommend using oil-based color gels like Colour Mill for best results. 

Before we get started with color mixing, here are a couple other blog posts that could really help with getting your buttercream just right, including my go-to buttercream recipe:

• How to Make the Perfect Buttercream Consistency
• A Guide to Coloring Buttercream Frosting
• Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

Here’s a video of the entire rainbow color palette process in case you want to watch vs. read about it below: 

If you’re into cake videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel for further learning! I’m always rolling out new videos, so click the subscribe button while you’re there to ensure you never miss a new one. 

You Will Need

• 2+ batches of vanilla buttercream (or other white-colored buttercream)
• Blue color gel (I used AmeriColor Sky Blue)
• Pink color gel (I used AmeriColor Deep Pink)
• Yellow color gel (I used AmeriColor Egg Yellow)
• Bowls and spoons for color mixing

Step 1: Mix the Primary Colors

Reserve 1-2 cups of buttercream (in case you need to tone any colors down), then divide the rest of the buttercream between three bowls. The primary colors are yellow, blue, and red (in this case, pink), so those are the colors we’ll mix first. 

Add a few drops of pink or red into the first bowl, a few drops of blue into the second bowl, and a few drops of yellow into the third bowl. It’s best to start with a small amount and add more color gel from there, especially if you’re mixing a pastel color palette. Keep in mind that the colors will darken slightly with time. 

Step 2: Mix the Secondary Colors

Once you’ve got the perfect primary colors, it’s time to mix the secondary colors. When you mix together any two primary colors, the result is a secondary color: 

• 1 part Red + 1 part Yellow = Orange
• 1 part Yellow + 1 part Blue = Green
• 1 part Blue + 1 part Pink = Purple 

Use the formulas above to mix the primary colors together into three new bowls. Start with about ¼ Cup of each primary color and add more as needed in the next step. 

Step 3: Adjust Color Temperature as Needed 

At any point in your color mixing, you can customize any color by changing its temperature. For example, if your green is looking too yellow (or too warm), adding a little more blue can help cool it down. If your orange is looking too pink or red, add a little more yellow to balance it out. Here are some formulas (and a mixing chart!) to help you make the perfect tones:

• Green + more Blue = Blue-Green (cooler)
• Green + more Yellow = Yellow-Green (warmer)
• Purple + more Blue = Blue-Purple (cooler)
• Purple + more Red = Red-Purple (warmer) 
• Orange + more Red = Red-Orange (cooler)
• Orange + more Yellow = Yellow-Orange (warmer)

When adjusting your color temperature, start with 1 Tbsp of added primary color and add more from there if needed. Again, it’s best to start small. 

Once you’re happy with your rainbow color palette, you’re ready to start decorating! Here are some rainbow cake projects to inspire you: 

Pastel Rainbow Birthday Cake: I used a pastel rainbow color palette to create this pretty piped cake. The full tutorial is here.

Cascading Rainbow Cake: I used the same piping techniques from this cascading cake + added these cute little icing rainbows I found from Wilton.

Piped Rainbow Ombrè Cake: I mixed three different shades of each rainbow color on this cake, then used Wilton Tips 1M, 32, and 16 to create the textures as I piped all the colors in an ombrè layout.

Spatula Painted Rainbow Cake: I mixed lots of different rainbow shades for this one and used this spatula painted technique to apply them as a gradient.

I’d love to see what you create with your rainbow color palette! Leave a comment below letting me know about your project or feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me. I love to see what you create!

The post The Easiest Way to Make Rainbow Buttercream Colors appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

I recently made another gum paste rainbow arch topper, this time for a Bluey themed cake, and realized it’s such a fun DIY that I needed to share it with you all. The main things you need are gum paste, food color gels to create your rainbow color scheme, toothpicks, and about 48 hours of dry time. Here’s a quick video of the process before you read all about it below:

PS: If you love creative cake decorating tutorials like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel! 

Gum Paste Vs. Fondant

Gum paste is a pliable sugar dough that is very similar to fondant in texture and workability. The main difference is that it dries much harder than fondant. And while you’d use fondant to cover a cake and make simple decorations that guests might want to eat, you should only use gum paste for decorations like cake toppers or sugar flowers since it dries rock hard. Gum paste is technically edible, but it’s not really much fun to eat (and might chip a tooth!). 

You can get gum paste on Amazon or at your local craft store that has a cake decorating aisle. If you make a lot of custom cakes, I definitely recommend having some on hand at all times for last minute decorations. It’s so much fun to work with and so durable – a win win! 

You Will Need

• Gum paste
• Food color gels of your choice (I used AmeriColor Deep Pink, Sky Blue, Electric Purple, and Lemon Yellow)
• Rubber gloves
• 1 Tbsp vegetable shortening 
• A Cup or mug
• 1-inch circular cookie cutter or round glass 
• Small paint brush
• 1 Tbsp water
• Sharp knife
• Large spatula
• 2 toothpicks 
• Wax or parchment paper

Step 1: Color the Gum Paste

Measure the gum paste into four 1-inch balls and place the rest back in the package. You may need to knead the gum paste with a little vegetable shortening to make it pliable if it seems too firm to work with at this point. 

Put on your rubber gloves (so you don’t dye your hands!) and knead food color gel into the gum paste balls one by one to create the color palette you’re imagining. I used AmeriColor Deep Pink, Lemon Yellow, Sky Blue, and Electric Purple for this color palette (one drop per ball). Be sure to store any gum paste that’s not in use underneath a cup to keep it from drying out. 

Step 2: Roll the Gum Paste

One by one, roll out each gum paste ball with your hands to make them into tube-like shapes. Each gum paste tube should be between ⅛ and ¼ inches in diameter, and about 8 inches long. 

Do this part carefully so that each colored tube for the rainbow arch is the same diameter, and store any finished tubes underneath a glass while you’re rolling the other colors out. 

Step 3: Assemble the Rainbow Arch

Place the round cookie cutter or circular glass onto your work table. This will be used as a centerpiece to build the rainbow arch around. Starting with the color that you want on the inside of the rainbow arch, wrap the middle of one of the gum paste tubes around the centerpiece to make a perfect arch, with the ends of the tube parallel to each other. I went with my Electric Purple tube for the inside color.

Dip the small paint brush into the water and paint the edges of the gum paste arch. This will act as glue for the next color. 

Wrap the next gum paste tube around the arch and gently press it around the first gum paste color to adhere it with the water. 

Repeat adding water to the edges and adding additional gum paste tubes until your rainbow arch is all together, then remove the circular centerpiece. I ended up making the inside of the arch smaller by gently reshaping it with my hands once the centerpiece was removed.

When your arch looks beautiful and even, use a sharp knife to chop off the uneven ends. 

Step 4: Add Toothpicks

Gently flip the rainbow arch over (I used a large spatula to do this) and paint a little bit of water between the arch grooves where you’ll be placing your toothpicks on both sides. Then, gently press toothpicks onto the water. 

I’ve never had any problems with the toothpicks not adhering securely with this method, but if you want to make the arch topper extra sturdy, you can use a little water to glue a thin piece of scrap gumpaste over the toothpicks. This should hold them in place very well.  

Step 5: Allow to Dry for 48 Hours 

Allow the rainbow arch topper to dry in a cool, dark place for at least 48 hours, flipping it over at the 24 hour mark so that both sides dry equally. The color of your gum paste can fade if it dries in the direct sun, which is why it’s important to keep it in a dark place like your pantry or a drawer. 

Once it’s completely dry, top your cake and be amazed! I love the rainbow arch look so much and I know it would look amazing in all sorts of colors. Perfect for a whimsical look or a modern one! 
Did you make this rainbow arch topper? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below or feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram. I love to see your creativity!

The post Rainbow Arch Cake Topper Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

To celebrate two years of cake blogging, I’ve partnered with my friends at Americolor to give away one of their incredible Heavenly Seventy Kits! Just like the name implies, this kit comes with seventy color gels that will take your cakes to the next level. Whether you’re tinting buttercream, cake batter, fondant, gumpaste, ganache, or any other food that can be tinted with water-based gel, Americolor has (in my humble opinion) the best colors on earth. They’re so concentrated that you don’t need to use much to get rich color, they don’t alter consistency, and they are tasteless so you never have to worry about ruining flavors. They will change your life when it comes to color palettes!

For your chance to win this Heavenly Seventy Kit, be sure to follow along on my Instagram and keep your eye out for the giveaway post. The giveaway will be open from May 13th at 10:00am PST to May 14th at 11:59 PST. Aaaand it’s open WORLDWIDE, so as long as you’re over the age of 18 and have a valid shipping address, you’re good to go! 

There are 20 different shades of Americolor gels on this rainbow cake just to show you a fraction of what you can expect with this Heavenly Seventy kit! The most beautiful colors ever.

So happy to celebrate this milestone and looking forward to all that year three will bring! The only thing I know for certain is that things will look a bit different around here. I’ll still be bringing you tasty recipes and fun cake tutorials, but I’m also working hard on a project I’m calling Cake Basics – a series of videos and blog posts that cover the very basics of cake making! I’ll be walking you through all the simple methods I’ve come to lean on over the years that make a world of difference, all in hopes of giving you even more confidence with your cake making. I can’t wait to show you! 

One other thing I’m certain of for year three: there will be 100% more baby pics on here than previous years. My sweet baby boy is due in August and I could not be more excited! 

To wrap it all up and take a walk down memory lane, here are a few of my favorite recipes and decorating tutorials from this past year:

Floral Sheet Cake Tutorial

This is hands-down my favorite way to decorate a sheet cake. Just choose your favorite color palette, follow these quick and easy piping techniques, and you’ll end up with a beautiful cake for celebrating anything.

Cactus Cake

A true crowd favorite, I love seeing this cactus cake recreated all over Instagram. Such a simple design, but these desert vibes are just so pretty! Featuring a buttercream ombre sunset, piped cacti, and edible (graham cracker) sand. 

Lemon Layer Cake

Last spring, I decided to try my hand at the perfect lemon layer cake and I’m so proud of how this one turned out (after lots of tries!). I paired it with freeze-dried blueberry buttercream and oh my. Just look at how beautiful that buttercream is! Such a classic flavor pairing. 

Striped Buttercream Cake Tutorial

I finally learned how to use a cake comb for buttercream stripes and just love how perfectly spaced they turn out! This was another one of those techniques that took some trial and error, but this tutorial tells all in hopes of helping you create perfectly striped buttercream cakes. 

Buttercream Painted Floral Cake 

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at spatula painted florals, here’s your chance! All you need is a great buttercream color scheme and a few palette knives. It’s basically art therapy at its tastiest. 

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cake Recipe

This recipe was fully inspired by my love for Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies, and if you’re a fan this cake will not disappoint! Layers of decadent mint chocolate cake, mint chocolate cookie crumbles, and mint chocolate chip buttercream. So tasty!   

Knitted Sweater Cake

Inspired by the coziest wool yarn ever, the color and textures on this knitted sweater cake ended up so swoon worthy. This tutorial shows you how to get the look with just three piping tips and some easy buttercream techniques.

Thanks again for following along and encouraging me every step of the way! Can’t wait for what’s in store for year three. If you have any requests for recipes, tutorials, or videos, let me know in the comments below! 

The post Sugar & Sparrow is TWO! appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Wilton sent me a big box of supplies to create this birthday cake, and there are a few I want to highlight here because they’re total cake game changers. First, the Wilton Cake Leveler is something I always, ALWAYS use to level my cake layers before filling and stacking them. You can adjust the height of the leveler and just run it through your cake to create nice, even layers. Having even cake layers is a must for creating perfectly level cakes as an end result.

Second, having a trusty cake turntable is key for creating a smooth buttercream finish. Wilton sent me their High And Low Turntable and it was stellar for the job! It’s got adjustable legs so you can really get the turntable height that’s comfortable for you.

This cake design all starts with a smooth buttercream cake, so in addition to having level cake layers and a trustworthy turntable, the last keys to success are having a great icing smoother and angled spatula. I prefer both of these items to be stainless steel, because sometimes getting a smooth finish means slightly heating up the scraper/spatula to erase wrinkles. If you’re still trying to master a smooth buttercream finish, I’ve detailed all my best tips in this post.

Ok, back to this birthday cake design! Although it looks intricate, I promise it’s way easier than it looks. Watch this quick video of the process (above) to show you how it’s done, then I’ll walk you through the step by step below.

You Will Need:

• A 6-inch cake that’s been filled and frosted with a smooth buttercream finish
• 1 batch of vanilla buttercream
• The Wilton Color Right System
• Bowls and spoons for mixing buttercream colors
• A piece of saran wrap
• Piping bags
• Wilton Tips 1M, 104, and 4B
• Gold pearlized sprinkles
• Tall gold birthday candles

Step 1: Mix Up A Buttercream Color Palette

For this cake, I created a pastel rainbow color palette using the Wilton Color Right system.

A really easy way to do this is to divide the batch of buttercream into three bowls and color one bowl pink, one bowl yellow, and one bowl blue. Then, mix part of the blue with the pink in a separate bowl to create purple, part of the blue with part of the yellow to make green, and part of the pink with part of the yellow to make orange.

Step 2: Prepare Your Piping Bags

Before placing each buttercream color in its own piping bag, I created a multi-colored piping bag for making some rainbow rosettes! The easiest way to do this is to lay a piece of saran wrap down, then swipe four colors next to one another on top of it.

Roll the saran wrap up like a colorful burrito and snip off one of the ends before placing it into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 1M.

Then, place each individual color into separate piping bags fitted with Wilton Tips 104 and 4B. I used Tip 104 for the green and blue colors and Tip 4B for the rest.

Step 3: Pipe The Cake

With your smooth buttercream cake on the turntable, pipe the rainbow rosettes on the upper half of the cake and the top of the cake in a random pattern.

Next, use the piping bags fitted with Tip 104 to pipe ruffles next to each rainbow rosette.

Finally, fill in all the empty spaces with stars using the piping bags fitted with Tip 4B. The goal here is to create a sort of ombrè effect with the piping, so feel free to pipe some stray stars toward the bottom of the cake.

Step 4: Add Sprinkles

I love using sprinkles to add even more texture to whimsical buttercream, and these Wilton Pearlized Sprinkles are perfect for the job. Using either your fingers or a pair of tweezers, add the sprinkles to the centers of some of the stars and the edges of some of the rosettes.

There is no right or wrong way to add sprinkles here. To keep with the ombrè look, I placed a few stray gold sprinkles toward the bottom of the cake.

Step 5: Top With Birthday Candles

No birthday cake is complete without some pretty candles, and the taller the better! These Tall Gold Candles are perfection. Place them on top of your cake and get ready to party!

Wilton has a ton of great birthday cake ideas on their site as well, so be sure to check them out for inspiration. If you’re inspired to make this cake design for a birthday or any day, be sure to tag me on Instagram (and @wiltoncakes as well!) to show us what you’re caking!

The post Pastel Rainbow Birthday Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

I’ll walk you through the step by step below. First, here’s a quick video tutorial of how I created this gradient rainbow cake, from mixing the colors to applying them:

Disclaimer: this post does contain some affiliate links, meaning I may receive a small commission if you click them and purchase items I’ve recommended. Using these links won’t cost you any extra money, but they do help to keep Sugar & Sparrow up and running. Thank you for your support!

You Will Need:

• A cake that’s been frosted and chilled
• 1.5 batches of vanilla or other light colored buttercream
• Food color gels in rainbow shades. I used colors from The Nifty Fifty Kit (detailed below)
• Plates and spoons for color mixing
• Piping bags
• Scissors
• Ruler

Step 1: Mix Up Your Colors

Divide equal amounts of buttercream across a few plates or in separate mixing bowls. Like I said before, I got a little crazy and mixed up 20 different shades from my Nifty Fifty Kit. The colors I used (in rainbow order) are: Watermelon, Burgundy, Super Red, Soft Pint, Deep Pink, Orange, Peach, Electric Orange, Electric Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Egg Yellow, Electric Green, Leaf Green, Forest Green, Teal, Sky Blue, Navy Blue, Electric Purple, Regal Purple, and Eggplant.

The important thing with these colors is that you have a few different shades of each rainbow color, whether you use the same color in different intensities or more varied colors for each of the seven rainbow hues.

Step 2: Fill Your Piping Bags

Prepare several piping bags (enough for each shade you’ve created) by snipping off a ¼ inch opening off the tip with your scissors, then filling each bag with a different shade. It helps to have disposable piping bags for this step.

Once you’ve got your bags all filled, line them up in the order you want to pipe color-wise. Look at all those piping bags! I was swooning before I even started adding the colors to the cake.

Step 3: Measure Out Sections On The Cake

Using a ruler as your guide, mark off six equal sections with an icing spatula or other sharp object. It’s important that you start with a cake that’s been frosted and chilled so your marks are sharp and unwavering. Place marks horizontally all around the cake so you know where each color should end and a new one should begin. This way, you’ll have nice equal sections of color instead of getting towards the top of the cake and realizing you barely have room for the last few colors.

Note that you’ve marked six equal horizontal sections but have seven colors. This is because the top of the cake will act as its own (seventh) section.

Step 4: Apply The Colors

Now for the fun part! Starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe the purple hues within the bottom section you’ve marked off. I chose to start at the very bottom with the darker purples (Eggplant and Regal Purple) and saved the lighter purple (Electric Purple) for the top of the section. There’s no real pattern here other than that. The cake ends up looking really cool with the dots in a more random order rather than piping lines of the same color. In other words, it’s ok to have some of the darker purples toward the top of the section and put different colored dots next to each other.

Pipe a few stray purple dots into the section that should be blue to help with the gradient effect, then fill the rest of the next section in with the blue hues. Again, I’ve chosen to pipe the darker blue (Navy Blue) toward the bottom of the blue section and the lighter blues (Sky Blue and Teal) toward the top.

Repeat this process in reverse rainbow color order with the rest of your shades. When you get to the top of the cake, pipe all of the red shades. Remember to pipe a few stray red and pink dots down into the orange section to help with the gradient effect.

How cool is this gradient rainbow buttercream cake? I absolutely love color and having my Nifty Fifty Kit made all of my colorful cake dreams come true with this one! It’s well worth having the entire kit in your cake decorating collection. These gels last for ages and save tons of time you would have otherwise spent custom mixing different color gels to get just the right shade. Let me know if you end up making this cake and/or getting the Nifty Fifty Kit! I would love to nerd out on color with you.

The post Gradient Rainbow Buttercream Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

A few weeks ago, Americolor held a food photography contest where the lucky winners received the entire Nifty Fifty Kit. This handy collection has fifty different colors of soft gel paste. I about died when I was selected as one of the lucky winners and I will be swooning over my Nifty Fifty Kit for ages to come. This stuff lasts forever, and I never have to custom mix colors ever again (unless I want to get crazy!). I made a buttercream swatch of each color just to show you how amazing they are:

The best thing about Americolor soft gel pastes is they leave absolutely no aftertaste. I used the Super Black the other day to create some black buttercream, and even after achieving a dark black color, the gel paste didn’t affect the flavor at all. Not even a tiny bit! Since the soft gel pastes are so concentrated, you don’t have to use a ton, which is also helpful for maintaining the right consistency of whatever you’re coloring. Here are a few cakes I’ve created since I’ve gotten the kit, all created without mixing any colors together: 

I wrote Americolor to tell them how much I love my Nifty Fifty Kit and guess what? They’re partnering with me to give YOU the chance to win one yourself! I can’t tell you how life changing it is to have all fifty colors in your cake toolbox, so may the odds be ever in your favor. Here’s how to enter the giveaway:

Head to my Instagram page and enter on the giveaway post by Saturday, September 15th at 12:00am. The rules are simple: 1) follow @sugarandsparrowco and @americolor on Instagram, 2) like the giveaway post, and 3) tag two friends who would love to win. Piece of cake. Oh, and did I mention that the giveaway is worldwide? That means wherever you are in the world, you can win this!

The lucky winner will be announced on my Instagram page on Monday, September 17th, so stay tuned and good luck to all! 

The post The Americolor Nifty Fifty Kit Giveaway! appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.