I was so happy to find this heart-shaped cake hack because I loathe having to store novelty cake pans and decorating tools that I only use (maybe) once a year. The vast majority of cake layers I bake are round, so I got so giddy when I realized how easy it was to turn a round cake layer into a heart shape. Simply use a serrated knife to make two clean cuts that form the bottom of the heart, then use the rounded cake trimmings for the top of the heart. They’ll glue on so easily with a little buttercream and once the cake is frosted, nobody will know you didn’t use a heart-shaped pan. 

I chose to frost the cake with a light pink frosting (AmeriColor Soft Pink) and some pretty piped floral accents using Wilton Tips 1M for the rosettes, 4B for the stars, and 32 for some swirls and smaller stars. The color palette was a happy accident but I love how it turned out! I used AmeriColor Chili Pepper + Super Red in varying intensities for all three colors. This heart-shaped cake would also look amazing with lambeth style piping, and I really hope to try that soon!   

You Will Need:

• Two 8-inch cake layers, cooled and leveled 
• Serrated knife
• 8-inch cardboard circle
• Cutting board 
• 2 batches of vanilla buttercream (or any flavor)
• Piping Bags 
• Turntable 
• Icing smoother
• Small angled spatula
• AmeriColor Soft Pink, Chili Pepper, and Super Red (optional)
• Wilton Tips 1M, 4B, and 32 (optional)
• Sprinkle Pop Vintage Rose Gold sprinkles (optional)

Step 1: Trim the Cake Layers

Place the first cake layer onto a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to make the two cuts that will end up being the pointed part of the heart. I usually just eyeball this. 

Repeat this step with any additional cake layers. You can use the first cake layer you trimmed as a template to make things super easy. 

Unless you’re planning on serving the cake on the turntable after you decorate it, trim the 8-inch cardboard cake round in the same way you trimmed the cake layers. This will end up being the foundation of the heart-shaped cake and will make it much easier to transfer the cake off the turntable after you’re done decorating. 

Step 2: Make the Heart Shape

Place the cardboard base you created in Step 1 onto the turntable. Spread a little buttercream onto it before adding the first cake layer on top. Position the two curved pieces that you cut off in Step 1 to be the top of the heart, then use some buttercream to adhere them.

Step 3: Fill and Crumb Coat

Add a layer of filling and then position the next layer of cake on top, adhering the curved pieces of the heart with buttercream like you did in the previous step. 

Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream to really emphasize the shape of the heart and lock in all the crumbs. Place the crumb coated cake into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting firm up. 

Step 3: Decorate 

There are so many ways to decorate this heart-shaped cake, so feel free to get creative! If you want to create the look pictured, start by frosting the cake with light pink buttercream (made with AmeriColor Soft Pink). Frosting a heart shape is similar to frosting a round cake (but maybe even easier!). Simply use an icing smoother to make the sides smooth and level

Then use a small angled spatula to swipe frosting that accumulates around the top of the sides inward to create sharp edges. Refrigerate the frosted cake for at least 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the buttercream. 

Divide the rest of the buttercream evenly between 3 bowls. Add a few drops of AmeriColor Chili Pepper and a few drops of Super Red to the first bowl and mix it until you get a nice deep shade of red. Mix in more coloring as needed. Scoop a few Tablespoons of the dark red buttercream into the second bowl and mix it in to create a mid-toned pink. Scoop about a teaspoon of the mid-toned buttercream into the last bowl and mix it in to create a pinkish cream. 

Use Wilton Tip 1M to pipe swirls onto the cake wherever you’d like. 

Fill in some of the spaces in between by piping swirls with Wilton Tip 32 and stars with Tip 4B and 32. 

Finish the look with some pretty sprinkles. I used Sprinkle Pop Vintage Rose Gold sprinkles for this cake, which matched the buttercream color scheme perfectly. 

Isn’t this heart-shaped cake so perfect for Valentine’s Day? I am absolutely smitten with it!

I hope this tutorial saves you from buying a heart-shaped cake pan! Let me know in the comments and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me how you decorated it. I’d love to see what you create!

The post Easy Heart Shaped Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Watercolor buttercream is the perfect base for all sorts of cake designs, whether you want something simple or elegant. The cakes shown below are actually the same cake decorated two different ways! And as far as buttercream types go, any kind of buttercream that you can tint to your desired colors will work with this tutorial (I’m using my favorite Vanilla Buttercream Recipe).

Most of the watercolor buttercream tutorials out there show you adding all of the colors at once and then smoothing them all together. With this technique, I find that the result ends up being more streaky in nature than I like. So, I usually start out with that technique and then go on to add and smooth the colors one by one to better control the outcome. All of this is shown in the video below, so give it a watch before you move on to the written tutorial below:

If you’re into cake decorating tutorials like this one, head on over to my YouTube Channel. You’ll find all sorts of cake decorating tutorials, recipes, and my entire Cake Basics series in video format. I’m always adding new videos there, so be sure to hit the subscribe button so you’ll always be the first to know about a new one. 

You Will Need

• A cake that’s been crumb coated and chilled (mine is a three layer 6 inch cake, but any size will do)
• 1.5 batches of vanilla buttercream
• Food color gels of your choice (mine are varying amounts of AmeriColor Fuchsia and Orange)
• Bowls and spoons for color mixing
• Angled spatula
• Icing smoother
• Cake turntable

Step 1: Frost the Cake with a Base Color

First, frost the cake. You don’t need to worry about getting it super smooth this go round, but you will want to make sure it’s nice and level to serve as a base for the colors that will go on top. With your chilled and crumb coated cake on the turntable, add some buttercream to the top and smooth it down with your angled spatula until it’s level and reaches beyond the edges of the cake. 

Next, add a thin layer of buttercream to the sides of the cake and smooth it with your icing smoother as you turn the cake on the turntable. 

When the sides are level and smooth, you should have a little crown of buttercream that has formed along the top edge. Use your angled spatula to swipe that buttercream toward the top center of the cake to create sharp edges all around.

If you want to improve your cake frosting skills, check out this guide that shows everything you need to know about creating a smooth buttercream finish. 

Step 2: Color the Buttercream

Divide the excess buttercream into bowls, one for each color you’re planning on mixing. Add your desired amounts of food color gel to each bowl and mix it up until you’ve got the color palette you’re imagining. 

I mixed up four different colors using AmeriColor Fuchsia and Orange. The lighter pink is just a tiny amount of AmeriColor Fuchsia, while the darker pink is a little more of that added. I did the same with the Orange color – added a tiny amount for the light orange and more for the dark orange. If you want to learn more about buttercream color mixing, here is a post on how to get the colors you’re going for.  

Step 3: Add and Smooth the Colors

I start off the traditional watercolor buttercream way by adding all of the colors at once and then smoothing them with my icing smoother.

With this technique, the colors end up being pretty streaky, but make a good base for the next step where we’ll add more color and definition.

Step 4: Add More Colors One by One

To turn this streaky watercolor cake into a masterpiece, we’ll need to add the colors one by one. I like to add big blobs of one color (I started here with the dark fuchsia on top of those streaks), and smooth it all down before moving onto the next.

After smoothing down the dark fuchsia, I moved on to adding big blobs of dark orange wherever I felt like, then smoothed those colors down. Don’t even worry about mixing colors on top of one another here – blending those colors is what makes the finish look like a watercolor masterpiece.

 Next, I added the light orange and smoothed it down, followed by the light pink. 

You can continue adding and smoothing colors until it looks just right. 

Step 5: Continue Decorating (Optional)

From here, you can keep on decorating the cake however you want! This watercolor base is perfect as-is or with some simple piping on top (as shown below using Wilton Tip 4B).

Or you can go more elegant and add a chocolate ganache drip and some fresh flowers like I did here: 

It’s all up to you! This watercolor look can be dressed up or dressed down depending on what you want to do. 

Did you make this watercolor cake? I want to know how it went and what colors you used! 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 Watercolor Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

This past year was one of big changes. Not only are we still dragging through this global pandemic and dealing with all of the anxiety that comes along with it, but I became a new mom in the midst of it all. Nowadays my son is very mobile, which takes things to a whole new level of fun and exhaustion. I feel so lucky to get to stay home with him and not miss a single thing – his first words (“dada” and “all done” and “hi” and absolutely no sign of “mama” yet!), pulling to stand on everything, rolling and crawling like a little ninja, eating solid foods (which he can’t get enough of), first wave, all the things. Unlike cake, babies don’t keep and I am constantly trying to soak up every bit of who he is in the current stage before he changes everything up on me and evolves into a totally different baby, which truly seems to happen overnight. 

Thankfully, he loves being in the kitchen with me. But he’s also getting faster at sticking his chubby little hands into whatever I’m working on, so it’s getting harder to tote him around with me while I’m working these days. Here’s the sweetest video of us testing recipes from a few months ago though: 

Aside from becoming a mom to this very ambitious boy, I launched my Cake Basics series last year – something I had dreamed about since the beginning of Sugar & Sparrow. If you have yet to check it out, it’s an ongoing series of blog posts and YouTube videos that walk you through all the very basics of cake making. So far, I’ve shown how to build a cake from start to finish, created some recipe videos for my essential faves (Vanilla Cake, Chocolate Cake, and Vanilla Buttercream), and I’ve got way more ideas up my sleeve. I have such a heart for helping people make beautiful cakes, so it’s one of my favorite things in the world when I hear that these Cake Basics tutorials have been helpful. Stay tuned for more in year four! 

Other things to come this year: more cake recipes and decorating tutorials (as always!), making my son’s first birthday cake (something I’ve always dreamed of!), and doing a giant kitchen remodel (VERY exciting!). Although I feel like I’m in a constant state of trying to find a good rhythm with life and cake, even more so as a new mom, I’ve got a big long list of ideas that I’m excited about and it’s keeping my creativity alive. Thanks for sticking with me and following along every step of the way. Let me know in the comments if there’s anything in particular you want to see from me this year!

The post Sugar & Sparrow is 3! appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

This cake is so simple to whip up and the flavor combination is just divine. I’d even go as far as to say it’s a pretty sensual cake (cue the sax solo). The raspberry buttercream makes it extra aromatic and paired with the chocolate cake, the flavor is decadent but not too heavy. The perfect cake for any raspberry chocolate lover and anyone who doesn’t yet realize they’re a fan of these flavors (aka just about everyone!).

It all starts with my favorite One-Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe, which is just as easy as it sounds. Basically put everything into one bowl (in the right order, of course) and mix it up! Just in case you want to watch the process before you make this recipe, I do have a YouTube video that I whipped up to walk you through it. It’s basically everything you need and want in a chocolate cake: moist crumb, rich chocolate flavor, and simple ingredients. 

The Raspberry Buttercream is the filling and the frosting on this one, because it’s just so good that way. The secret to the beautiful flavor and consistency of this buttercream is freeze-dried raspberries. There are a few reasons for this: 1) fresh berries have a ton of liquid in them, so when you try to use them in a buttercream recipe, you end up with a more soupy consistency that doesn’t (in my experience anyways) really jive with the butter in the recipe, so it ends up looking really gritty and glossy (in a bad way). And 2) All of that liquid takes away from the flavor of the berry, so you don’t get that perfect raspberry flavor anyways. 

Instead, freeze-dried berries remove the liquid from the berry and keep all the flavor intact, so adding them to buttercream gives you the most flavorful buttercream with just the right consistency. And just look at that naturally gorgeous color! No added food color gels on this one, folks. This is the brand I use in the recipe, but you can find freeze-dried raspberries at most grocery stores, Trader Joe’s, and even Target if you’d rather shop local.

To decorate this beauty, I added a chocolate ganache drip and used Wilton Tip 4B to pipe swirls all around the top before adding a fresh raspberry to each. This recipe yields a triple layer 6-inch cake, but if you’d rather make a little 4-inch version instead you can half the entire recipe (cake and buttercream) to make a better sharing size for 2-4 people. And if this is your first time making and assembling a layer cake, or you want to learn my techniques for doing so, be sure to check out my Cake Basics series that shows you how to build a layer cake from start to finish!

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Raspberry Chocolate Cake Recipe

Layers of rich chocolate cake filled and frosted with raspberry buttercream and dripped with chocolate ganache for extra decadence – a raspberry chocolate lover's dream cake!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

• 2 Cups (265g) all purpose flour
• 1 2/3 Cups (340g) granulated white sugar
• 2/3 Cup (60g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder not Dutch Process
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
• 2 whole 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 water

Raspberry Buttercream

• 1 1/2 Cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 Cup (34g) freeze dried raspberries
• 4 1/2 Tbsp (68ml) whole milk, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 Cups (720g) powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate Ganache

• 1/2 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 Cup heavy whipping cream

Additional Garnishes

• fresh raspberries, optional

Instructions

Make the Chocolate 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 40-45 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

Make the Raspberry Buttercream

• With a food processor, grind the raspberries into a fine powder. Sift out the seeds (if a few seeds end up in the powder that is totally ok) and set the powder aside.
• Whip the butter using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed until it’s creamy and light in color (5-10 minutes). Add vanilla, milk, and raspberry powder and continue to mix on medium for about two minutes.
• Add powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition. Add the salt and mix on low for another 30 seconds. 

Make the Chocolate Ganache

• Place chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal). If you’re starting with a chocolate bar, chop it into small pieces until they’re about the size of chocolate chips. 
• In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm heavy whipping cream until it just starts to simmer. I always look for small bubbles forming around the edge and a soft simmer starting in the middle. When it's reached this point, pour the cream into your bowl of chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds. 
• Whisk it together until it’s uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. Cool ganache at room temperature for 10-20 minutes, or until the ganache itself is room temperature or slightly above. 

Assembly

• Once the Chocolate Cakes are cooled completely, level and torte the layers to make them even before filling and frosting with the Raspberry Buttercream. After the final layer of frosting is applied, chill the cake for 20-30 minutes before dripping with the Chocolate Ganache. To recreate the look pictured, add swirls of Raspberry Buttercream around the top of the cake with Wilton Tip 4B and add a fresh raspberry to the top of each swirl.

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. 

Make Ahead Tips: 

1. The Chocolate Cake 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 Raspberry Buttercream can be made ahead and stored 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 mix it together on low for about 30 seconds to bring it back to frosting consistency.
3. The Chocolate Ganache can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it as a drip, microwave it in 10 second increments, stirring after every interval until your ganache is room temperature and uniform in consistency.

To Make as Cupcakes: fill cupcake tins no more than 2/3 full and bake at 350ºF for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Did you make this recipe? I want to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or tag me on Instagram. I love to see what you’re caking!

The post Raspberry Chocolate Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Although there’s a ton of texture going on here, the design could not be simpler to create. I used a mix of simple fondant flowers, buttercream piped flowers, and sprinkles to make this cascading bouquet of blooms come to life. Incorporating all three of those elements helps to give depth to the design, but I’ve also created this cascading floral look with just buttercream and both ways look incredible! Whatever techniques you use, as long as you nail this floral placement, you really can’t lose. 

If you do include the cute little fondant flowers, I do recommend making them at least a day ahead, just because they’re much easier to work with when they’re firm. I made them with this plunger cutter set and loved how quick they were to cut out in a variety of sizes and colors. Allowing them to dry in a semi-sphere mold (or even on the inside curve of a bowl!) really helped give the petals the perfect shape. Probably the easiest fondant flowers I’ve ever made!  

And as far as the buttercream flowers go, all they really take is the right piping tips and a fun color palette. Including the Fuschia background color I used for the cake, this color palette consists of seven different buttercream colors! I do tend to get a little carried away when color mixing sometimes (it’s therapeutic!) but keep in mind that you can create this look with less colors, or really any color palette you want. With that in mind, feel free to follow the tutorial below closely or use it as inspiration for your floral cake creation. You do you! 

Here’s a quick video to show you the decorating techniques before you read all about them below:

Be sure to check out my YouTube channel to see even more cake decorating videos, tutorials, and recipes. Hit the Subscribe button while you’re there so you never miss a new video!

You Will Need 

• A 6-inch cake, filled and frosted in a solid color of your choice
• 3 1-inch balls of fondant
• Small rolling pin
• 1 tsp vegetable shortening
• Flower Plunger Cutter Set
• Flower drying mold
• 1 batch of vanilla buttercream
• Food color gels of your choice
• Bowls and spoons for mixing
• Piping bags
• Wilton Tip 1M (x2)
• Wilton Tip 4B (x2)
• Wilton Drop Flower tips: 190 and 225
• Sprinkles of your choice (I used the Sea Glass Mix by Sprinkle Pop)

Step 1: Make the Fondant Flowers

At least a day ahead (so the fondant flowers have time to dry), color the three 1-inch balls of fondant according to your chosen color scheme. I used Americolor Lemon Yellow, Fuschia, and Regal Purple for the colors shown below.

Coat a flat surface with a little bit of vegetable shortening, then roll the fondant out to about ⅛ inch thick.

Use the flower plungers to cut out a variety of floral shapes, gently pressing the plunge button to create the dot center on each one.

Finally, set the flowers to dry in a semi-sphere mold or the inside of a bowl so that the petals dry with some upward lift.

After about 24 hours, your fondant flowers should be dry and fully ready to use on your cake.

Step 2: Prepare the Buttercream 

Divide the vanilla buttercream evenly amongst separate bowls, one per color in your palette. Then color each bowl with your favorite color gels. For the color palette shown below, I used Americolor Fuschia, Lemon Yellow, Regal Purple (for both the light and dark purple), Turquoise (for both the light and dark turquoise), and Peach.

When your buttercream colors are ready to go, fit your piping bags with tips and fill each one with a different color. I fit the Fuschia and dark Regal Purple piping bags with Wilton Tip 1M, the Lemon Yellow and dark Turquoise piping bags with Wilton Tip 4B, the Peach bag with Wilton Tip 190, and the light Regal Purple and light Turquoise bags with Wilton Tip 225.

Feel free to use any variety of floral piping tips and colors you’d like for this look! 

Step 3: Decorate the Top of the Cake 

On the top of your frosted cake, start by piping some scattered rosettes with Wilton Tip 1M in a crescent moon shape.

Use the piping bags fitted with Wilton Tip 4B to pipe stars that follow the same crescent moon shape, allowing plenty of space to fill in with more florals.

Fill in most of the space with your drop flowers using Wilton Tips 190 and 225. If you’ve never piped a drop flower before, they’re super easy! Simply hold the piping tip at a 90 degree angle (straight down) about ⅛ inch from the cake surface. Then, twist the tip in a clockwise motion while you squeeze to swirl the petals before releasing.

Next, add the fondant flowers wherever you’d like, standing them at different angles. They’re super light weight, so they should stick right onto the buttercream without shifting or falling over.

Finally, fill in the empty spaces with spherical sprinkles of varying sizes. I loved adding some of the sprinkles to the buttercream flowers to give them a pretty center!

Step 4: Create the Floral Cascade 

To make these beautiful blooms look like they’re cascading down the side of the cake, repeat the above steps for piping, adding fondant flowers, and attaching sprinkles – only this time at a diagonal angle. Starting near one of the edges of the crescent moon shape you created along the top, pipe scattered rosettes diagonally down the side of the cake.

Pipe more stars with Wilton Tip 4B in that same diagonal direction down the side, then fill in most of the empty space with the drop flower tips to complete the general cascading shape.

Accent your cascading florals with fondant flowers and sprinkles until you are totally satisfied with all the textures going on.

This is one of those cake designs I get totally lost in and just keep adding things until I feel like it’s time to step back and marvel. These floral textures get me every time!

So pretty, right? I can’t wait to see your cascading floral cake creations – be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me! We could all use something pretty to look at nowadays, so no matter what your reason is for making this cake design, it’s sure to bring some life to this crazy season. Hope you’re all safe, well and staying creative (or doing whatever brings you joy these days)!

The post Cascading Floral Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Right after I made this Ruby Chocolate Buttercream recipe, I instantly thought to try it with my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I figured since ruby chocolate has predominant notes of raspberry, and raspberry and chocolate are a match made in heaven, the cake and buttercream combo would be a good fit. Well I was right (I love it when that happens!) – it was the perfect balance of berry and chocolate and such a delight to eat! You would think that the chocolate cake would overwhelm the berry notes but instead, the flavors work together in perfect harmony. And just look how pretty it is: 

This cake all starts with three layers of decadent chocolate cake. This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe because it’s a one-bowl cake, aka just add all the ingredients to one bowl (in the right order of course) and it’s ready to head into the oven in about five minutes! It comes out the same every single time: rich chocolate flavor with a fluffy yet moist crumb. I use it any time I need a cake with a chocolate base.

After baking up these beautiful chocolate cake layers, I filled and frosted them with Ruby Chocolate Buttercream and the flavor combo is so dreamy! This buttercream is so silky smooth and flavored by adding melted ruby cacao. I used these Chocolove Ruby Cacao bars for the buttercream (and the ruby chocolate ganache drip, and the ruby chocolate disks on top) and absolutely love the flavor: dominant raspberry notes with a hint of chocolate that’s not too bitter or too sweet. I could eat the ruby cacao all on its own, but whipping it up into buttercream is the perfect flavor compliment to this cake! And the best part is, the incredible flavor and pretty pink color are totally natural. It’s the latest innovation in the chocolate world since the introduction of white chocolate and I am here for it! 

I knew I wanted to try making the ruby cacao into ganache for a drip, and after a few attempts I discovered that the right ratio is a simple 1:1. I thought it would behave a bit more like white chocolate but it’s very much the same as working with a semi-sweet or milk chocolate. To make the ganache, I chopped the ruby cacao into bits and measured out 6 oz (about 2 bars). Then, I measured out an equal amount of heavy whipping cream (½ cup), brought it to a light boil, poured it over the ruby cacao bits, and whisked it all together. It turned out a little more brown-toned than mauve for some reason, so added a drop of Americolor Fuschia to match the rest of the cake. It was super easy to drip the cake with once it reached room temp.

To finish decorating, I melted more of the ruby cacao, tempered it, and poured it into disk shapes on wax paper. They dry firm after about 10 minutes in the refrigerator, after which you can use them however you want in your cake design! I ended up splatter painting mine with a little Americolor Bright White color gel to give it some additional intrigue and love the look so much. I stuck them right into the buttercream on top of the cake and finished everything off with some piped ruby chocolate buttercream. Use Wilton tip 4B for the stars and 1M for the rosettes if you’re into this design! However you decorate this cake, it is so SO tasty, the prettiest natural color ever, and is sure to impress any chocolate lover (especially if they’re into trying the latest innovations in the chocolate world!). Enjoy!

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Ruby Chocolate Cake Recipe

Layers of decadent chocolate cake, filled and frosted with a silky smooth ruby chocolate buttercream to create beautiful notes of raspberry that perfectly balance the chocolate flavor. Topped with ruby chocolate ganache and featuring an all-natural mauve color palette!

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

• 2 Cups (265g) all purpose flour
• 1 2/3 Cups (340g) white granulated sugar
• 2/3 Cup (60g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch Process)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 Cup (240ml) full-fat buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in the notes
• 1 Cup (240ml) hot water

Ruby Chocolate Buttercream

• 9 oz (255g) ruby cacao, chopped into small bits
• 1 1/2 Cup (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 Cup (270g) powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 Cup (80ml) heavy whipping cream, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Ruby Chocolate Ganache

• 6 oz (170g) ruby cacao, chopped into small bits
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream
• 1-2 drops Americolor Fuschia or pink food color gel optional

Instructions

Make The Chocolate Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch cake pans 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 (just boiled) 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 40-45 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Make The Ruby Chocolate Buttercream

• Add the ruby chocolate into a glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until all the ruby chocolate is melted and there are no lumps. Alternatively, you can melt the ruby chocolate using a double boiler. Set aside to cool slightly.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, add the powdered sugar, and mix until well combined. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, give the melted ruby chocolate a few stirs and make sure it’s not hot enough to melt the butter (if it is still too hot, wait a few minutes before adding!), then add it in. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes, until the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla, heavy whipping cream, and salt and beat for another minute on medium.

Make The Ruby Chocolate Ganache

• Place the chopped ruby cacao into a glass or metal bowl and set aside. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm heavy whipping cream until it just starts to boil. I always look for small bubbles forming around the edge and a soft boil starting in the middle. When you see that it’s just starting to boil, pour it over the ruby cacao bits and let sit for about 20 seconds.
• Whisk it together until it’s uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. Add a drop or two of Americolor Fuschia or pink food color gel of your choice if you want (the natural ganache color turns out more beige-toned for some reason).
• Cool ganache at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until the ganache itself is close to room temperature (a little warmer may be fine depending on how thin you like your drips).

Assembly

• When the chocolate cake layers have cooled completely, torte them before filling and frosting with ruby chocolate buttercream. Chill the frosted cake in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before dripping with the room temperature ruby chocolate ganache. It’s always best to do a test drip on the cake before dripping the whole thing – that way you can see whether you need to cool the ganache more or gently warm it in the microwave before committing to dripping the rest of the cake.
• After dripping the cake with ganache, place it in the refrigerator for at least five minutes to let it set. To create the design pictured, place a few tempered ruby chocolate disks on top of the cake (I splatter painted mine with Americolor Bright White). Use the remaining ruby chocolate buttercream to pipe rosettes with Wilton tip 1M and stars with Wilton tip 4B wherever you desire!

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. 

Make ahead tips: 

1. The chocolate cake recipe 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 ruby chocolate buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for one 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 re-whip with your stand mixer to bring it back to piping/frosting consistency.
3. The ruby chocolate ganache can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it as a drip, microwave it in 10 second increments, stirring after every interval until your ganache is room temperature and uniform in consistency.

Did you make this recipe? I want to know how it went! Leave a comment below and be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me your cake creation. I love to see my recipes out there in the world!

The post Ruby Chocolate Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

This cake design is ever so slightly revamped (don’t mind my terrible pre-DSLR food photography in this original photo), but in the best way. It’s mostly because JOANN sent me a big box of Valentine’s Day goodies just for fun, and in it I found these amazing Wilton Icing Heart Decorations and the perfect sprinkles for my color palette. I ended up ditching the conversation hearts and adding in those extras instead. And speaking of the color palette, I am super into Americolor Dusty Rose right now, so I designed the whole color scheme around it. The warm pink and red tones are giving me all the feels (don’t worry, I’ll show you how to replicate the colors below). 

This design all begins by making your own fondant hearts. I colored some Satin Ice fondant to match my buttercream color palette and used a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the decorations. In about 24 hours (flip them halfway in between), they’re dry and ready to use. One question I get a lot is how I stick them to the side of the cake without weighing anything down. The answer is this: just make sure they’re only about ⅛ inch thick when you make them. They’ll end up weighing barely anything, so you can just stick them right into the buttercream and they’ll hold up perfectly. The buttercream piping serves as extra “glue” to keep them in place as well. 

Here’s a quick video to show you my technique for making fondant hearts and cascading them down the side of the cake with all the pretty details. I’ve written out all the steps below, but be sure to give this video a watch first for visualization: 

If you’re into cake decorating videos like this one, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel! I love making videos and am adding new ones there all the time, from cake decorating techniques to my go-to recipes. Head over there and click the subscribe button to make sure you don’t miss a thing!

You Will Need

• A 6-inch cake that’s been crumb coated and chilled
• 1.5 batches of vanilla buttercream
• Food color gels of your choice
• 2 ounces of fondant 
• Small rolling pin
• 1 tsp vegetable shortening 
• Small heart cookie cutter (mine is about 2 inches tall) 
• Cake turntable
• Angled Icing Spatula 
• Icing Smoother
• Wilton Tip 4B (x2)
• Wilton Tip 199 
• Piping Bags
• Wilton Icing Hearts Decorations
• Wilton Valentine’s Day Sprinkles

Step 1: Make the Fondant Hearts

With your hands coated in a little bit of vegetable shortening, knead the fondant until it’s the consistency of Play-Doh. Divide the fondant in half and color each half a different color. I used a mixture of Americolor Fuschia + Super Red to create the dark red color, and just a tiny bit of Fuschia to create the light pink color. 

Spread a little vegetable shortening onto a fondant mat or smooth cutting board, then roll the first fondant color out to about ⅛ inch thickness. Then, use the heart cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. 

Repeat with the other fondant color and allow the heart shapes to dry for at least 24 hours, flipping them halfway through so that each side dries thoroughly. 

Step 2: Create the Buttercream Color Palette

Add about 3 cups of vanilla buttercream to a medium sized bowl, then divide the remaining buttercream evenly amongst three smaller bowls. The largest bowl is what you’ll be using to frost the cake, so color it whatever hue you’d like as your backdrop. I went with a light shade of Americolor Dusty Rose. 

The remaining bowls will be what you use for the accent piping in the cascading decoration. I colored two of the bowls with Dusty Rose (one a little lighter than the cake background color and one a bit darker), and the last bowl with a mixture of Americolor Fuschia and a small drop of Super Red to warm up the color. 

When you’re happy with your color palette, add the small bowls of buttercream into three separate piping bags, each fitted with either Wilton Tip 4B or 199. 

Step 3: Frost The Cake

With your chilled and crumb coated cake on a turntable, use the largest bowl of buttercream to frost a smooth finish onto the cake. Start by frosting a smooth layer on the very top of the cake with your angled icing spatula. 

Next, add buttercream to the sides of the cake and glide your icing smoother over them while turning the turntable to create smooth sides. 

You’ll notice a crown of buttercream forming on the top edges of the cake, which is essential to getting sharp edges on the top. Use your angled icing spatula to swipe the crown inwards (toward the top center of the cake). Repeat until you’ve got nice sharp edges. 

When your cake is looking ultra smooth, pop it into the refrigerator to firm up for about 20 minutes. If you want more tips on creating a perfectly smooth cake finish, I’ve got a great tutorial for you here. 

Step 4: Create The Cascading Heart Design

First, stick the fondant hearts onto the top of the cake in a semi-straight line from the edge to just past the center. Make sure they look perfectly imperfect by sticking them in at different heights and angles. 

Next, use the piping bags to pipe open stars all around the hearts. Add sprinkles and icing heart decorations wherever your heart desires.

Place more fondant hearts down the side of the cake at an angle, connecting from the hearts on top towards the bottom middle of the cake. The fondant hearts should stick right into the buttercream and stay in place without weighing anything down. 

Add more buttercream piping all around the fondant hearts (this helps to truly ensure that they’ll stay in place).

Finally, add the finishing touches with sprinkles and more icing heart decorations. The icing hearts are my favorite! 

And just like that, you’ve got the most perfect cascading heart cake ever! It looks pretty complex, but can you believe how simple it is to create?

I’m in love with this one and I hope you are too! Let me know if you make this cake for Valentine’s Day (or any day!) by tagging @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram or leaving a comment on this post. I love to see your work inspired by my designs!

The post Cascading Heart Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

There are drip cakes, and then there are sprinkle drip cakes. And let me tell you, while both are pretty to look at, the sprinkle version is so much more fun! The sprinkle drip cake trend was popularized by one of my favorite cakers to follow on Instagram, @brittanymaycakes. To my knowledge, she’s the little genius behind putting sprinkles on top of a ganache drip, and I just had to give it a go because it looks so stunning – especially with this Bewitched sprinkle mix by SprinklePop.

While any sprinkle mix will do for creating a sprinkle drip cake, I was really drawn to the vibrant color scheme of Bewitched. It’s a magical blend of pink, purple, teal, and yellow jimmies and spheres, plus gold and silver dragees to give it some extra bling. I decided to color the buttercream backdrop a deep fuschia (with Americolor soft gel past in Fuschia) to really compliment all of the sprinkle colors, but they’d look pretty on all sorts of buttercream hues. Just look at how pretty they are:

The essentials you’ll need for this look are a good pair of tweezers, the perfect sprinkle mix, and a great chocolate ganache recipe. I’ve got the perfect chocolate ganache recipe and white chocolate ganache recipe at the links below, with all the tips you need for successful drips. The tweezers make it easier to perfectly place the sprinkles (as opposed to using your fingers). And it’ll look incredible with any of SprinklePop’s gorgeous sprinkle mixes! Just pick your favorite and follow along the tutorial below:

You Will Need:

• A chilled buttercream cake
• 1 batch of chocolate ganache or white chocolate ganache
• 8 oz bottle of Bewitched sprinkles (or other favorite sprinkle mix)
• Tweezers

Step 1: Do A Test Drip

Before you get too crazy dripping your ganache, I always think it’s a great idea to do a test drip on your chilled buttercream cake. Make sure your ganache is room temperature and good drip consistency first, create one drip on the side of your cake, and wait until it stops traveling.

If your ganache is too runny or warm, it will travel all the way to the bottom of the cake quickly. If it’s too cold and thick, it won’t travel much at all. Adjust the consistency and temperature of your ganache if need be, and only continue the process of dripping your cake once you’re satisfied with the look of the drips.

Step 2: Drip The Sides Of The Cake

Once your ganache has passed the first drip test, continue dripping your ganache down the sides using either a squeeze bottle or the spoon method.

It’s best to start by dripping every side before moving on to the top of the cake. This way you can better control the look of the drips from the side view and only fill what’s necessary on the top.

Step 3: Fill In The Top Of The Cake

When all the sides have been dripped, pour a small amount of ganache on the top of the cake and smooth it with an icing spatula or the back of your spoon.

Be sure to only fill in the space that’s not yet covered with ganache, because adding too much might make your drips travel farther than you’d like. I always spread the ganache on top until it just reaches where the drips have started to cover on the top of the cake.

Step 4: Place The Sprinkles

Let the ganache rest in the refrigerator for about five minutes while you pour the sprinkles into a small bowl. After refrigerating for just those few minutes, the ganache drips should be sticky, but set enough to ensure that adding sprinkles won’t drag them down.

Using your tweezers, place the sprinkles onto the ganache one by one until you achieve the look you’re going for. This could take anywhere from 20-30 minutes, depending on how precise you want to be, but trust me. It’s so worth it!

Step 5: Keep On Decorating

While you can stop after you’ve created your sprinkle drip, I believe that when it comes to SprinklePop sprinkles, more is more!

Before I dripped the cake, I added a border of Bewitched sprinkles to the bottom edge, and after creating the sprinkle drip I added a buttercream border to the top of this cake using Wilton Tip 6B, then filled in the entire top of the cake with even more sprinkles. So fun!

Ready to create your very own sprinkle drip cake? Just grab a bottle of your favorite sprinkles and let the fun begin!  

The post Sprinkle Drip Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

The party was for my friend Sarah, who happens love Mean Girls and is also real good at making pretty cakes. In other words, she’s very cool. To prepare for the party, me and a few other cool gals got together to watch Mean Girls for inspiration while we crafted all the party decor. Watching the movie back gave us lots of fun ideas for making it over the top. We kept track of all the best quotes and we figured out a few ways to incorporate them throughout the decor.

First, we made a glittery pink “you can’t sit with us” banner. After searching the internet for a quote banner to buy, we decided we could make it ourselves and it actually ended up being so easy! We found some glittery pink card stock, printed out some letter templates on computer paper, traced the templates onto the glitter paper, and cut them out carefully. We used a small hole punch to punch two holes at the top of each letter, then strung them all on some white baking twine.

Then, we transformed a pink notebook into a replica of the Burn Book! We printed out pictures of everyone on the guest list and wrote some quotes from the original burn book in there to really go the extra mile.

For the cake, I made sure to keep with the pink color palette and mixed vanilla buttercream with a few different shades of Fuschia and Maroon gel pastes by Americolor. After decorating with a messy ombre on the side of the cake, I used my favorite piping tips (Wilton tips 1M, 4B, and 104) to create a pretty border and sprinkled it with some pink sprinkles for extra texture.

I don’t know if you’ve ever written on a cake with buttercream before, but it was so nerve racking for me! I must have done twenty practice rounds on wax paper before mustering up the nerve to write on the cake. Wilton’s tip 3 is the perfect sized opening for writing though, so it wasn’t too bad once my hand stopped shaking all over the place.

Here’s how it all came together:

Now all I want to do is throw themed parties from here on out! 

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