Hot cocoa is such a cozy drink on it’s own, but when you add peppermint, it basically becomes a cup of Holiday cheer! Now, imagine those flavors in cake form: layers of hot cocoa infused chocolate cake, peppermint buttercream, and some marshmallow creme filling to bring it all together. It’s the perfect blend of festive flavors and makes an eye-catching centerpiece for your Holiday dessert table!

If you love a peppermint hot cocoa at your local coffee shop, you’ll be obsessed with this cake. It all starts with my favorite one-bowl chocolate cake recipe, only I’ve infused it with hot cocoa to give it the perfect flavor. It’s moist, decadent, and pairs perfectly with the peppermint buttercream and marshmallow creme. The buttercream gives it just the right amount of peppermint flavor. After trying lots of peppermint buttercream recipes that tasted like toothpaste, I was very intentional in the amount of peppermint extract I added. Turns out it doesn’t take much! 

Now let’s talk about this striped filling, because just look at it! I alternated adding peppermint buttercream (tinted red) and store bought marshmallow creme to create this striped effect when you cut into it. I think it’s such a fun touch! You can get this look with your filling by piping alternating circles – first peppermint buttercream, then marshmallow creme, then repeat until you reach the center of the cake. It will look like a bullseye when you’re finished, but it’ll be striped when you cut the slices. 

If you’d rather use all marshmallow creme as the filling or all peppermint buttercream, go for it! You can’t go wrong with these flavors. To use all marshmallow creme as the filling, be sure to follow the method for soft fillings in this blog post to ensure it doesn’t squish out between your cake layers. 

It’s been awhile since I’ve made a striped buttercream cake but I just had to with this one. Not only do the red and white stripes make me think of peppermint, they’re iconic of the Holidays. You’ll need a good cake comb (here’s the one I use) and red food color gel to get this striped finish. If you’ve never attempted buttercream stripes before, here’s a post that will show you how to create them. 

To finish this Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cake design, I added chocolate ganache drips, then combined red and white peppermint buttercream in the same piping bag before piping it into swirls with Wilton Tip 4B. I sprinkled crushed candy canes and mini marshmallows all over the top of the cake to give it some extra texture. If you’re storing the decorated cake in the refrigerator like I always do, be sure to hold off on sprinkling the candy canes until the last minute. They tend to liquify when going between room temperature and the refrigerator. My advice is to add the crushed candy canes at the point when you take the cake out of the refrigerator, which should be an hour or two before serving it. Cake always stores best in the refrigerator but tastes best at room temperature. 

No matter how you decorate, I am so excited for you to try this Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cake recipe and hope you love it as much as I do!

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Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cake

Layers of hot cocoa infused chocolate cake, peppermint buttercream, and marshmallow creme filling. The perfect festive treat for your Holiday dessert table!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

Hot Cocoa Cake

• 3 Tbsp hot cocoa powder
• 1 Cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
• 2 Cups (265g) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 Cups (300g) white granulated sugar
• 2/3 Cup (60g) unsweetened natural 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) hot water

Peppermint Buttercream

• 2 Cups (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp pure peppermint extract
• 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
• red food color gel (optional)*

Chocolate Ganache Drip (Optional)

• 1/2 Cup (95g) semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream

Additional Fillings & Toppings

• 3 Oz marshmallow creme
• crushed candy canes
• mini marshmallows

Instructions

Make the Hot Cocoa 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.
• Whisk the hot cocoa powder into the whole milk and set aside. 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 hot cocoa mixture and stir on low until just combined.
• Ensure that the hot water has been heated to a simmer, then with the mixer still on low, add the hot water in a slow stream. 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 35-40 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Make the Peppermint Buttercream

• With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
• Turn the mixer to low and add the sifted powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Add vanilla extract, peppermint extract, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated.
• Reserve half of the peppermint buttercream in a separate bowl. Add red food color gel to the half that’s still in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low until you achieve a red color. Keep in mind that it may take 30 minutes or more for the color to deepen and develop fully.

Make the Chocolate Ganache (Optional)

• Place chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal). In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the 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 the mixture together until it’s uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. Allow to cool at room temperature for 10-20 minutes, or until the ganache itself is room temperature or slightly above, before using it as a drip. See the notes below for making this part ahead or troubleshooting if you don’t get the timing just right for your drip.

Assembly

• Once the Hot Cocoa Cake layers have cooled completely, level and torte each one to your desired height. Place the first layer onto a cake turntable.
• Prepare two piping bags by snipping off a ½ inch opening. Fill the first piping bag with red tinted Peppermint Buttercream and the second with marshmallow fluff. Pipe a circle of red Peppermint Buttercream along the outer edge of the cake layer on your turntable. Then, alternate piping subsequent smaller circles of marshmallow fluff and red Peppermint Buttercream until you reach the center of the cake layer. The filling should look like a bullseye.
• Place the second cake layer on top and repeat the filling process before adding the final layer on top, upside down so that the bottom of the layer is the top of the cake. Crumb coat the cake with red Peppermint Buttercream. Place the crumb coated cake into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting firm up.
• Frost the crumb coated cake with the un-tinted Peppermint Buttercream and use this tutorial to create red and white stripes with a cake comb. Once the cake has its final layer of frosting, place it back into the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before dripping with chocolate ganache.
• Finish the look with Peppermint Buttercream swirls along the top edge of the cake (I used Wilton Tip 4B for the ones pictured), then sprinkle crushed candy canes and mini marshmallows all over the top.

Notes

*The red food color gel that I recommend is Americolor Super Red. It’s very concentrated so you don’t have to use a whole lot to achieve a rich red color.

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The Hot Cocoa Cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
2. The Peppermint 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 re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency. 

To Make As Cupcakes: fill cupcake tins no more than 2/3 of the way full and bake at 350ºF for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Yields about 35-40 cupcakes.

Did you make this Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cake 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 Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

This Cake Comb set comes with three combs that are double sided, meaning you can get six different looks in one little set. You can use any of these combs on your buttercream finish to get a cool, textured look that’s picture-perfect. For this tutorial in particular, the comb with the square cutouts is exactly what you need for stripes. As you drag it through your buttercream, those little squares will carve out ridges that can be filled with any color you want, then smoothed all together for a flawless striped finish.

Here’s a quick video of the process, and I’ll share everything you need to know about creating striped cakes from start to finish below. Be sure to read all of the tips in each section, because there are a few hacks I’ve learned along the way: 

You Will Need:

• A 6-inch cake that’s been crumb coated and chilled
• 2 batches of vanilla buttercream 
• Icing Smoother
• Angled Spatula 
• Wilton Icing Comb Set
• Food color gels of your choice
• A piping bag

Step 1: Frost And Smooth The Cake

With your crumb coated cake on the turntable, frost a layer of buttercream onto the top of the cake and smooth it with your angled spatula. Then, add a thick layer of buttercream to the sides of the cake and use your icing scraper to smooth it until the sides are even. 

The layer of frosting on the sides of the cake should be thick and deep enough for your cake comb to pass through and create ridges, about ¼ inch or more. Don’t worry about creating the sharp edges on the top of the cake just yet, only focus on getting those sides nice and smooth.

Step 2: Create Ridges With The Cake Comb

Next, hold the cake comb next to the cake at about a 45 degree angle towards you and gently turn the turntable. You’ll want to gradually create these ridges, so be sure to only apply a tiny amount of pressure at first. Each time you go around the cake, clean your cake comb completely by holding it under running water and drying it. You want it to be free of any buttercream bits to create perfect ridges.

If you find that there are holes or gaps in some of the ridges, fill them in with buttercream and go over them again with the cake comb. Also, if your ridges are tearing when you pass over the buttercream with the cake comb, it most likely means that your buttercream is too stiff. Luckily there’s an easy fix! Simply add a little bit of room temperature milk to your buttercream and mix it with your mixer for a thinner-consistency buttercream. Then, add the buttercream wherever your ridges have ripped and smooth them over with the cake comb.

Keep going around the cake until your ridges are more than ⅛ inch deep. Once you’ve reached the ideal depth, use your angled spatula to create sharp edges on the top of your cake. Swipe the buttercream from the outer edges toward the center of the cake until those edges look sharp and the top of the cake looks smooth and even. 

Step 3: Chill For 30 Minutes 

This step is critical to creating evenly spaced buttercream stripes, because if you skip this step and the buttercream is too soft, the stripes can spread and look uneven. Simply pop the cake in the refrigerator and chill the buttercream for at least 30 minutes, until it’s firm to the touch. 

Step 4: Fill The Ridges With Color

Add your favorite food color gel to the remaining buttercream and mix it up. I used the Wilton Color Right Food Coloring System from JOANN to mix up this deep fuschia color (using the pink and blue colors). Add the colored buttercream into a piping bag and snip off about ¼ inch opening on the end. With your chilled cake on the turntable, pipe the colored buttercream into the ridges. 

It’s best to overfill the ridges rather than underfill them – you want to make sure that the colored buttercream reaches every space within the ridge. 

Step 5: Smooth The Stripes 

Finally, use a clean icing smoother to go around the cake several times and remove the excess colored buttercream. You’ll want to clean the icing smoother every time you go around the cake to ensure that you’re removing as much of the colored buttercream as you can. 

This step requires a bit of patience, but as you carefully smooth and remove excess buttercream, you’ll see those perfect stripes start to peek through. Continue this process until all of the excess buttercream has been removed and those stripes look perfect!

From here, you can continue decorating the cake if you wish. To get this look, I added some Sweet Tooth Fairy sprinkles, a buttercream border using Wilton Tip 1M, and turquoise gumballs. All of these pretty decorating supplies can be found at JOANN! 

The best part about this technique is that you can use any stripe color combination you want! Just follow the above steps and you’re good to go. I hope this tutorial gives you more confidence in creating buttercream stripes and you’ll find everything you need to get the look at JOANN. And the best part is, if you download the JOANN app, you’ll get tons of coupons to get these cake supplies at a discount. Happy cake striping! 

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 How To Create Striped Buttercream Cakes With A Cake Comb appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

Julie (the owner) of Thistle & Lace graciously sent me some of her favorite cake toppers, and I wanted to create a cake for each and every one of them! These beauties are made of ⅛ inch Baltic Birch Plywood which is super strong, stable, and has a gorgeous finish. They’re cut with a powerful laser cutter in such a precise way that the edges are miraculously un-burnt and flawless, no matter how intricate the design. Each cake topper comes in a variety of colors (shown below), and the painted options are created with FDA-approved paints, aka they’re perfectly safe to top your cake with! Just look at these amazing color options:

I love all of the cake toppers that Julie sent over and will definitely be using them on my upcoming cakes and bakes! I was so enthralled with the “Happy Bee Day” topper that I considered it the perfect opportunity to whip up a bee-themed birthday cake. Here’s a quick video to show you some behind the scenes of this bee birthday cake and cake topper action:

Isn’t the Happy Bee Day cake topper the cutest ever? It’s perfect for this bee-inspired cake and I love how intricate the honeycomb details are.

In addition to creating high-quality cake toppers in so many pretty colors and styles, the thing I love most about Thistle & Lace is that you can easily customize what your cake topper looks like and says. These toppers are not mass-produced, so you can really get the look you want, whatever it might be. They’re the perfect option for adding names or special sayings to cake and cupcake toppers for any occasion. These are just a tiny fraction of the made-to-order options, and just think of the possibilities when it comes to custom designs!

I highly recommend Thistle & Lace for all of your cake topper needs, and they have even more customizable products to help with wedding and party decor. Be sure to check out their other products like wedding table numbers, fun guestbook options, custom wall signs, and so much more. Don’t forget to enter my code SUGAR 15 at checkout to get your 15% off until June 30th! And let us know if you end up topping your pretty cakes with Thistle & Lace toppers by tagging @sugarandsparrowco and @thistleandlaceshop on Instagram. We’d love to see what you create!   

Disclaimer: I was compensated by Thistle & Lace 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 Bee Themed Cake with Thistle & Lace Cake Toppers appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

In my memories of childhood snacks, Circus Animals were an extra special treat. My eyes still get wide when I see the iconic pink and white frosted cookies covered in sprinkles, so when I found out that this A Frosted Affair sprinkle mix by SprinklePop was largely inspired by them, my heart definitely soared! I just knew I had to create a fun pink and white sprinkled cake with major Circus Animal cookie vibes to celebrate my love for all of it.

Just one look at the colors going on in the A Frosted Affair sprinkle mix will transport you back to childhood. The larger pink and white spherical sprinkles are perfectly intermixed with rainbow-colored jimmies and nonpareils. It’s all the colors of Circus Animal cookies in sprinkle form and made me giddy just opening the bottle! Look at how beautiful these sprinkles are:

Going with the fun circus-inspired theme, I decided to make the cake striped with pink and white buttercream. It’s the first time I’ve ever used a cake comb for striping the cake, and I found it to be a serious hack for creating perfectly level and evenly-spaced stripes! I’ll show you all the tips I learned below, so if you’ve been dying to create a buttercream striped cake and haven’t yet tried the cake comb technique, I highly recommend it. It’ll save you so much time and stress. And just look at how pretty the sprinkles look on these stripes!

I whipped up a video of the entire process, from striping the cake to adding the sprinkles, so you can visually see the techniques before reading all about them in the tutorial below:

You Will Need

• A 6-inch crumb coated cake that’s been chilled
• 1.5 batches of vanilla buttercream frosting
• Pink food color gel
• A cake turntable
• An icing scraper and angled spatula
• A cake comb
• 2 piping bags
• 8 oz bottle of A Frosted Affair sprinkles
• Wilton Tip 1M
• Circus Animal cookies for garnish

Step 1: Frost The Cake

With your crumb coated cake on the turntable, frost the cake with the vanilla buttercream and use the icing scraper and angled spatula to create a smooth buttercream finish.

If you’re looking for tips on how to get the buttercream extra smooth and level, this blog post will give you all the info you need!

Step 2: Comb The Cake

With the smooth buttercream frosting still wet to the touch, hold the cake comb at a 45 degree angle toward your body and gently indent the cake with it. Be sure to wipe the cake comb clean each time you go around the cake.

Continue the process of combing the cake and wiping the comb clean until you’ve got even grooves in the buttercream all around the cake. They should be about ⅛ to ¼ of an inch deep when you’re finished.

Step 3: Create The Buttercream Stripes

Tint all of the leftover buttercream a light pink shade using your favorite color gel. I used a tiny amount of Americolor Electric Pink to get the shade pictured. After the buttercream has been tinted, load it into a piping bag and snip off ¼ inch opening. Fill each of the grooves on the cake with the pink buttercream and be sure to overfill the grooves rather than underfill them.

When you’re finished filling all of the grooves with pink buttercream, use a clean icing scraper to smooth the cake. It will look a bit messy at first, but keep smoothing the cake (wipe your icing scraper clean in between smoothing!) until perfect buttercream stripes are revealed.

Once your buttercream stripes are looking amazing, swipe your angled spatula over the top of the cake, from the outer edges inward, to create sharp edges.

Step 4: Add The Sprinkles

With your striped buttercream still wet to the touch, add the A Frosted Affair sprinkles all around the bottom edges of the cake. The easiest way to do this is to pour the sprinkles into the palm of your hand, then gently press them to the cake.

When you finish sprinkling the bottom edges, gently place the sprinkles in a floating pattern around the top two thirds of the cake. You can use a pair of tweezers for this part, but I find that pressing a sprinkle to my finger before gently touching the cake with it is the easiest way to add sprinkles one by one without making marks in the cake finish.

Once you’re happy with the sprinkled sides, pop the cake in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to let everything firm up before continuing the decorating process.

Step 5: Decorate The Top

Prepare a piping bag by fitting it with Wilton Tip 1M and filling it with more pink buttercream, then pipe swirls all around the top edge of the cake. Generously add A Frosted Affair sprinkles to the swirl border and fill in the entire top of the cake with more sprinkles if you’d like. Then, place a Circus Animal cookie on top of each buttercream swirl.

And there you have it: a fun, Circus Animal-inspired cake with the prettiest sprinkles ever! It’s perfect for a circus-themed party or to get a little nostalgic.

For more cake tutorial videos, be sure to follow along on my YouTube channel! And if you’re inspired to make this cake, be sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see it. I love to know what you’re caking!

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