tutorial Archives - Sugar & Sparrow https://sugarandsparrow.com/tag/tutorial/ Lifestyle and Cake from Portland Oregon Wed, 19 Oct 2022 16:44:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.3 https://sugarandsparrow.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flour/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/02212522/cropped-sparrow_favi-32x32.png tutorial Archives - Sugar & Sparrow https://sugarandsparrow.com/tag/tutorial/ 32 32 Sprinkle Gingerbread House Kits + Decorating Tutorial https://sugarandsparrow.com/sprinkle-gingerbread-house-tutorial/ https://sugarandsparrow.com/sprinkle-gingerbread-house-tutorial/#respond Thu, 05 Dec 2019 16:00:09 +0000 https://sugarandsparrow.com/?p=31649 Way back in July, I got this amazing opportunity to design a sprinkley gingerbread house for SprinklePop using their Sprinkle Gingerbread House Kit. It was so much fun to create...

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Way back in July, I got this amazing opportunity to design a sprinkley gingerbread house for SprinklePop using their Sprinkle Gingerbread House Kit. It was so much fun to create (truly felt like Christmas in July!) and also, my festive little gingerbread creation ended up on the package itself! I was so starry-eyed over all of it then and now that the Holidays are in full swing, I’m swooning all over again. If you’re looking for the perfect gingerbread house kit to decorate with family and friends, this one is my pick!  

Gingerbread House Kit by SprinklePop

Decorating gingerbread houses is such a fun Holiday tradition and these kits come with everything you need: gingerbread house pieces that are perfectly baked, royal icing mix that you can whip up with just a few tablespoons of water, the ideal holiday sprinkle mixes, and they even include piping bags and tips for flawless decorating. The sprinkles that come inside the kit are the ultra-colorful Fahoo Fores and the super-pretty Winter Wonderland sprinkles. You can use both on your gingerbread house to create the design pictured, mix it up by adding some extra holiday candy, or just be creative and do your own thing. The (Winter) sky’s the limit with these Sprinkle Gingerbread House Kits.

gingerbread house decorating tutorial
gingerbread house with sprinkles

The best part about these kits is that they make gingerbread house assembly incredibly easy. The pieces are held together with the royal icing mix that comes with the kit, and it’s super pipeable and sturdy – aka the perfect glue! You end up with a strong gingerbread house that won’t collapse on you, and the decorating process is a whole lot more fun when you’re not worried about the house falling apart.

gingerbread house assembly

Whether you want to replicate this exact sprinkle gingerbread house design or do your own thing decorating-wise, here’s a quick video to show you how to build and dress up a gingerbread house using the SprinklePop Sprinkle Gingerbread House Kits:

You Will Need

Step 1: Mix Up The Royal Icing

Place the royal icing mix into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (alternatively you can use a hand mixer). Add 2 Tbsp of water, then turn the mixer on high and let it whip up for about 7 minutes, until peaks form.

royal icing recipe for gingerbread house

From here, you can divide the royal icing up into separate bowls for color mixing. I chose to color about 3 Tbsp of the royal icing with Americolor Electric Pink to create the colorful front door for my gingerbread house. Then, I colored a few more Tbsp with Americolor Mint Green to pipe a wreath on top of the front door. For the pink royal icing, I also mixed in a few more drops of water to thin it out just a little bit.

how to color royal icing

Place your royal icing into the piping bags. The Sprinkle Gingerbread House Kit comes with piping bags and tips, but I used Wilton Tip 2 for my pink icing and some of the white icing, Wilton Tip 199 for my green icing, and Wilton Tip 4B for some more of my white icing. For the rest of the white icing, I placed it into a piping bag with a tiny opening snipped off, just for the assembly process.

Step 2: Decorate The Gingerbread House Pieces

One by one, decorate the gingerbread house pieces with your piping bags and sprinkles. For the front of the house, I created a pink front door, then piped some white dots around it before placing some of the smaller sprinkles from the Fahoo Fores mix. Then, I piped a green wreath with Wilton Tip 199 onto the front door and continued piping and decorating with more of the sprinkles. I used the Winter Wonderland sprinkles toward the bottom of the house to make it look like sparkly snow drifts.

decorating gingerbread house pieces
gingerbread house decorating ideas

For the roof pieces, I piped some white royal icing in a drip pattern and then filled it all in with Winter Wonderland sprinkles.

how to decorate gingerbread house
snow on gingerbread house

And for the side pieces, I continued with the Winter Wonderland snow drifts along the bottom edges, then filled in the windows with piped dots using Wilton Tip 2.

decorated gingerbread house pieces

When you’re finished decorating, allow the pieces to dry for a few hours until they’re firm enough to the touch for assembly.

how to decorate gingerbread house with sprinkles

Be sure to store the remaining royal icing in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry up on you. In the meantime, you can pop on a Holiday movie and snuggle up with some cocoa! 

Step 3: Assemble The Base of the Gingerbread House

Once your gingerbread house pieces are dry, it’s time for assembly. Add some royal icing into a piping bag with about ⅛ inch opening snipped off the end, then add a line of royal icing along the edge of the side piece that connects with the front of the house. Add another line of royal icing along the side of the front piece of the house that will connect with the side, then press them together at a 90 degree angle. 

royal icing for gingerbread house recipe
assembling gingerbread house

Pipe royal icing along the edges of the other side pieces that connect, then press them all together to form the base of your house.

how to make a sturdy gingerbread house
how to glue gingerbread together
base of gingerbread house

Let the pieces dry together for about 12 hours before moving on to the next step. In the meantime, be sure to store your extra royal icing in an airtight container.

Step 4: Attach The Roof

Now that the base of your house is nice and sturdy, it’s time to add the roof and make it a home. Pipe royal icing along the top edges of your house, then along the places of your roof that the house will connect with.

how to attach roof to gingerbread house

Press each piece of the roof onto the house gently. The royal icing should hold it in place perfectly.

how to add roof to gingerbread house

Step 5: Decorate Even More

With your gingerbread house assembly complete, all that’s left to do is keep adding those festive touches. I piped some white royal icing with Wilton Tip 4B all along the roof lines, then added the larger sprinkle balls from the Fahoo Fores mix to make it look like Christmas lights.

how to make a strong gingerbread house for decorating

Next, I decided to create an entire Wintery scene by piping a walkway up to the house and covering it with more Fahoo Fores sprinkles. Then, I used Wilton Tip 4B to pipe little mounds of snow all around the front yard and sprinkled Winter Wonderland all over it. This part is totally optional, but I just couldn’t help myself.

sprinklepop gingerbread house tutorial

And just like that, you’ve got the best gingerbread house on the block! Be sure to pick up a Sprinkle Gingerbread House this Holiday season for some festive (and sprinkley!) fun. Happy Holidays! 

Disclaimer: I was compensated by SprinklePop 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.

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Dia De Los Muertos Spiderweb Cupcakes https://sugarandsparrow.com/dia-de-los-muertos-cupcakes/ https://sugarandsparrow.com/dia-de-los-muertos-cupcakes/#respond Tue, 15 Oct 2019 04:53:01 +0000 https://sugarandsparrow.com/?p=31467 When it comes to spooky sprinkles, SprinklePop is killing it. They’ve got the perfect collection of Halloween and Fall-themed sprinkles, and I’ve gotten to create some amazing projects with them...

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When it comes to spooky sprinkles, SprinklePop is killing it. They’ve got the perfect collection of Halloween and Fall-themed sprinkles, and I’ve gotten to create some amazing projects with them in the past (my fave being this scary Monster Mashup cake!). This year I got the chance to play with their Dia De Los Muertos mix, and I fell so in love with the little sugar skulls that come in the mix. Paired with a festive color scheme and some piped Candy Melt spiderwebs, they look downright amazing on these cupcakes:

Dia De Los Muertos cupcakes by Sugar and Sparrow

This Dia De Los Muertos mix is ideal for adding to Day of the Dead themed cupcakes or cakes. The color scheme is perfectly vibrant, and my favorite part is that the mix comes with plenty of those cute little sugar skulls. I want a whole bottle of those cuties just to stare at them! Just look at how fun these sprinkles are:

Dia De Los Muertos sprinkles by Sprinklepop

Although these sprinkles are outstanding on their own, I decided to make some spiderweb cake toppers using piped Wilton Candy Melts. The spiderwebs are so easy to make and the best part is that they’re fully dry and ready to use in about ten minutes. After topping the cupcakes with an edible spiderweb and sprinkling with the Dia De Los Muertos mix, these cupcakes have the perfect balance of pretty and scary.

Halloween cupcakes by Sugar and Sparrow
White chocolate spiderweb cupcake toppers

I made a quick video of the process so you can see the techniques it takes to get the look. From the Candy Melt spiderweb toppers to piping and sprinkling the cupcakes, here are all the visual details before you read about them below:

PS: If you love watching videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube Channel! I post cake decorating videos and recipes there quite often, so be sure to subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss a thing.

You Will Need:

Step 1: Make The Candy Melt Spiderwebs

Spread a sheet of wax paper onto a baking sheet. Then, melt your Wilton Candy Melts in the microwave according to the package instructions. Alternatively, you can use white chocolate chips for this part, but I love the Candy Melts because they’re a much brighter white than white chocolate chips, which tend to be a bit yellow. 

How to melt Wilton Candy Melts

Add the melted Candy Melt mixture to a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 3, then pipe spider web designs onto the wax paper.

White chocolate spiderweb tutorial

At this point, you can let them air dry or speed up the process by popping the baking sheet into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. When they’re completely dry to the touch, remove the wax paper backing from each spiderweb.

how to make white chocolate spiderwebs

Step 2: Prepare The Buttercream

Divide the buttercream into three separate bowls for color mixing. Add black food coloring to the first bowl, purple food coloring to the second bowl, and orange food coloring to the third bowl. Mix until you have the desired shades for your buttercream color palette.

Halloween cupcakes tutorial

When you’ve got the perfect colors, add each color to a separate piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 1M. 

Step 3: Pipe The Cupcakes

Using each of the piping bags, pipe swirls onto each cupcake starting on the outer edge of the cupcake and spiraling the buttercream toward the center.

How to pipe a swirl on cupcakes

When you’re finished, all of your buttercream colors should be represented equally amongst the cupcakes. 

Step 4: Top The Cupcakes

Top each cupcake with a white chocolate spiderweb and sprinkle the Dia De Los Muertos mix generously. Make sure that each cupcake gets at least one sugar skull, because they’re the cutest!

Halloween spiderweb cupcakes tutorial
Halloween cupcakes with spiderwebs and sprinkles

And there you have it – an easy way to create Halloween or Day of the Dead themed cupcakes with the prettiest spooky sprinkles around.

Dia De Los Muertos cupcakes tutorial

Disclaimer: I was compensated by SprinklePop 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.

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Holiday Floral Buttercream Cake Tutorial https://sugarandsparrow.com/holiday-floral-cake/ https://sugarandsparrow.com/holiday-floral-cake/#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2018 16:00:28 +0000 https://sugarandsparrow.com/?p=30166 I’ve been in the Holiday spirit since before Thanksgiving, which is about the time all the cute decorations hit the shelves and the Christmas music started flooding the radio stations....

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I’ve been in the Holiday spirit since before Thanksgiving, which is about the time all the cute decorations hit the shelves and the Christmas music started flooding the radio stations. I can’t help but have hundreds of ideas for festive cake decorating this time of year, especially because creative prints and fun color schemes are everywhere I look! It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

One of my favorite cake decorating techniques I learned over the last year is how to to use icing spatulas and piping tips to create floral print patterns on buttercream cakes. So when my friends over at Wilton asked me to create a cake for their Holiday campaign, (after squealing) I instantly thought of recreating the buttercream floral print look with a Holiday theme! It’s easier than it looks with the right tools, a great color scheme, and some inspiration from your favorite Holiday florals and foliage (think Poinsettias, pine sprigs, snowberries, holly, and all the flowers that make you think of this festive season).

christmas floral cake by sugar and sparrow

buttercream cake with holiday flowers by sugar and sparrow

Although I already had the essential Wilton piping tips and icing spatula on hand, Wilton was kind enough to send me the perfect Icing Color Gels and decorating brush set to create the ultimate festive cake!

wilton cake decorating supplies

Here’s a video to see the techniques and step-by-step in action, and I’ll walk you through every detail below:

You Will Need:

Step 1: Chill Your Buttercream Cake  

It’s essential that you begin this technique with a cold buttercream cake as your canvas. That way, you won’t have to worry about accidentally smudging your smooth buttercream as you create the floral patterns.

how to frost smooth buttercream cake

After frosting (I’ve used a tiny amount of Wilton’s Creamy Peach to get this subtle cream shade for my backdrop), chill the cake for at least 30 minutes, or until the buttercream is firm to the touch.

Step 2: Prepare Your Buttercream Color Palette

While your cake is chilling, divide your buttercream into separate bowls (one for each color). Dip a toothpick into the Wilton Icing Color Gel of your choice and apply it to the first bowl of buttercream. Mix with a spoon and continue adding color until it’s the perfect shade, then repeat with the other colors. The color palette for this specific cake is Creamy Peach, Christmas Red, Juniper Green, Moss Green, Brown, Burgundy, White (non-colored vanilla buttercream), and Black.

wilton tip 2 piping on buttercream

When your icing color palette is looking perfect, prepare your piping bags by snipping off the end and fitting each one with a Wilton Tip 2. This will give you a small, perfectly circular opening for more precise piping. Fill each piping bag with your buttercream colors and marvel at how pretty they look all together!

Step 3: Create Floral Pattern Tracings (optional)

Since I am an ultra-perfectionist, I like to know what my floral patterns are going to look like on the cake and give myself a guide by tracing the patterns on prior to piping. I created and printed out templates of simple floral patterns and traced them onto wax paper, then used the dull end of a wooden skewer to imprint the patterns onto my cold buttercream cake.

how to create floral patterns for cakes

how to trace patterns onto buttercream cakes

For the tracings, you could also use floral designs from wrapping paper or doing an online search for Holiday floral patterns. If you’re more of a go-with-the-flow type of cake decorator, feel free to improvise the patterns as you go!

Step 4: Pipe Your Patterns Onto The Cake

Now for the fun part – piping the designs! Using your piping bags, outline the floral pattern tracings one by one. You’ll find that some designs (like the fir tree branches) will only require outlines, while other designs (like pinecones and snowberries) require dots. The Wilton Tip 2 is perfect for either of these techniques, as it allows you to drag the buttercream in precise lines or dot the buttercream on for circular textures.

how to pipe flowers onto buttercream cakes

For the flower designs, pipe the outline of the flower before filling a little bit of buttercream inside the petals. Use a small icing spatula to swipe the buttercream inward and create the look of petals.

how to make buttercream poinsettia

Repeat the process of piping and spatula painting until your entire cake is patterned with holiday florals.

how to paint flowers onto buttercream

Depending on the look you’re going for, you can have as many or as little designs as you’d like!

Step 5: Smooth With Paint Brushes

After all of your piping is complete, it’s time to do a tiny bit of finish work to make everything look smooth and uniform. It’s essential to have a few paintbrushes handy (I’m using Wilton’s 5 Piece Decorating Brush Set) and a small bowl of water for this part. 

how to smooth buttercream piping paintbrush

Dip your paintbrush into a tiny bit of water and gently press down on any places on the cake where sharp peaks have formed. This technique helps flatten and smooth designs like branches, berries, and anywhere your piping is peaking.

I couldn’t be happier with how this Holiday Floral Cake turned out! Wilton had the perfect paint brushes and Icing Color Gels for this palette and I am so happy to add them to my already-vast collection of Wilton cake decorating products.

christmas cake by sugar and sparrow

What kind of festive cakes are you planning this season? There are a TON of brilliant Holiday cake ideas like this one over on Wilton’s Christmas Ideas page, so be sure to check it out for some inspiration! And if you try this buttercream floral pattern technique, be sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see your creativity in action. Happy Holiday season to you and yours!

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Watercolor Ombrè Buttercream Tutorial https://sugarandsparrow.com/watercolor-buttercream-tutorial/ https://sugarandsparrow.com/watercolor-buttercream-tutorial/#comments Mon, 04 Jun 2018 15:00:02 +0000 https://sugarandsparrow.com/?p=29282 Of all the things you can paint with, buttercream remains one my favorite artistic mediums. Yes, it’s only temporary art because it’s the edible kind, but there are so many...

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Of all the things you can paint with, buttercream remains one my favorite artistic mediums. Yes, it’s only temporary art because it’s the edible kind, but there are so many ways you can get creative with colors and techniques! One of the simplest edible art projects you can do is create a watercolor buttercream masterpiece as a cake finish, and although this tutorial focuses on how to get the look with a watercolor ombre, you can easily use this same technique on your entire cake.

When creating a watercolor finish, the first thing I do is think about a color palette. Sometimes I flip through Pantone swatches for inspiration and sometimes I just fly by the seat of my pants (usually the latter approach), but it’s always a good idea to have a plan before you start mixing up colors.

watercolor buttercream technique by sugar and sparrow

After having taken a few painting classes in my adolescent years, I know my way around the color wheel and which food color gels to blend to get the look I’m going for. If you haven’t a clue on how to mix colors, Wilton makes a pretty awesome set of food color gels called Color Right that includes all the gels you need to achieve any color of the rainbow (and then some). It’s even got a handy chart to help you mix up whatever hue you’re into.

Here’s a quick video of the watercolor technique before you read about how to get the look:

You Will Need

  • Color Gels (here’s the Wilton Color Right set)
  • A fresh batch of vanilla buttercream or other white-colored frosting
  • A cake that’s been filled, frosted, and ready for it’s final coat
  • Mixing bowls and spoons
  • Toothpicks
  • Cake turntable
  • An offset spatula
  • Bench scraper

Step 1: Fill And Frost Your Cake

Before you start creating a watercolor masterpiece, you’ll need a good blank canvas to paint on. Fill and frost your cake with a white or solid-colored buttercream so you’ve got a smooth finish that’s just waiting for a final coat.

how to frost a smooth buttercream cake

It’s best to chill the frosted cake in the refrigerator for a good half hour or more so it’s easier to work with.

Step 2: Mix Up Your Colors

While the cake is chilling in the refrigerator, mix up the colors you want to use into your buttercream. I like to color a little at a time, which is where the toothpicks come in handy. Instead of squirting the gels into the buttercream, I like to apply a little of the color to a toothpick and then dip that into the buttercream before mixing and seeing if I need more. This way, you can control the hues a little bit better. Keep in mind that your colors may darken slightly as they settle in, so be sure to allow for the darkening process if you’re trying to get a really specific shade.

coloring buttercream with Wilton Color Right gels

For this tutorial, I’ve created a brick red (Crimson + Rose Pink + Blue + a little Black), a purplish pink (Rose Pink + Blue), a bubblegum-toned pink (lesser amounts of Rose Pink + Blue), and a light blush tone (I mixed a tiny amount of my brick red with lots of vanilla buttercream). It’s always a good idea to keep some plain white buttercream around in case you need to tone down the color.

Step 3: Start Painting And Smoothing

After your blank canvas is chilled to the point where you can touch it and not leave a fingerprint, start applying your colors to the cake by touching them to the surface with your spatula. Try to start small by only adding a little color, smoothing the finish with your bench scraper, and then seeing where you want to add more color.

how to create a watercolor ombre buttercream finish

If you come on too strong with your colors, there’s an easy fix! Simply apply the white buttercream over the top of the colors and use the same smoothing technique to tone things down.

Step 4: Keep Decorating

Once your watercolor design is looking top notch, you can keep up the creativity by using some other design techniques. In this cake design, I’ve created a drip with chocolate ganache, added fresh flowers and chocolate disks to the top, and splatter painted with some Rose Gold Edible Art Paint.

watercolor buttercream drip cake by Sugar and Sparrow

Want to see some of the other looks and cake decorating techniques I’ve been loving? Head on over to my Pinterest!

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How To Make Fresh Flowers Safe For Cakes https://sugarandsparrow.com/fresh-flowers-cake-decorating/ https://sugarandsparrow.com/fresh-flowers-cake-decorating/#comments Fri, 25 May 2018 15:00:10 +0000 http://sugarandsparrow.com/?p=28651 There’s something about working with fresh flowers in the cake decorating process that gets me so excited! The thrill always starts at the flower shop, because I really get to...

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There’s something about working with fresh flowers in the cake decorating process that gets me so excited! The thrill always starts at the flower shop, because I really get to nerd out on different combinations of blooms. With a color palette in mind, I love to play around with different textures and varieties of flowers. But deciding on a good floral palette involves more than just what will look best – the flowers have to actually be safe for cakes.

using fresh flowers in cake decorating

In addition to making sure the blooms you’re purchasing for your cake are organic and haven’t been sprayed with pesticides, it’s important to know ahead of time which flowers to avoid. I’ve found that in some cases, the florist won’t even know! So before I teach you how to incorporate fresh florals into your cake designs, make them last, and keep them from leaking their stem juices into your precious cake, I wanted to share a list of flowers that are safe for your cakes (and in some cases, even completely edible!) and which ones to avoid completely:

Flowers That Are Safe: Pansies, Lavender, Violas, Violets, Roses, Marigold, Cornflower, Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Day Lily, Hibiscus, Peony, Chamomile, Freesia, Gerber Daisy, Lisianthus, Queen Anne’s Lace, Primrose, Sunflowers. Here’s a longer list (and what parts of each flower are actually edible!).

Flowers To Avoid: Lily Of The Valley, Daffodil, Poinsettia, Azaleas, Calla Lily, Hyacinth, Oleander, Wisteria, Rhododendron, Hydrangea, Mistletoe, Holly, Sweet Pea. Here’s the long list.

Now that you know which flowers work best for keeping your cake tasty and non-toxic, here’s my method for decorating cakes with fresh florals:

You Will Need:

  • Fresh florals (organic, pesticide-free, and from the safe list)
  • Floral scissors or pruning tool
  • A frosted cake
  • Floral tape
  • Scissors

Step 1: Wash And Trim The Flowers

Under a sink with cold water running, gently wash your flowers to make sure there aren’t any bugs or dirt lingering in the petals. Locate where you’d like to trim the stem (I usually keep it 2-3 inches long) and place it under the water. Snip the stem at an angle and keep the trimmed portion under the water for another few seconds. I consider that the flower’s final drink.

how to prepare fresh flowers cake decorating

Pat the flowers and stems dry with a paper towel carefully.

Step 2: Wrap The Stems

Cut a piece of floral tape that’s about 2-3 inches long. Wrap the tape around the stem, focusing on covering the majority of the stem and where it’s been pruned. The goal here is to create a barrier between the cake and the stem, especially the bottom of the stem, and prevent it from leaking flower secretion (ok yes that’s gross sounding but also a good band name!) into the cake layer.

how to make flowers food safe for cakes

Wrapping the stem in this way also keeps the flowers fresh for longer, because it helps hold the moisture and nourishment within the stem.

Step 3: Decorate The Cake

Now that you’ve created a good barrier between the cake and your floral stems, plus you’ve set your mind at ease by choosing flowers from the safe list, it’s time to arrange them on your cake – my favorite part! I usually take some time to loosely plan where to place the flowers (off the cake) before committing to an arrangement. Once you’re happy with a plan, stick the covered stems into the cake one by one. Simple as that!

which flowers can you use on cakes

For larger flower bouquets, a great trick for keeping those stems from contaminating your cake is to create a small (1-2 inch) fondant ball and stick your stems into that before placing the whole thing on top of your cake. I’ve definitely used that trick for fuller floral arrangements and it works like a charm. You’ll still need to wrap your stems with floral tape before sticking them into the fondant holder to keep the moisture contained.

how to arrange fresh flowers on a cake

And if you’re really wanting to keep those flowers fresh, you can always try using one of those plastic tubes you get from the florist. You can fill them with a little water and stick your flowers into it like a vase before submerging it into the cake. I’ve never tried that method, but I hear it works great.

Storage And Timing

Keep in mind that each flower will have a specific lifespan once you wrap the stem, so the best way to be sure how long it will remain fresh is to ask your florist beforehand. In my experience, I’ve had really good luck storing cakes with fresh florals in the refrigerator. Typically, fresh flowers will last around eight hours in the refrigerator and remain fresh for a few hours outside of the fridge environment. Even though I’ve had good luck with the fridge, I always like to prepare and place the flowers at the very last second possible (sometimes even on-site at the event) to ensure the freshest blooms. Because after all that prep work and stressing over a cake, the last thing you want to happen is wilting. 

Have you tried any of these methods before? Know any tips that aren’t on my list? I’d love to know your secrets for working with fresh florals too! Let me know in the comments.

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DIY Gumpaste Letter Cupcake Toppers https://sugarandsparrow.com/diy-gumpaste-letter-toppers/ https://sugarandsparrow.com/diy-gumpaste-letter-toppers/#comments Fri, 18 May 2018 15:00:11 +0000 https://sugarandsparrow.com/?p=29167 The other day I got a request to make a customized letter topper for a cupcake in one of my orders. I’ll admit, I’d actually never made a monogram cupcake...

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The other day I got a request to make a customized letter topper for a cupcake in one of my orders. I’ll admit, I’d actually never made a monogram cupcake topper before but I’m always up for a challenge (a great and terrible quality to have, depending on the situation). Fortunately, this ended up being an incredibly easy DIY and totally customizable for whatever vibe you’re going for, from the font to the finish!

DIY monogram cupcake toppers by Sugar and Sparrow

You Will Need:

  • Gumpaste (I use this. Most craft stores with a cake decorating aisle will have it.)
  • Small rolling pin and smooth surface to roll gumpaste out
  • Crisco
  • Printed letter templates
  • Exacto knife
  • Wax paper
  • Flat toothpicks or floral wire
  • Finishing touches like sprinkles, edible glitter, Edible Art Paint, etc (optional)

Step 1: Print Out A Letter Template

In order to get the look you really want, spend some time looking through different fonts on your computer. I chose a few different fonts for this tutorial just to show you that anything is possible with a little gumpaste and an exacto knife.

DIy gumpaste letter templates

Print the letter(s) out onto paper once you’ve got a font you like and it’s sized perfectly, then carefully cut the letter out to use as a template.

Step 2: Make The Gumpaste Monogram

Roll out the gumpaste to the thickness of about ⅛ of an inch using a little crisco to keep it from sticking to your surface. Place your template over the top of the gumpaste and carefully cut around it with an exacto knife.

gumpaste letter cupcake topper tutorial

Stick toothpicks or floral wire into the bottom of the monogram and let it dry for about 15 minutes before carefully transferring it to a piece of wax paper to continue drying. The monogram should be completely dry in 24-48 hours. Flip it over halfway through the drying process so that both sides get equal drying time.

Step 3: Customize The Finish

The monograms look great in plain white, or you can color the gumpaste with food color gels before rolling it out in step 2. I’ve also found some other awesome ways to customize the finish after the drying process though:

Sprinkled Monogram Topper

Because what’s more celebratory than sprinkles?

sprinkled monogram cupcake topper by sugar and sparrow

For this cupcake topper, I mixed water and gumpaste together to make a “glue” (1 Tbsp water + a small ¼ inch piece of gumpaste. Let rest for 30 minutes until gumpaste is dissolved and you have yourself a glue!), brushed it over the monogram, and stuck sprinkles all over it.

Metallic Monogram Topper

For the metallic gold look, I used Edible Art Paint in Glamorous Gold. They make a ton of different colors, both metallic and non, and I love this stuff so much for painting fondant, gumpaste, and even buttercream!

metallic letter cupcake topper DIY

After the gumpaste monogram was completely dry, I used a small paintbrush to paint a few coats of this Edible Art Paint and get the metallic gold look.

Glitter Monogram Topper

To get this glitter finish, I brushed on some of my gumpaste “glue,” then pressed edible silver glitter over the surface of the monogram.

glitter letter topper by sugar and sparrow tutorial

The best thing about these gumpaste letters is they dry super hard in a short amount of time, so you don’t have to worry about them falling apart on you. You could use this technique to spell out an entire word for a cake topper, or keep it simple with one letter. It’s a really quick and easy way to customize a cake or cupcakes without having to scour the internet for the perfect topper!

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White Chocolate Brushstroke Cupcakes Tutorial https://sugarandsparrow.com/brushstroke-cupcake-tutorial/ https://sugarandsparrow.com/brushstroke-cupcake-tutorial/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2018 02:49:56 +0000 http://sugarandsparrow.com/?p=28588 Over the years I’ve learned that, aside from fondant, white chocolate is one of the best mediums for creating cake toppers. It’s great for making fun geometric shapes, 3D art...

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Over the years I’ve learned that, aside from fondant, white chocolate is one of the best mediums for creating cake toppers. It’s great for making fun geometric shapes, 3D art (I hope to master the white chocolate sphere someday!), and one of my favorite techniques: painting with white chocolate to create brush strokes. It’s one of the easiest techniques ever, and when you get a little creative with your colors the results can be breathtaking. Let me show you how it’s done:

You will need:

  • 1 cup (183g) white chocolate chips
  • Food color gels of your choosing 
  • A clean, dry paintbrush
  • Parchment paper
  • Baked and frosted cupcakes

Step 1: Temper Your Chocolate

Even though white chocolate isn’t a “true” chocolate (it’s made primarily of cocoa butter), it still needs to be tempered to keep it from getting flimsy and looking dull once it’s dry. To start, measure out one cup of white chocolate chips and pour them into a microwave safe bowl. Reserve ¼ of the chips (so in this case, ¼ cup) and set them aside. These reserved chips are what’s called a “seed” that will be mixed into the melted white chocolate to quickly decrease the overall temperature.

how to temper white chocolate

Microwave your white chocolate (minus the seed) in increments of 30 seconds, stirring after each interval, until the chips are melted. In my case, it only took 2 intervals to get the white chocolate nice and melted. Then stir in the seed until those chips are melted and you have uniform consistency.

how to temper chocolate in the microwave

Step 2: Give It Some Color

When you’ve got a nice smooth finish, it’s time to color – my favorite part. I separated my melted white chocolate into three bowls and started adding some Wilton Color gel until I achieved these three colors.

how to color white chocolate

I’ll be honest, I usually start with an idea of what colors I want and then fly by the seat of my pants until I get there. There’s no real method to my coloring madness. For the seafoam, I used a little Sky Blue, for the peach, a little Pink, and for the purple, a combination of Sky Blue and Rose. When these colors mixed with the natural creamish yellow tone of the white chocolate, they ended up being perfect.

Step 3: Paint Your White Chocolate Brushstrokes

Now for the fun. Grab your paint brush, dip it into the white chocolate, and start brushstroking the white chocolate onto a sheet of parchment paper. A single brushstroke will usually do, as long as you’ve got enough white chocolate on the brush.

how to make white chocolate brushstrokes

The brushstrokes dry in about 20 minutes at room temp and are ready to use! If you live in a particularly humid environment, you can pop your brushstrokes into the fridge for about 10 minutes and they’ll firm right up.

Step 4: Assemble Your Designs

After your white chocolate brushstrokes are nice and dry, all that’s left to do is add them on top of some frosted cupcakes. For these, I piped a swirl of buttercream onto each cupcake using Wilton Tip 1M, then simply stuck a few brushstrokes into the swirl.

brushstroke cupcakes by sugar and sparrow

white chocolate brushstroke cupcakes by sugar and sparrow

These white chocolate brushstrokes would also look incredible on top of a cake, or stuck to the side of a cake using some buttercream as adhesive. I have yet to try the brushstroke technique on a cake, but I’ve definitely been Pinning a few inspiring looks and hope to try it someday. Follow me on Pinterest to see some of the looks I’m loving!

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