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

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

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

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

You Will Need:

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

Step 1: Mix Up A Buttercream Color Palette

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

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

Step 2: Prepare Your Piping Bags

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

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

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

Step 3: Pipe The Cake

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

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

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

Step 4: Add Sprinkles

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

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

Step 5: Top With Birthday Candles

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

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

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

Unicorns are arguably the best mythical creatures of all. It’s no wonder that they became a major trend in the cake and party planning world! You’ve probably seen plenty of unicorn cakes in your social media feeds, the most popular look being the ones where the entire cake looks like a unicorn head. I thought I’d switch it up a little bit with this one, especially because I got my hands on a bottle of this Unicorn sprinkle mix by SprinklePop! They’d look amazing on any cake design, but I really love how they enhance the magical colors and textures going on in this unicorn cake:

The Unicorn sprinkle mix is made up of the most beautiful textures and colors. It’s a blend of pastel pinks, purples, and blues, mixed with gold metallic accents and tiny wafer paper unicorns. In other words, pure magic in a bottle! I was so obsessed with the color palette of the sprinkles that I decided to theme the entire cake around it. Just look at those pretty colors and the cute wafer paper unicorns!

This cake is perfect for any unicorn lover and is actually quite simple to create. It all starts with a smooth frosted buttercream cake and some easy piping. I used three of my favorite piping tips to get the look (listed below) and then pressed the Unicorn sprinkles onto the smooth part of the cake in a floating sprinkle design. And finally, I topped it with a sprinkle-covered white chocolate unicorn that I created using a unicorn shaped cookie cutter and a few wisps of pink and blue cotton candy for good measure. I’m pretty over the moon with how it turned out!

Every detailed instruction for how to make this unicorn-inspired cake is in the tutorial below, but I also made a video to show you the process! Take a look:

You Will Need:

• A frosted buttercream cake
• 1 batch of vanilla buttercream frosting
• 8oz bottle of Unicorn Sprinkles
• Wilton Tips 1M, 104, and 4B
• Piping bags
• Icing color gels of your choice
• ½ cup white chocolate chips
• Wax paper
• A unicorn-shaped cookie cutter
• ½ tsp coconut oil
• Cotton candy

Step 1: Make The Unicorn Cake Topper

To make the unicorn cake topper, spread out a small sheet of wax paper onto a moveable flat surface (like a cookie sheet). Add the white chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl, then reserve about ⅛ cup of them and set aside. These reserved chips will act as a “seed” to help temper the melted chocolate. Microwave the white chocolate chips sans “seed” in 30 second increments until melted, stirring after each interval, then toss in the reserved chips and stir until everything is fully melted.

Spread the melted white chocolate onto the wax paper about ¼ inch thick. Smooth the coconut oil onto the edges and crevices of the unicorn-shaped cookie cutter (helps with easy release once the white chocolate is set), then press the cookie cutter into the melted white chocolate.

While the chocolate is still wet, add Unicorn sprinkles to cover the entire area within the unicorn cookie cutter and gently press them in. Refrigerate the sprinkle-covered white chocolate unicorn for 10 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

Carefully remove the excess white chocolate from the edges of the cookie cutter, then release the center from the mold.

Step 2: Mix Up a Buttercream Color Palette

Divide the buttercream into a few separate bowls for color mixing. I ended up making five different colors for my palette. First, I used a mix of Americolor Electric Pink and Electric Purple to create a dark pink, then created a light pink by mixing that with white buttercream. Next, I used Americolor Sky Blue to create the light and darker blue shades. And finally, I used Americolor Regal Purple to create the purple tone.

Feel free to use whatever colors you’d like for your color palette! I’m sure the Unicorn sprinkle mix would look gorgeous with any pastel tones.

Step 3: Pipe the Bottom of the Cake

Prepare a few piping bags by fitting them with Wilton tip 1M, 4B, and 104, then filling them with your colored buttercream. Any of your favorite piping tips will do for this part, but here’s how to recreate the look. First, pipe rosettes with Wilton tip 1M:

Next, pipe ruffles to accent the edges of the rosettes using Wilton tip 104:

And finally, fill in the empty spaces with open stars in a few different colors using Wilton tip 4B:

Step 4: Add the Floating Sprinkles

One by one, add sprinkles to the smooth part of the buttercream cake in a floating pattern. You can either use tweezers for this part, or press a sprinkle onto the tip of your finger and gently press it into the buttercream.

Repeat until you’ve covered the top half of the cake with floating Unicorn sprinkles.

Step 5: Top the Cake

To complete the cake design, stick the legs of your sprinkle-covered unicorn into the top of the cake, then add some cotton candy as a backdrop. Just remember to add the cotton candy within an hour or two of serving the cake, because it’ll start to melt if you put it in the fridge.

As a final finishing touch, I also used Wilton tip 4B to pipe some open stars around the unicorn in a random pattern, then sprinkled some more Unicorn sprinkles (because more is more, people!).

And there you have it! A unicorn-inspired cake perfect for any magical occasion.

Is there a unicorn party in your future? Let me know if you end up making this cake by leaving a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram so I can see what you’re caking. It gives me all the feels!

The post Unicorn Party Cake Tutorial appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

There are three types of buttercream flowers involved in this wreath cake topper: roses, ranunculus, and camellias. Although they may look intricate, they’re easy to make with a little practice and the right materials. They look so pretty all on their own, but it’s really fun to arrange them into a flower wreath as a cake topper. Total showstopper!

I whipped up a quick video to show you the process of making the buttercream flowers and assembling them onto the cake, so have a look before you read the tutorial below:

You Will Need:

• A cake that has been frosted and chilled
• 1.5 batches of vanilla buttercream, stiff consistency
• Wilton Tips 104 (for petals), 3 (for flower centers), and 352 (for leaves)
• Piping bags
• Pre-cut flower squares
• Flower nail
• Food color gels of your choice
• Bowls and spoons for color mixing

Step 1: Color The Buttercream

Divide your buttercream into different bowls and mix up the color scheme you’d like your flowers to be. I went with a dark brick red and light purple for the roses, fuschia ranunculus with peach centers, and white camellias with yellow centers, but these buttercream flowers can be made in any color scheme you’d like.

You’ll also need a few shades of green for the buttercream leaves, a little yellow for the centers of the camellias, and about ½ cup of plain white buttercream reserved. For all of the shades I created for this cake, I used the Wilton Color Right System from JOANN. It comes with a handy guide for mixing up any shade you could think of!

Step 2: Make The Buttercream Roses

To make the buttercream roses, fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 104 and fill it with the buttercream color of your choice. Pipe a small dot of frosting on top of the flower nail, holding it in the hand you’re not piping with. Press a parchment paper square on top.

With the larger end of Tip 104 touching the flower nail and the skinny end pointed upwards, pipe the center bud as you twirl the flower nail 360 degrees. Pipe petals around the bud as you rotate the flower nail – shorter petals in the beginning and longer petals as you reach the edge of the flower nail.

When your buttercream rose is finished, carefully drag the parchment paper square off the flower nail and onto a flat surface. I placed a piece of wax paper onto a baking sheet for this part. Repeat until you have 5-6 buttercream roses, and feel free to pipe smaller sizes for variety.

Step 3: Make The Buttercream Ranunculus

To make the buttercream ranunculus, fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 104 and fill it with the peach buttercream (or color of your choice for the center of the flower). Prepare the flower nail by placing a dot of buttercream on top, then pressing a parchment paper square onto it.

Hold Tip 104 at a 45 degree angle, with the larger end of the piping tip touching the flower nail and the skinny end pointed toward the center of the flower nail. Pipe a swirl of buttercream as the base for your center bud as you twirl the flower nail 360 degrees. Then, create overlapping layers of buttercream as you rotate the flower nail. Imagine that you’re piping small rainbows over the center bud as you go around.

Next, switch to your main ranunculus buttercream color (I used fuschia for this), still using Wilton Tip 104. Continue the overlapping motion for the petals all the way around the bud. When you’re finished, carefully slide the parchment paper onto your baking sheet so the flower can begin to dry. Repeat until you have 5-6 different ranunculus flowers, and remember to create a variety of sizes.

Step 4: Make The Buttercream Camellias

To make the buttercream camellias, place your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 104 (I’m using white for these, but you can use any color!). Fit another piping bag with Wilton Tip 3 and fill it with yellow buttercream. The second piping bag will help create the flower centers. Prepare your flower nail by placing a dot of buttercream on top and pressing a parchment paper square onto it.

Starting on the outer edge of the flower nail with Tip 104 flat (the larger end toward the center of the flower nail and the skinny end pointed outwards), pipe a row of petals as you rotate the flower nail. When you’ve created a circle of outer petals, pipe a second row of petals with the same motion, only point the piping tip at a 45 degree angle so the inner row of petals stands up. Then, use your yellow buttercream to fill in the center of the petals with dots.

When you’re finished, carefully slide the parchment paper onto your baking sheet so the flower can begin to dry. Repeat until you have about 4-5 camellias.

Step 5: Refrigerate The Buttercream Flowers

Place your baking sheet with all of your beautiful buttercream flowers into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to let them firm up before assembling the buttercream flower wreath.

After the refrigeration process, they should be firm to the touch and really easy to handle. Although you might be tempted to place them in the freezer to speed this part up, I have not had good luck with the freezer. I know some bakers swear by it, but in my experience, the refrigerator is better when it comes to these delicate buttercream flowers.

Step 6: Assemble The Buttercream Flower Wreath

Prepare a piping bag by filling with your reserved ½ cup of white buttercream and snipping off a 1-inch opening. On a cake that’s been frosted and chilled for at least thirty minutes, pipe a circle of white buttercream about ½ inch from the edge of the cake. This will help create height for your flower wreath.

Next, assemble your chilled buttercream flowers on top of the circle of buttercream, pressing them in and angling them outward and inward for variety.

Feel free to overlap some of the flowers and don’t worry about small empty spaces – we’ll fill those in next!

Step 7: Pipe The Buttercream Leaves

Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 352 and fill it with green buttercream. I ended up fitting another piping bag with Wilton Tip 3 and using the lighter green buttercream to pipe dotted foliage around some of the flowers, but feel free to stick with leaves if that’s your jam.

Wherever there’s an empty space (aka the white buttercream is showing through), pipe leaves to fill in the gaps. Feel free to pipe green dots like I did or designs to fill in those empty spaces and complete your floral wreath cake.

And there you have it – the perfect cake for Spring! Remember that with more practice, your buttercream flowers will be so easy to whip up you’ll want to put them on everything. And if you’ve got a JOANN store in your area, be sure to check out their cake decorating supply selection! I’m always so impressed with their collection of Wilton products, cake pans, decorating tools, and all the things. And best of all, they always have great coupons if you download their mobile app. That way you can get what you need and save money while you’re at it!

Disclaimer: I was compensated by JOANN for my work of creating this cake, 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 Buttercream Flower Wreath 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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