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Sugar & Sparrow

Lifestyle and Cake from Portland Oregon

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About

hello! i’m Whitney

About Me

I’m a self-taught baker, cake decorator, wife, mama, and homemaker living in Portland, Oregon. When I’m not baking up a storm in the kitchen, I enjoy a good long run, traveling to new places, making music, and getting lost in a thrilling novel. Creativity is a huge driving force in my life, and while I enjoy a variety of artistic mediums, sugar is hands-down my favorite.

About Sugar & Sparrow

I inherited a love for baking from my mother, who was the queen of lemon squares and casserole dish birthday cakes. As a kid I can remember flipping through her vintage baking books and attempting to recreate every single recipe. That passion for baking evolved into a fascination with cake decorating, and I spent a good amount of years whipping up custom cakes from my home kitchen. Being self-taught every step of the way, I’ve gained quite a few tips, perfected recipes, and have overcome my fair share of kitchen fails. Sugar & Sparrow is my little space to share everything I’ve learned with you in hopes of helping you bake pretty desserts with confidence! 

Work With Me

I love creating cake projects to showcase the brands I admire in a fun new way. If you have an idea for a collaboration, I’d love to hear about it! You can email me at sugarandsparrow(at)gmail.com.

Here are some of the brands I’ve partnered with:

Selected Features

Sugar & Sparrow has been featured in the following publications

American Cake Decorating Magazine

Buzzfeed Tasty

Green Wedding Shoes

Junebug Weddings

Food Network

How to Cake It

The Feed Feed

Find Your Cake Inspiration


get to know me

These are a few of my favorite things…

  1. PORTLAND. I’m a born and raised Portlander (Oregon), and I could easily see myself living here for the rest of my life.
  2. RUNNING. It’s my brain’s happy place. My mind is pretty wild, always busy with ideas and thoughts, and running is my favorite way to clear my head. In addition to my neighborhood jaunts with my toddler in tow, I’ve run a couple half marathons and a Hood To Coast relay and I’d love to do more races at some point.
  3. VINYL RECORDS. There’s just something about the sound and feel of a vinyl record that’s magical, so if I love an album I have to own it on vinyl.
  4. ROLLER COASTERS. Before I met my husband I hadn’t been on a legit roller coaster. He actually has my first ride on video and it’s pretty hilarious. Nowadays I will ride any roller coaster any chance I get.

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Welcome to Sugar & Sparrow

Welcome to Sugar & Sparrow

Helping you whip up pretty desserts with confidence and creativity. And hopefully sharing a few laughs with you along the way!

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Featured Posts

no churn Samoa cookie ice cream recipe

No-Churn Samoa Ice Cream

Anyone Can Cake giveaway with Wilton

Anyone Can Cake x Wilton GIVEAWAY!

the best vanilla cupcakes recipe

The Perfect Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

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@sugarandsparrowco

Y’all have been asking for gluten-free cake reci Y’all have been asking for gluten-free cake recipes for awhile now, which makes me EXTRA excited to finally share this gluten-free chocolate cake!! After tonnns of recipe testing, this cake is so rich and fudgy (yet somehow not too dense!), has an amazing chocolate flavor, is irresistible with chocolate buttercream, and truly doesn’t taste gluten-free. It low key might be my favorite chocolate cake recipe of all (and I’ve had a LOT of them) 🤎 
 
Get the recipe link in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/gluten-free-chocolate-cake/ 
 
#chocolatecake #glutenfreecake #glutenfree #cakesofig #birthdaycake
VANILLA CUPCAKES 🧁these from-scratch vanilla cu VANILLA CUPCAKES 🧁these from-scratch vanilla cupcakes are super soft and moist, have the perfect vanilla flavor, and are perfect for any celebration with a swirl of vanilla buttercream + pretty rainbow sprinkles! I originally published this recipe in 2018 and it’s become a reader fave ever since 🙌🏼 
�Full recipe (with frosting) is linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-cupcake-recipe/ 
 
VANILLA CUPCAKES 
Yield: 32 cupcakes 
 
INGREDIENTS 
2 1/2 cups (265g) sifted cake flour 
2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp salt 
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temp 
1 3/4 cup (350g) granulated sugar 
3 large eggs, room temp 
1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, room temp 
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract 
1 cup (240ml) whole milk, room temp 
 
INSTRUCTIONS 
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177ºC) and line standard cupcake pan(s) with up to 32 liners. 
2. Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. 
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or w/ hand mixer and large bowl), beat the butter on high for 2 minutes, then add the sugar and continue to beat on high until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream, then turn the mixer to high speed and mix for 1 min. Scrape down the bowl and paddle as needed. 
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients all at once and mix until just combined, then add the milk in a steady stream. Continue mixing for another 20-30 seconds, until just combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and gently mix by hand until uniform. 
5. Spoon or pour the batter into the cupcake liners until they’re about ⅔ full, then bake for 14-18 minutes, until they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
6. Top with your fave frosting (my vanilla buttercream recipe is linked in my bio)! 
 
#vanilla #cupcakes #cupcakesofinstagram #cakedecorating #fromscratch
FUDGY CHOCOLATE NUTELLA CAKE 🍫🌰 this is my a FUDGY CHOCOLATE NUTELLA CAKE 🍫🌰 this is my absolute DREAM cake + if you love chocolate and hazelnut it will be yours toothis cake is pure decadence and perfect for any chocolate hazelnut lover: layers of fudgy chocolate cake with the+ creamiest Nutella ganache and Nutella flavored buttercream. 
⁣ 
Comment NUTELLA CAKE to get the recipe sent to you 💌 it’s also linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/chocolate-nutella-cake/ 
⁣ 
#nutellacake #nutella #chocolatecake #cakelover #cakes
FREEZE-DRIED CHERRY BUTTERCREAM 🍒I was so excit FREEZE-DRIED CHERRY BUTTERCREAM 🍒I was so excited to find freeze-dried tart cherries for the very first time at @traderjoes and had to try them in a buttercream recipe! Turns out they are an AMAZING way to flavor a cherry buttercream – you get incredible cherry flavor without adding any liquid, so the consistency of the frosting ends up perfect every time. I found that the KEY to amplifying the cherry flavor here is add a little almond extract ✨ trust! 
 
Full recipe with cake pairing suggestions linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/freeze-dried-cherry-buttercream/ (spoiler alert: it’s incredible on chocolate cupcakes!) 
 
CHERRY BUTTERCREAM 
Yield: 2.5 Cups 
 
INGREDIENTS 
1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temp 
3/4 Cup (34g) freeze-dried cherries 
3 Tbsp (45ml) whole milk, room temp 
1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp almond extract 
3 Cups (360g) powdered sugar 
pinch of salt, or to taste 
 
INSTRUCTIONS 
1. With a food processor, grind the freeze-dried cherries into a fine powder. You can alternatively place the cherries in a Ziploc bag and crush them into powder with a rolling pin. 
2. Whip the butter using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until it’s creamy and light in color, about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the cherry powder, milk, vanilla, and almond extract and continue to mix on medium until fully combined. 
3. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix on low speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition. Add a pinch of salt and mix on low speed until fully combined and smooth, 1-2 minutes. 
 
#cherrybuttercream #cherries #cakedecorating #frosting #buttercream
CONVERSATION HEART CAKES 💕 these mini heart cak CONVERSATION HEART CAKES 💕 these mini heart cakes turned out so cute + I love that you can write any message you want on top!! Perfect Valentine’s Day party activity and/or dessert. Details (full recipe + tutorial link is in my bio): 
 
👩🏽‍🍳Recipes: my favorite one-bowl chocolate cake + vanilla buttercream. Both are included in the link below, but you can use any cake recipe with the tutorial. 
💗Heart cake pans: I found these 4-inch heart pans on @amazon but also include instructions on how to make heart-shaped cakes starting with round cake layers in case you don’t want to add any more cake pans to your collection 
🎨Buttercream colors: @americolor electric purple, mint green, and deep pink (and super red for the writing on top) 
🥰Piping tip: @wiltoncakes tip 5 
 
Full tutorial (w/ recipes!) is linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/mini-conversation-heart-cakes/ 
⁣⁣ 
#minicake #heartcake #cakedecorating #chocolatecake #vintagecake

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