• Cake
  • Frosting
  • YouTube
  • My Favorite Tools
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Recipes
    • Cake
    • Cupcakes
    • Frosting
    • Ice Cream
    • Vegan
  • Cake Basics
  • Tutorials
  • Blog
  • About
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Connect

    Search

Sugar & Sparrow logo in script font

Sugar & Sparrow

Lifestyle and Cake from Portland Oregon

  • Cake Basics
  • Recipes
    • Cake
    • Cupcakes
    • Cookies & Bars
    • Filling
    • Frosting
    • Ice Cream
    • No-Bake
    • Small Batch
    • Vegan
  • Tutorials
  • Book
  • Blog
  • About

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.

Primary Sidebar

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!

Learn More

Connect

let’s bake!

Get my very best recipes, baking tips, and decorating tutorials sent to your inbox

Featured Posts

how to start a home cake business: pricing cakes

How to Price a Cake (a Guide for Home Bakers)

monster shag cake by sugar and sparrow

Monster Shag Cake Tutorial

oreo icebox cake recipe

Easy Oreo Icebox Cake

Search

Archives

Follow Along

@sugarandsparrowco

TOP 10 FALL CAKES 🍂 These are not only MY favorite TOP 10 FALL CAKES 🍂 These are not only MY favorite Fall cake recipes, they’re yours too! 🥰

Comment “FALL” and I’ll send you all of the cake recipes shown here and all 36+ of my favorite Fall baking ideas – classic cakes like pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, spice cake, and cranberry orange cake, more complex flavor combinations like chocolate pecan pie cake with salted caramel and apple crisp cake, and cozy recipes like no-bake pumpkin cheesecake, homemade salted caramel, and my favorite brown butter chocolate chip cookie bars. 

https://sugarandsparrow.com/fall-baking-recipes/

#pumpkincake #applecake #fallcake #cakeinspiration #cakeideas
The BEST pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting 🧡 The BEST pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting 🧡 this pumpkin layer cake is easy to make, perfectly spiced, so moist, irresistible with cream cheese frosting, and uses the ENTIRE 15oz can of pumpkin (no awkward leftovers!). Top it with pretty piped pumpkins to make it extra cute 🥰

Comment RECIPE to get the full recipe (with frosting + cake decorating tutorial) or find it linked in my bio and at https://sugarandsparrow.com/pumpkin-layer-cake-recipe/

INGREDIENTS
2 Cups (265g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Cup (200g) packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 Cup (240ml) vegetable oil or melted butter
4 large eggs, room temp
15 Oz (425g) canned pumpkin puree
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Grease and line three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil (if using melted butter in place of the oil, cool it for 5-10 minutes prior to adding here), eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until uniform, then add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
4. Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 32-36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Cool the cakes completely to room temp before frosting!

#pumpkincake #creamcheesefrosting #layercake #cake #fallbaking
EASY HOMEMADE SALTED CARAMEL✨(recipe below) even i EASY HOMEMADE SALTED CARAMEL✨(recipe below) even if you’ve never made salted caramel from scratch before, this recipe is VERY beginner friendly + nearly fail proof! There are only 4 ingredients involved, no candy thermometer required, and takes just 10 minutes to make 👏🏽 this is my go-to caramel for drip cakes, drizzling desserts, flavoring coffee, adding it to buttercream, and so much more! 🍯  
 
Full recipe (with video + detailed instructions) linked in my bio or at https://sugarandsparrow.com/salted-caramel-recipe/
⁣ 
SALTED CARAMEL 
Yield: 1.25 Cup⁣s
⁣⁣ 
Ingredients:⁣⁣ 
1 Cup (200g) white granulated sugar⁣⁣ 
6 Tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into cubes⁣⁣ 
1/2 Cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream, room temperature⁣⁣ 
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt⁣⁣ 
⁣⁣ 
Instructions:⁣⁣ 
1. Place the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and stir constantly until it melts into an amber-colored liquid and no sugar clumps remain, 5-6 minutes. ⁣⁣ 
2. Reduce the heat to medium. Carefully add the butter (it will bubble up when you do) and use a whisk to combine it with the sugar mixture until the butter is fully melted and incorporated, 2-3 minutes. ⁣⁣ 
3. Add the heavy whipping cream in a steady stream while whisking. As soon as the cream is incorporated, let the caramel boil for a full minute before removing it from the heat and stirring in the salt. ⁣⁣ 
4. Let the caramel cool to room temperature before using it in a cake recipe or as a drip. If you’re using it to drizzle over ice cream or warm baked goods, you only need to cool it slightly (20 minutes or so). It will thicken as it cools. ⁣⁣ 
⁣⁣ 
#caramel #saltedcaramel #bakedfromscratch #caramelcake #caramelsauce
SPICE CAKE 🤎 filled + frosted with brown butter cr SPICE CAKE 🤎 filled + frosted with brown butter cream cheese frosting for the dreamiest Fall cake!! These spice cake layers are perfectly moist with the ideal amount of spice, and the rich nutty caramel notes combined with the classic tang of cream cheese frosting take the flavor beyond.

Comment RECIPE and I’ll send it right to you! Or find the full recipe linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/spice-cake-recipe/

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 Cups (298g) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 3/4 Cups (350g) packed brown sugar 
3/4 Cup (180ml) vegetable oil
1 Cup (240g) unsweetened applesauce
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 Cup (240ml) buttermilk, room temp

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Grease and line three 6-inch cake pans or two 8-inch cake pans.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, add the brown sugar, vegetable oil, and unsweetened applesauce. Whisk together until uniform, then whisk in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla.
4. Whisk in half of the dry ingredients, followed by all of the buttermilk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. 
5. Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 32-36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Cool completely before frosting (full recipe with brown butter cream cheese frosting linked in my bio)

#spicecake #cakedecorating #layercake #cakelover #creamcheesefrosting
PUMPKIN CUPCAKES 🧡 topped with spiced cream cheese PUMPKIN CUPCAKES 🧡 topped with spiced cream cheese frosting to give every bite the most heavenly pumpkin spice flavor! The perfect cupcakes to kick off your fall baking 🍂

Comment RECIPE and I’ll send it right to you!

You can also find the link in my bio (or google ‘Sugar and Sparrow Pumpkin Cupcakes’) 

#pumpkinspice #pumpkincake #pumpkinseason #falldesserts #creamcheesefrosting

Footer

On the Blog

  • Cake Basics
  • Recipes
  • Tutorials

Info

  • About
  • Privacy Policy & Disclosure

stay in the know

Copyright © 2026 · Theme by Sugar & Sparrow