Category: Recipes

Tips For Perfect Chocolate Ganache Drip Cakes

September 16, 2020

by Whitney

chocolate ganache drip cake recipe and tutorial

One of my favorite easy things to dress up a cake is to do a chocolate ganache drip finish. Over the years, my ability to create the drip look has definitely grown, and I get tons of questions asking what my secret is. The truth is, chocolate ganache has definitely put me through the wringer before (especially white chocolate ganache, which used to be my absolute nemesis). After figuring out the perfect ratio for chocolate to heavy whipping cream and learning the do’s and dont’s of drip cakes, I’ve got it down to a science these days. And now you will too!

Coffee Layer Cake With Vanilla Espresso Buttercream

August 17, 2020

by Whitney

comments 85

coffee layer cake recipe by Sugar and Sparrow

If you’re reading this, chances are you love coffee as much as I do (or you’re here for a coffee loving friend). I don’t know about your city’s coffee situation, but we Portlanders are spoiled when it comes to good coffee. I wouldn’t call myself a coffee connoisseur per se, but I know what a good cup tastes like. So when I set out to configure the perfect coffee layer cake recipe, I wanted to capture the rich and aromatic flavor of the good stuff. The only way to do that is to use rich and aromatic coffee beans in the recipe!

The Tastiest From-Scratch Strawberry Cake Recipe

July 9, 2020

by Whitney

comments 25

strawberry cake recipe by sugar and sparrow

A few years ago, I created this Strawberry Lemonade cake that became an instant hit: cake flavored with fresh strawberries (pureed and reduced), filled with strawberry buttercream, topped with lemon buttercream – basically Summer in cake form! It’s been on my list to write an all-strawberry cake recipe ever since, and after getting a request for one via Instagram DM, I knew it was time. I took to the store for a pound of fresh strawberries and a package of freeze dried strawberries to give you the ultimate flavor profile. I promise, it’s as delicious as it is pretty to look at!

Tasty Toasted S’mores Cupcakes

June 30, 2020

by Whitney

comments 4

smores cupcakes with toasted marshmallow

I can’t tell you how many requests I’ve gotten for a cupcake version of my S’mores Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Buttercream. It’s one of my all-time favorite recipes (s’mores fan to the core, here!) and there are so many amazing flavors going on in it: graham cracker cake, decadent chocolate, toasted marshmallow buttercream. I had to get a little creative to capture the magic of these flavors in cupcake form, and I am so happy with how they turned out. Behold!

Basic Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

May 21, 2020

by Whitney

comments 190

vanilla buttercream recipe by Sugar and Sparrow

I’ve tested a ton of buttercream recipes in my day, but my go-to is a super simple American buttercream recipe that I’ve tweaked to my liking. I’ve used this recipe for frosting countless cakes and cupcakes and I’m a big believer that a good vanilla buttercream is something every baker should have in their recipe box. There’s nothing fancy about the way this recipe is made, but it will certainly taste like you whipped up something special!

Pip’s “Heart of Gold” Coconut Chai Cake Recipe

April 29, 2020

by Whitney

comments 2

Coconut Chai Cake recipe by Sugar and Sparrow

One of my favorite things to do in Portland is go meet a friend for Pip’s Doughnuts and Chai. Their tasty mini doughnuts are hands down my favorite in the city and I’ve even topped some birthday cakes with them over the years. When the pandemic forced so many local businesses I love to close up shop, Pip’s did something extraordinary: they adapted by launching a new way to do business, all while keeping the community at the heart of what they do. Instead of serving up doughnuts these days, they’re hard at work bottling their chai concentrate and giving 10% of the profits back to other service businesses in Portland. Not only is their ability to launch Community Chai during these wild times inspiring, but their chai concentrate is incredible.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Oreo Buttercream

April 16, 2020

by Whitney

comments 36

Vegan Chocolate Oreo Cake recipe by Sugar and Sparrow

I’ve been wanting to create vegan versions of my cake recipes for awhile now, but vegan baking is one of those fascinating things that takes a ton of research. It felt a bit intimidating to scour the internet for the dairy-free substitutes, so I just kept putting it off. But with ingredients like eggs, milk, and butter in short supply due to the pandemic, I think now is the perfect time to offer you a cake recipe that uses ingredients you can (hopefully) find! Whether you’re vegan, dairy-free, or you simply need a cake recipe with limited ingredients, this Vegan Chocolate Oreo Cake is so easy to whip up and tastes amazing! Perfect for celebrating a #QuarantineBirthday or just making a cake for the fun of it.

How to Convert My Layer Cake Recipes into Sheet Cakes

April 1, 2020

by Whitney

comments 8

how to bake a sheet cake from layer cake recipe

In the midst of this crazy pandemic, I have seen so many of you turn to baking to pass the time and escape a little. It’s a really beautiful thing and I’m so inspired by it. I’ve got tons of cake recipes for you to try while you’re homebound, and while I tend to write them for layer cakes, I wanted to show you how to easily convert them into sheet cakes! This way, if you don’t have round cake pans or want to keep things simple with a single layer cake, you can use any of my cake recipes to do it!

The Fluffiest Yellow Cake Recipe + Chocolate Frosting

March 25, 2020

by Whitney

comments 40

yellow cake recipe with chocolate buttercream

When you think of the most classic birthday cake ever, what comes to mind? For me, it’s always been yellow cake with chocolate frosting. All throughout my childhood, my momma used to mix up a box yellow cake, bake it in a casserole dish, smear canned chocolate frosting on top, and write Happy Birthday on it with those little tubes of icing colors you can still find at the grocery store to this day. I loved those birthday cakes. And I’m really surprised that after all my years of caking, it’s taken me this long to nail down the perfect yellow cake recipe. Well, wait no more!

Sweet & Salty Pretzel Nutella Cake Recipe

February 28, 2020

by Whitney

comments 10

Pretzel Nutella Cake Recipe by Sugar and Sparrow

Have you ever tried dipping pretzels in Nutella? My, oh my. If you have, you know that it’s sweet and salty heaven. These two flavors belong together, and I love the pairing so much that I decided to make a cake recipe out of them: layers of pretzel-flavored cake with Nutella buttercream, topped with Nutella ganache and pretzel bits for added crunch. I was a little skeptical of whether or not I’d be able to pull these flavors off in cake form, but it totally worked!