Category: Recipes

Cranberry Orange Cake Recipe

November 25, 2019
by Whitney
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Cranberry Orange Cake Recipe by Sugar & Sparrow

My husband and I are big fans of the Great British Baking Show (if you haven’t seen it, power up Netflix right now!) and the other night we were watching a contestant bake a cranberry orange flavored dessert. While I’ve never really been all that intrigued to use those flavors before, my husband leaned over and said, “A cranberry orange cake would be delicious. You should make it.” It’s because of him that I found myself in the kitchen zesting oranges and rolling cranberries in sugar, wide-eyed at the Holiday scents filling the air. I ended up with a delicious orange flavored cake dotted with fresh, juicy cranberries, topped with zesty orange buttercream and tons of Christmas cheer! Thanks for the suggestion, husband. You were right. 

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How To Make Sprinkled Caramel Apples

October 31, 2019
by Whitney
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sprinkled caramel apples recipe

When it comes to Fall flavors, caramel apple is one of my very favorites. I was so inspired by the combo of salted caramel and tangy apple that I created this Caramel Apple Cake recipe last year (so good!) and topped it with a homemade caramel apple because yum. Instead of cake today though, let’s talk about caramel apples. Particularly, caramel apples dipped in this #Blessed sprinkle mix by SprinklePop:

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Perfect Pumpkin Layer Cake Recipe

October 28, 2019
by Whitney
comments 12
pumpkin layer cake recipe by sugar and sparrow

These past few months have been crazy. Between the demands of the holiday season coming up and working on a never-ending list of house projects, I am feeling perpetually frazzled these days. Despite the chaos, I thought a little recipe creating sesh would be perfect for me because baking does something good to my soul. I was right. I put on some Springsteen and decided to try my hand at creating the perfect pumpkin layer cake. Five rounds of bakes and a handful of albums later, I am so thrilled with how this Pumpkin Layer Cake turned out.

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Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake Recipe

September 27, 2019
by Whitney
comments 12

I’m a tea lover all year round, but once Fall hits and things start to get cozy, chai is a staple in my tea cabinet. The aromatic spices in a cup of chai are unreal and totally reminiscent of Autumn. So when I decided to bake up those spices in cake form, not only did my kitchen smell amazing, but this Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake tasted like an Autumnal dreamscape! It’s the perfect cake for welcoming the changes of the season whether you’re a tea lover or not.

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Finally. The Perfect Vanilla Cake Recipe.

August 28, 2019
by Whitney
comments 152

I have a little confession to make: when I first started making cakes, my secret go-to for far too long was the box vanilla cake mix by Betty Crocker.

Phew. Now you know. 

Since I became accustomed to the light and fluffy texture of said box mix, every time I tried to make a vanilla cake from scratch, the result seemed off. Blame it on the lack of Propylene Glycol Mono (or the handful of other ingredients in box mixes that you’ve never heard of), but my from-scratch vanilla cakes always ended up too dense, tasted a little cornbread-ish, and just didn’t have that fluffy appeal. Finding a go-to vanilla cake recipe from scratch felt like a mountain I had to climb, but after (what felt like) five hundred tries and a whole lot of not giving up, I’ve found a recipe that is beyond my wildest cake dreams. 

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Tasty Toasted S’mores Cupcakes

August 9, 2019
by Whitney
comments 4
smores cupcakes with toasted marshmallow

Word on the street is it’s almost National S’mores Day (aka the best food-related holiday)! Since I’m a s’mores lover to the core, it honestly feels like every day could be National S’mores Day and I celebrate as often as I can. I love them so much that I whipped up this S’mores Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Buttercream last year, and this year I bring you the cupcake version. Behold!

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Homemade Cake Flour Recipe

July 10, 2019
by Whitney
comments 20
homemade cake flour recipe

There’s a reason why the majority of my cake recipes call for cake flour instead of all-purpose (aka plain flour). The short answer is that cake flour is what makes my cakes ultra light and fluffy! Maybe it’s because I grew up on boxed cake mixes, but I’m always after that light, fluffy (yet moist) texture when crafting a cake recipe. I get tons of questions about whether or not it’s ok to substitute all-purpose flour and while it’s not something I recommend, there is a way to create homemade cake flour using all-purpose. I’ll show you how! 

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Lemon Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream

July 8, 2019
by Whitney
comments 27
lemon cream cheese buttercream recipe

We spent the 4th of July bbq-ing with friends, and this year I thought I’d bypass the star spangled cake designs and flavors all together. Instead, I reached for the perfect lemon cake recipe (always a crowd favorite!) and paired it with the tastiest lemon cream cheese buttercream. It did not disappoint. I think this lemon cake is so perfect for any Summer gathering (or year round!), and I can’t wait to share this recipe with all of you lemon fans. 

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Almond Joy Cake Recipe

July 1, 2019
by Whitney
comments 10
Almond Joy Cake Recipe by Sugar and Sparrow

If there are fun-sized Almond Joys anywhere in my general proximity, I will eat them. All of them. I just love the flavor combination of sweet coconut, milk chocolate, and almond. It’s a taste trifecta and if you agree, you’re going to LOVE this cake! Just imagine all the textures and flavors in an Almond Joy candy bar, only in cake form, and behold this beauty:

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Banana Split Cupcakes Recipe

June 12, 2019
by Whitney
comments 2
banana split cupcake recipe

Hooray that it’s nearly summertime! It’s my favorite time of year, mainly because Portland gets sunny and so picturesque. I just want to be outside 24/7 soaking it all up! Since ice cream is such an iconic summer treat, I wanted to use it as inspiration for these Banana Split Cupcakes. There’s no actual ice cream involved, just tons of cuteness and flavors that are so perfect together.

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