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Everything I Baked in September

October 2, 2026 · In: Lifestyle, Recipes

Now that my kids are back in school and I have the kitchen all to myself, I’m getting back into my GROOVE! I spent this month making a couple new recipes like small batch pumpkin cake and caramel apple cupcakes, and lots of my time was dedicated to revisiting some older recipes to add new photos and make some helpful updates. I also started working on some Halloween recipes that I can’t wait to share!

Whitney DePaoli of Sugar and Sparrow holding a cupcake

New Recipes

Here are the recipes that went live on my blog in September:

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Deliciously moist, perfectly spiced apple cupcakes topped with a swirl of salted caramel buttercream and drizzled with homemade salted caramel sauce – these are the ideal Fall cupcakes if you ask me! 

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small batch pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting recipe by sugar and sparrow

Small Batch Pumpkin Cake

This was the birthday cake of my DREAMS: creamy no-churn chocolate and vanilla ice creams swirled together with chunks of cookie dough in every bite, set on a delicious Oreo cookie crust and topped with chocolate ganache.

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Recipe Updates

These are the recipes I revisited this month, mostly to update photos and add helpful info to the blog posts:

easy salted caramel sauce recipe

Easy Salted Caramel

While making this for my caramel apple cupcakes, I snapped some much-needed new photos! Readers already love this recipe for how beginner-friendly it is – comes together in minutes with only 4 ingredients, simple techniques, and no candy thermometer needed!

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Salted Caramel Buttercream

This buttercream is flavored with the salted caramel above!

One reader says: “Oh. My. Goodness!! Earlier I made the salted caramel (and left rave reviews) and I just finished making this to frost my dark chocolate cake and it is perfection! I could literally eat this buttercream by itself!” ★★★★★

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mascarpone whipped cream frosting recipe for cakes and cupcakes

Whipped Mascarpone Frosting

Re-tested and updated this recipe to make it more pipeable and easy to work with for cake and cupcake decorating. It comes together in minutes with a handful of ingredients and is the ideal “not too sweet” frosting.

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pumpkin layer cake slice

Pumpkin Layer Cake

My first proper Fall bake of the season was my go-to pumpkin layer cake with cream cheese frosting! I added more slice photos to the blog post to better capture the perfectly moist texture.

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vanilla buttercream for layer cakes recipe by sugar and sparrow

Vanilla Buttercream

My most popular recipe deserved a photo update!

One reader says: “I’ve been making buttercream for some time now but wanted to see if I could make it better, creamier and less sweet. This recipe was just that! So creamy, light, fluffy and the perfect amount of sweetness. Best recipe I have found!”  ★★★★★

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black velvet cake recipe by sugar and sparrow

Black Velvet Cake

Re-made this recipe and added some helpful info to the blog post! Can you believe this is made without any food coloring?!

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dye free black buttercream easy recipe

Dye-Free Black Buttercream

I made this recipe a lot for upcoming Halloween recipes. It’s made using black cocoa powder, so there’s ZERO food coloring to create that pitch black color! Also tastes like Oreos + won’t turn your mouth black (or anything else for that matter).

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Coming Soon

Here’s what I’ve been working on for October:

black velvet cake baked in a 9x13 pan decorated with black buttercream and googly eyes

Black Velvet Sheet Cake

My favorite black velvet cake recipe, baked in a 9×13 pan to serve a crowd! Perfect for a Halloween party.


Halloween cupcakes by sugar and sparrow

Halloween Cupcakes

I made a few new easy Halloween cupcake designs and can’t wait to show you how to replicate them!


I hope you love these new recipes + updates and I can’t wait to share more in October! If there’s a recipe you’ve been wanting to see on my blog, let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to add it to my baking list.

By: Whitney · In: Lifestyle, Recipes · Tagged: everything I baked

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DYE-FREE BLACK VELVET CUPCAKES 🖤 These all black c DYE-FREE BLACK VELVET CUPCAKES 🖤 These all black cupcakes use black cocoa powder (and NO food coloring!) to achieve that rich black color for the cupcakes + black buttercream. That means they won’t turn anyone’s mouth black AND they taste like Oreo cookies in deliciously moist cupcake form 👻

✨Full recipe (with dye-free black buttercream) is linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/black-velvet-cupcakes/ 

BLACK VELVET CUPCAKES
Yield: 14 cupcakes

1 Cup (132g) all purpose flour
3/4 Cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/3 Cup (38g) black cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 Cup (60ml) vegetable oil
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 Cup (120ml) full-fat buttermilk*
1/2 Cup (120ml) hot coffee or hot water

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
2. Place all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together to combine. Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and whisk until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the hot coffee (or hot water) and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be very thin. 
3. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners (no more than ⅔ full) and bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it. Cool completely before frosting with dye-free black buttercream (full recipe linked in my bio).

*If you don’t have buttermilk on hand (I rarely do!), use 1/2 Cup whole milk mixed with 1 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice. 

#blackcupcakes #blackbuttercream #blackcocoapowder #halloweencupcakes #halloweenbaking
EASY MUMMY CUPCAKES 👀 this classic Halloween cupca EASY MUMMY CUPCAKES 👀 this classic Halloween cupcake design is so easy to make with chocolate cupcakes, googly eye sprinkles, vanilla buttercream, and one piping tip! Here’s how:

Full tutorial (with recipes for the cupcakes and buttercream!) is linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/mummy-cupcakes/

MUMMY CUPCAKES SUPPLIES: 
-Baked chocolate cupcakes
-Vanilla buttercream
-Googly eye sprinkles
-Piping bag
-Small flat piping tip or basket weave tip

INSTRUCTIONS: 
1. Press two googly eye sprinkles on top of the chocolate cupcake.
2. Starting on the edge of the cupcake, pipe a straight line to the opposite edge, avoiding the googly eye sprinkles. If you’re using a basket weave tip, make sure the grooved edge is face down.
3. Continue piping lines that connect the edges, overlapping the lines until the surface of the cupcake is covered (aside from the googly eyes) and the piping looks like mummy cloths.

#halloweencupcakes #halloweenbaking #chocolatecupcakes #cupcakedecorating #cupcakes
HALLOWEEN CANDY BUCKET CAKE 🎃🍫🍬 this jack-o-lanter HALLOWEEN CANDY BUCKET CAKE 🎃🍫🍬 this jack-o-lantern cake is SO fun to make with two bundt cakes frosted with buttercream to look like a pumpkin candy bucket + lots of Halloween candy to fill it with. The perfect Halloween party cake!! 
 
A condensed tutorial is below but you can find the full tutorial link (with recipes I used!) in my bio + on my blog at  https://sugarandsparrow.com/halloween-candy-bucket-cake-tutorial/
 
🎃 Candy Bucket Cake Tutorial: 
 
1.  Bake two bundt cakes. I doubled my one-bowl chocolate cake recipe and divided it between two 9.5-inch bundt cake pans, then baked at 350F for 35 minutes.  
2. Fill and crumb coat the cakes in the shape of a pumpkin. I used my dye-free black buttercream recipe for this, but any flavor will do.  
3. Frost the cake. I used my vanilla buttercream recipe tinted with @americolor Electric Orange for the frosting. A flexible plastic smoother is KEY to shaping the roundness of the pumpkin (I got mine on Amazon) + I made my own little tool for the grooves from a leftover yogurt container. After I chilled the cake I hand-smoothed the finish with a little parchment paper to iron out the imperfections.  
4. Carve the jack-o-lantern. I chilled the frosting until it was firm to the touch, then used an X-acto knife to cut out the eyes and mouth. 
5. Add the handle. I inserted some crafting wire into hollow black licorice to create the candy bucket handle before sticking it into the cake.  
6. Fill with your favorite Halloween candy!  
 
#halloweencake #pumpkincake #partycake #cakedecorating #bundtcake
These are 10 of the Halloween cake and cupcake rec These are 10 of the Halloween cake and cupcake recipes I’d make for a spooky party! 👻

Comment “HALLOWEEN” and I’ll send all of these recipes and cake decorating tutorials + even more from my Halloween baking archives – spooky classics like my dye-free black velvet cake and pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, plus Halloween party cake tutorials and easy Halloween cupcake designs. 

https://sugarandsparrow.com/halloween-cakes-cupcakes-treats/

#halloweencake #halloweencupcakes #cakedecorating #halloweenbaking #halloweenpartyideas
DYE-FREE BLACK VELVET SHEET CAKE 🖤👀 if you’re look DYE-FREE BLACK VELVET SHEET CAKE 🖤👀 if you’re looking for a black cake that won’t stain your teeth, look no further! This sheet cake version of my favorite black velvet cake recipe uses black cocoa powder to create the dark black color for this whole cake without ANY food coloring, and it tastes just like Oreo cookies (but in deliciously moist cake form). Top that black buttercream with googly eyes for the perfect easy Halloween cake 👻

Comment RECIPE and I’ll send it to you or find it linked in my bio + at https://sugarandsparrow.com/black-velvet-sheet-cake/

You can also use the same ingredients and amounts for my black velvet layer cake recipe from a few Reels back! Just lower the oven temp to 325F and bake in a 9x13 pan for 30-35 min 🖤

#blackbuttercream #blackcake #blackvelvetcake #halloweencake #sheetcake

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