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Sugar & Sparrow

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Marble Buttercream Cake Tutorial Feat. the JOANN Stir Collection

November 4, 2022 · In: Featured, Tutorials

I am a big fan of baking and cake decorating tools that are pretty and functional, so when I saw the new line of Stir products at JOANN I just about squealed. They are honestly the most beautiful tools I’ve seen in my baking career thus far – gold stainless steel with elegant marble accents. They’re pretty enough to keep on display in your kitchen or use as food photography props, and they’ll get you extra excited to bake all the things! Plus, they’re dishwasher safe which is a huge win in my book. Pretty, functional, and practical.

Stir gold and marble cake tools at JOANN
gold marble cake decorating tools by JOANN's Stir collection

I’m so excited to have these tools in my collection:

  • Gold Whisk 
  • Cake Turntable
  • Measuring Cups
  • Marble Silicone Spatula
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Icing Spatula Set

JOANN asked me to create a cake project with these baking and decorating tools and I was immediately inspired to make a marble buttercream cake with gold accents. I wanted to make a cake that captured the beauty of these tools in cake form, plus show you how fun and simple it is to make marble buttercream! These Stir products are top-notch when it comes to functionality, which made them a true joy to decorate this marble cake with.

marble buttercream cake tutorial
marble buttercream tutorial

I whipped up a quick video for this marble buttercream tutorial so you can visualize it before you read all about it below.

If you’re into cake decorating videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube Channel! You’ll find tons of videos to inspire you there, and make sure you never miss a new one by clicking the Subscribe button.

You Will Need

  • A 6-inch cake that’s been crumb coated and chilled
  • Cake turntable
  • 1.5 batches of vanilla buttercream
  • Black food color gel
  • Bowls and spoons for color mixing
  • Baker’s twine
  • Parchment paper
  • Scissors
  • Scotch tape
  • Icing spatula set
  • Icing smoother
  • Fondant smoother
  • Small food-grade paint brush
  • Gold luster dust
  • Clear extract (lemon or vanilla) or vodka

Step 1: Frost the Cake

With your chilled and crumb coated cake on a turntable, use the largest bowl of buttercream to frost a smooth finish onto the cake. Start by frosting a smooth layer on the very top of the cake with your angled icing spatula.

how to frost a cake

Next, add buttercream to the sides of the cake and glide your icing smoother over them while turning the turntable to create smooth sides.

frosting a buttercream cake
smooth buttercream cake tutorial

You’ll notice a crown of buttercream forming on the top edges of the cake, which is essential to getting sharp edges on the top. Use your angled icing spatula to swipe the crown inwards (toward the top center of the cake). Repeat until you’ve got nice sharp edges.

how to get sharp edges buttercream

When your cake is looking ultra smooth, pop it into the refrigerator to firm up for at least 30 minutes. If you want more tips on creating a perfectly smooth cake finish, I’ve got a great tutorial for you here. 

Step 2: Mix the Marble Buttercream

Divide the remaining buttercream into three small bowls. Add 2 drops of black food color gel into the first bowl and gently mix it with your spatula until it’s about half mixed. You’ll want a dark grey color with some streaks of white/lighter grey in there.

how to make marble buttercream

Scoop out about 1 teaspoon of this dark grey marble color and mix it into the second bowl. Repeat the process of mixing until you have a light grey color with streaks of white mixed in. Keep the last bowl uncolored.

Step 3: Make the Marble Buttercream Wrap

Once your frosted cake is nice and chilled, wrap a piece of baker’s twine around it to measure the circumference. Cut the baker’s twine to mark the circumference and lay it out on your work surface. Spread a piece of parchment paper out as long as the baker’s twine and mark about one inch past the twine, then cut the parchment paper.

how to measure cake circumference
measuring parchment paper for buttercream wrap

After trimming the parchment paper lengthwise, I marked the height at 4 ½ inches tall (almost the height of the frosted cake) and trimmed the excess. When you’re finished trimming the parchment, tape it down onto your work surface. 

Using the small angled spatula, scoop the dark grey and light grey marbled buttercream and gently apply it to the parchment paper. You’ll want to be sure not to spread or mix it up too much as you place it onto the parchment. Next, scoop the uncolored buttercream either with the same spatula (for an even more marbley look) or a clean spatula (for a cleaner look) and apply it to the parchment next to the marbled grey buttercreams.

how to make a marble buttercream cake
marble buttercream cake tutorial

Repeat the process of scooping and applying the buttercream until you’ve covered the length of the parchment, creating varying heights along the way. Make sure to place the highest buttercream splotches at least ½ inch down from the top of the parchment.

marble buttercream wrap cake tutorial

When you’ve finished applying the buttercream to the parchment paper, use an angled spatula to gently smooth the buttercream down until it’s about ¼ inch thick. Using gentle pressure here will prevent the marble from mixing too much underneath.

smoothing buttercream on parchment

Step 4: Apply the Marble Buttercream Wrap

Place your chilled, frosted cake on the turntable. Un-tape the marble buttercream wrap from your work surface and wrap it around the cake as tightly as possible. It should stick to the cake really easily since the frosting is still very wet at this point. 

marble buttercream wrap tutorial for cake
marble buttercream wrap cake tutorial

Use your fondant smoother to smooth the buttercream wrap down and adhere it to the cake, then place the wrapped cake back into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the marble buttercream firm up.

marble cake tutorial with buttercream

Step 5: Reveal the Marble 

Once the buttercream beneath the parchment paper is firm to the touch, gently peel the parchment away to reveal the stunning marble buttercream beneath.

marble cake tutorial with buttercream

I chose to keep the texture that the parchment paper created instead of smoothing it down because a) it looks amazing and b) last time I smoothed out the marble it all blended together and didn’t look as cool. 

Step 6: Paint the Gold Accents

Mix a few drops of clear extract or vodka into about 1 teaspoon of gold luster dust. Add more liquid if necessary to thin it into a paint-able consistency. When the gold paint is just right, use a small food-grade paintbrush to paint the top edge of the marble buttercream wrap.

how to make gold cake paint
gold marble buttercream cake tutorial

Isn’t this marble buttercream cake so elegant? It ended up matching the gold marble Stir tools so perfectly!

marble buttercream cake with gold accents

This marble buttercream cake is so perfect for a wedding, fancy birthday party, anniversary, or any event that could use a little elegance. Let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco and @joann_stores on Instagram if you post a pic!

gold and marble buttercream cake tutorial

And if you’re looking for beautiful baking or cake decorating tools, you must check out the Stir products exclusively at JOANN. If you’ve got a local JOANN store, you should be able to find them all in the baking section. You can also find all of these tools at JOANN.com. I was super excited to see that the Stir line also has molds, cake mixes, sprinkles, and basically everything you could need to make a creative cake (or any bake, really). 

Disclaimer: I was compensated by JOANN for my work of creating this project, styling, filming, photographing, and writing about their products. As always, all opinions are honest and my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support Sugar & Sparrow.

By: Whitney · In: Featured, Tutorials · Tagged: baking tools, cake decorating tools, JOANN, marble buttercream, marble buttercream cake, marble buttercream tutorial, marble cake, marble cake tutorial

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@sugarandsparrowco

CARROT CAKE (recipe below) 🥕🎂 Y’all have b CARROT CAKE (recipe below) 🥕🎂 Y’all have been asking for a carrot cake recipe for YEARS and I finally whipped one up for my book, Anyone Can Cake. It’s perfectly spiced, has an extra moist crumb, and is just heavenly with cream cheese frosting. I ate an embarrassing amount during filming 😬😏⁣
⁣
CARROT CAKE⁣
YIELD: 3 6-inch layers or 2 8-inch layers⁣
⁣
INGREDIENTS⁣
2 1/2 Cups (333g) all purpose flour⁣
2 tsp (10g) baking powder⁣
1 tsp baking soda⁣
1/2 tsp salt⁣
2 tsp ground cinnamon⁣
1 tsp ground nutmeg⁣
1 tsp ground ginger⁣
1/4 tsp cloves⁣
1/2 Cup (100g) granulated sugar⁣
1 1/2 Cups (300g) packed brown sugar⁣
1 Cup (240ml) vegetable oil⁣
4 large eggs, room temperature⁣
3/4 Cup (135g) smooth unsweetened applesauce⁣
1 tsp pure vanilla extract⁣
2 Cups (260g) grated carrots (about 4 large)⁣
⁣
INSTRUCTIONS:⁣
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/177ºF. Grease and line three 6-inch (15cm) or two 8-inch 20cm) cake pans. ⁣
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. In another large bowl, whisk together the white and brown sugars, vegetable oil, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla. ⁣
3. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula until just combined, then fold in the grated carrots.⁣
4. Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.⁣
⁣
Pair with my fave cream cheese buttercream recipe at https://sugarandsparrow.com/cream-cheese-buttercream-recipe/⁣
⁣
#carrotcake #creamcheesefrosting #carrotcakerecipe #eastercake #cakeideas #anyonecancake #baking #bake #layercake #bakedfromscratch #cakelover
[CLOSED! Winner TBA] Anyone Can Cake x Wilton GIVE [CLOSED! Winner TBA] Anyone Can Cake x Wilton GIVEAWAY 🥳 @wiltoncakes has been a HUGE part of my cake journey and I’m extra excited to gift ONE lucky winner every Wilton tool they could possibly need to make ⁣perfect layer cakes!⁣
⁣
ONE lucky winner will get everything in this Reel:⁣ ⁣
✨Gold piping tip set⁣
✨Cake turntable⁣
✨Navy and gold icing spatula set ⁣
✨Color Right Performance Food Coloring Set⁣
✨Icing comb set⁣
✨Icing smoother⁣
✨Cake leveler⁣
✨Set of two 8-inch cake pans⁣
✨a SIGNED copy of my book, Anyone Can Cake⁣
⁣
TO ENTER:⁣
⁣⁣1️⃣ LIKE this post⁣ ⁣
2️⃣ FOLLOW @sugarandsparrowco and @wiltoncakes⁣
3️⃣ TAG a couple friends who would love this prize below in separate comments. One comment = one entry ⁣⁣ ⁣
4️⃣ BONUS for commenting where you’re at in your cake decorating journey!⁣
⁣
That’s it! Ends March 25th at 11:59pm PST and is open to US residents only (sorry to my worldwide friends!). I’ll reach out to the winner via DM to claim the prize and if it’s you, please respond within 24 hours to claim. 🎉 Must be 18 or older. Not sponsored by Wilton or Instagram. Best of luck to all 🎉⁣
⁣
⁣#wiltoncakes #cakedecorating #cakes #cakelover #anyonecancake #cookbook #cake #sprinkles #cake #cookbookauthor #bakersofinstagram #bake #baking
(Ad) Buttercream Embroidery Cake Tutorial🧵🌸🎂 to celebrate March being National Craft Month, I decided to try out some new buttercream piping techniques and make the embroidery cake of my dreams! It ended up being so fun + easy with the perfect cake decorating supplies from @joann_stores 🙌🏼 Here’s how to make this happy little Spring-inspired cake:⁣
⁣
1️⃣ Frost your cake with a smooth buttercream finish and chill for at least 20 minutes.⁣
2️⃣ Use floral cookie cutters to imprint the buttercream.⁣
3️⃣ Outline the shapes using Wilton tip 2 or 3, then fill in the shapes with lines of buttercream piping. For some of the flowers, start at the edge of the shape and pipe a series of lines that connect in the center. For others, experiment with ways to fill in the shape with parallel lines, dots, or other embroidery-inspired piping. ⁣
4️⃣ Freehand some tiny dotted flowers and floral accents using those same piping techniques wherever your heart desires!⁣
⁣
The full tutorial + video for this pretty floral embroidery cake is linked in my bio! It’s the perfect way to welcome Spring 🌸⁣
⁣
#handmadewithjoann #joannpartner #embroidery #embroiderycake #baking #floralcake #cakeideas #buttercreamcake #bake #cakesofinstagram #cake #buttercream #cakelover #cakeart #nationalcraftmonth
Yellow Cake + Chocolate Frosting (aka Classic Birt Yellow Cake + Chocolate Frosting (aka Classic Birthday Cake) 🙌🏼 🥳 this one is extra nostalgic for me because it’s what my mama made for all my birthdays growing up 💛 this recipe rivals the box mix: super moist and fluffy layers of classic yellow cake (naturally colored with egg yolks) + silky smooth chocolate buttercream. Top with rainbow sprinkles for extra fun! 🎉⁣
⁣
Find this recipe linked in my bio + on page 147 of my book, Anyone Can Cake ✨⁣
⁣
#birthdaycake #yellowcake #chocolatefrosting #chocolatebuttercream #sprinkles #layercake #cakelover #cakesofinstagram #cake #bake #bakingfun #bakedfromscratch #anyonecancake #cakeideas #cakedecorating
Ombré Rainbow Sheet Cake 🌈🥳 for St. Patrick Ombré Rainbow Sheet Cake 🌈🥳 for St. Patrick’s Day or any day, because rainbow cakes are year round if you ask me 🫶🏽⁣
⁣
🎨 colors: custom mixed with @wiltoncakes color right food coloring system ⁣
🌈 piping tips: @wiltoncakes 1M for the rosettes, 104 for the ruffles, 32 for the swirls and stars⁣
⁣
#ombrecake #rainbowcake #sheetcake #cakedecorating #rainbow #stpatricksday #buttercreampiping #pipingskills #bakingfun #satisfyingfood #bake #cakeideas #cakelovers

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