Sprinkled White Chocolate Cupcake Toppers

This cupcake topper tutorial originally appeared as a guest post on SprinklePop’s blog. It’s too good not to re-share here – it’s one of my favorite looks for topping cupcakes and so easy to whip up. Enjoy!

One of my very favorite mediums for creating cake and cupcake toppers is white chocolate. Not only is it versatile and easy to work with, it actually tastes good. And with some pretty additions like this eye-catching Sea Glass sprinkle mix and a food color gel marble effect, it’s downright beautiful! PS: the thing I love about these SprinklePop sprinkles is that they actually taste good too (the larger sprinkles are actually Sixlets!), so you get pretty color and texture without sacrificing flavor – a total win win!

It all starts with a big slab of marbled white chocolate that looks too pretty to cut into, but today I’m going to show you how to shape it into mini white chocolate discs that are perfect for topping cupcakes. All it takes is a great color scheme, a few sharp cookie cutters, and about thirty minutes from start to finish.

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What You’ll Need:

• 2 cups (266g) white chocolate chips
• A heatproof bowl and microwave (double boiler works fine too!)
• A candy thermometer
• Parchment paper
• Angled spatula
• Small circular cookie cutters (2 inch diameter or less)
• SprinklePop Sprinkles
• Food color gels
• Toothpick(s)

Step 1: Temper Your White Chocolate

Although you might be tempted to just melt your white chocolate quickly, tempering it is going to give you a finish that doesn’t look dingy and will snap (like solid chocolate should) instead of bend. To temper your chocolate, place your white chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and reserve ¼ of the white chocolate chips (in this case, remove ½ cup and set aside). The reserved chips are what’s called a “seed” that will help bring your melted chocolate to the right temperature once it’s been melted.

Microwave the white chocolate chips (sans seed) in 30 second increments, stirring after each interval. When the chips are uniformly melted, add your seed back in and stir until those white chocolate chips are melted and the temperature of the mixture reaches between 82 and 84ºF. You now have tempered chocolate!

Step 2: Smooth Onto Parchment

Place a sheet of parchment paper over a flat surface and pour the melted white chocolate on top, smoothing with an angled spatula until you have a nice, even surface that’s about ⅛ to ¼ of an inch deep.

Step 3: Create The Marble Effect

Squeeze a small drop of food color gel onto a toothpick and move it through the white chocolate to create a marbled effect. Keep in mind that too much food color gel could seize the white chocolate, so gently work it through a little at a time, swirling around with your toothpick. A little bit goes a long way!

I used AmeriColor color gel pastes in Navy and Teal for this marbled effect and only used two small drops of each color.

Step 4: Sprinkle Generously

Now for the fun part! Toss some pretty sprinkles into the white chocolate until you’re mesmerized with how beautiful it’s looking. When you’re done sprinkling, it’s a really good idea to gently press the sprinkles as far into the white chocolate as they’ll go. That’ll make them stick more firmly. I think the Sea Glass sprinkle mix ended up looking so pretty with the marbled white chocolate backdrop!

Let the white chocolate sit at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes so that it’s set (still a little soft, but easy to slice through).

Step 5: Score With Cookie Cutters

When your chocolate is set, it’s time to score it with your cookie cutters. I’ve used three different diameter sizes for these mini disks: ½ inch, 1 inch, and 2 inches. Press the cookie cutters into the set white chocolate to act as a guide for your final cuts. I always make more scores than I need just in case of breakage. It’s always good to have more! Side note: These circular cutters I’m using are part of a much larger set which comes in handy for making larger discs and other circular cake decorations! A must have for cake decorating.  

After you’ve made your scores, let the chocolate sit at room temperature for another 15-20 minutes to firm up. If you’re working in a warm environment, it’s a good idea to stick the chocolate in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to harden instead of waiting for it to set up at room temperature.

Step 6: Make The Final Cuts

Once your white chocolate has hardened, it’s time to retrace those scores with your cookie cutters and make the final cuts. Gently press the cookie cutters over the areas you’ve scored, working them around in a circular motion until you cut right through.

Step 7: Top Your Cupcakes

After you’ve frosted your cupcakes in a complementary color scheme, top them with your mini discs in any pattern you wish! Since I made three different disc sizes, I layered one of each size on the cupcakes in an offset pattern.

I used a little Teal food color gel to tint the buttercream because I was so enthralled with this Sea Glass sprinkle mix that I wanted to stick with an oceanic color scheme, but feel free to get creative. The cool thing about this white chocolate topper technique is that it looks great in all sorts of color variations. And since SprinklePop makes sprinkle mixes in just about every color scheme imaginable (even custom ones!) they’re the perfect addition.

If you end up trying the technique, let me know how you like it by tagging me on Instagram or commenting below. I love to see your creations!