Dream Sprinkle Cake
Steps involved
Make cake layers
Make buttercream (no color)
Split and color buttercream
Assemble and ice cake
Decorate cake
READ BEFORE CONTINUING: The following recipes are scaled to make the cake pictured above -- a 4 layer cake made with 6-inch round cake layers. If you wish to make a smaller cake, please scale down these recipes.
recipes used
1 - 1.5 batches Italian meringue buttercream
I made this buttercream vanilla flavored by adding 1 tablespoon of vanilla to my 1.5x batch (can add less or more to taste)
Colors used
To get these colors, I used Wilton's Gel Icing Colors for the cake layers and Wilton's Color Right Food Coloring System for the icing.*
For the cake layers:
Blue Cake Swirl:
Royal Blue Wilton Gel Icing Color - I used roughly 1/3 of the container.
Black: a few drops *from Wilton Color Right System
White Cake Swirl:
No food coloring used.
For the icing:
The colors may differ depending on how much icing you're coloring and the starting color of your buttercream (certain butter brands are more white or yellow which can make the buttercream whiter or more yellow). These are the amounts I used and should get you close.
Navy Icing:
Blue: 140 drops
Black: 38 drops
Crimson: 5 drops
Red: 5 drops
Optional Black Icing:
I used the navy icing, that was left over after icing the cake, and added drops of black until it was dark enough for my liking.
Supplies/tools
To find the tools I use for almost every cake I make and decorate (including pans, cake boards, icing smoothers, etc.), click here.
The supplies/tools below are specifically for decorating this cake, which I used in addition to the ones in the link above.*
Sweet Stamp elegant set* (*Not necessary for this design, but it makes it easier. As an alternative, you can cut the words from parchment paper and stick them to the cake to use as a guide for this design.)
Optional: Thick-walled cake pans (to prevent the sides of the cake from browning too much and taking away from the color of the cake layers)
*Some of these links may be affiliate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I earn a small amount from some purchases, however, this does not affect my recommendations.
Decorating the cake
After the cake has been assembled and iced:
Optional: Once the cake has been iced with navy icing, you can choose to add a few spots of black icing and smooth those over the cake as well.
Refrigerate the cake until icing is firm to the touch.
Take your desired letters from the elegant Sweet Stamp set and press them into the cake. Remove letters to reveal the indentation of the desired word.
Arrange your sprinkles so they are easy to access in your work area. I poured some of each kind onto its own plate. You'll also want a small amount of Crisco readily available to help grab the sprinkles -- I also put this on a plate.
Dip your tool of choice (your finger or a small brush) into the Crisco and then into the white nonpareils or the small silver ball sprinkles/dragees. Place a sprinkle on the border of the first letter. Continue placing small sprinkles on the border of the letters until the whole word is outlined in sprinkles.
Now you can start grabbing from your various sprinkle sizes and continue placing sprinkles around the word. I chose to place the sprinkles very close together so little icing showed through. -- to make this step faster you can use a bigger brush or your finger and pick up clusters of sprinkles at a time.
*I found that it was harder to place the sprinkles when the icing started to get soft, so I would place it back in the fridge as necessary*
Continue placing sprinkles until you've reached your desired look. I chose to put fewer sprinkles on the cake near the bottom, allowing more of the icing to show through.
Slice and enjoy :)
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