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In this tutorial I show with step by step instructions 3 ways to decorate cakes with sprinkles. This tutorial is a preview of the sprinkles module of my online course, 10 Cake Decorating Techniques, where I show 10 ways to decorate cakes with sprinkles. Click here for more information on that course: https://britishgirlbakes.teachable.com/p/10-cake-decorating-techniques
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In this tutorial we're going to cover three ways to use sprinkles to decorate your cakes
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Starting with the most simple technique, sprinkles can be used to make a border around the base of your cake
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You can use your hands, a spatula or a spoon, or a combination of these, and it's a good idea to use a baking tray or a large bowl underneath your cake for this
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so that you can catch any sprinkles that fall off the cake and the cakeboard
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To use a spoon, scoop up some of the sprinkles and spoon them around the bottom of the cake
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right up against the cake but most of them will fall onto the cake board or turntable
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Then you can go back around and use the back of the spoon to press any fallen
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sprinkles into the side of the cake. It's easiest to do this as soon as you
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frosted your cake because the frosting will be fresh and sticky and the sprinkles will attach to it easily. Instead of using a spoon you can scatter the
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sprinkles around the bottom of the cake and then use an offset spatula to press them into the cake or you can clean your hands well and then use them for this too
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which gives you the most control over the sprinkles. What's nice about doing this over a tray is that you can scoop up any sprinkles on the tray
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and press them into the cake so you don't waste any of them. You don't have to use pre-mixed sprinkles for any of these techniques
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They're very nice but you can also make your own by mixing packets of different colors and sizes
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and shimmeriness to match your cake's color scheme or theme. If you find that the sprinkles aren't sticking because your frosting has set
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you can spread on some fresh frosting and then press the sprinkles into that. You can have even more control over a sprinkle border on your cake by using acetate to cover up areas where you don't want the sprinkles to go
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I'm wrapping two strips of acetate around this cake, securing them with tape and making sure that they're really tight around the cake
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You can also use pins to attach the acetate to the cake
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Wait for the frosting on your cake to set before you do this, so that you don't you don't
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so that you don damage it as you wrap up the cake Cover up all of the cake where you don want there to be sprinkles And just the immediate area around where the sprinkles will go is fine
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For example, if you're applying sprinkles in a wavy pattern to the bottom inch of the cake
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from the very bottom of the cake, you can cut the acetate into your wavy design and attach it to the cake
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but you don't have to cover up the entire side of the cake, just the first few inches above where the sprinkles will go
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because that's where they might accidentally get onto the rest of your cake. so that's the frosting you want to protect from the sprinkles
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If you're enjoying this tutorial, please click the thumbs up button. This is a preview of the module on sprinkles in my online course 10 cake decorating techniques
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In that module I cover 10 ways to use sprinkles to decorate your cakes
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You can sign up for that course on my website, Britishgirlbakes.com, and I've put the link in the description below
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The sprinkles won't stick to set frosting easily, so the next step is to spread on fresh frosting around the cake where you want the sprinkles to go
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covering up all of the exposed parts of the cake so that it's all nice and sticky
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It's important to spread slightly away from the acetate with each stroke
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so that you don't push any frosting up underneath it, because that will mess up your pattern
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The acetate has to be really tight for this to work, then just press the
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sprinkles into the fresh frosting all the way around the cake, wherever you want them to go
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You can use parchment paper for this if you don't have acetate, but The acetate is thicker than parchment so it protects the cake a bit better
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Then peel off the acetate or parchment to expose the frosted cake with this neat pretty
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band of sprinkles. To apply sprinkles gradually up the sides of the cake, there's a quick
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technique which will go over in detail now. I've started this cake with a dense band of
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sprinkles and now I want them to get scarcer as I go up the cake. You can press
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sprinkles into the frosting individually to decide where each one goes which works well for a few bigger sprinkles or if you want lots of sprinkles it much more efficient to apply several at a time which you can do with your finger I like to use a glove for this Dip your finger in water and tap off any excess and then press
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your finger into the sprinkles. The sprinkles will stick to your slightly wet finger, and then you
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can press them onto the cake, using enough pressure to stick them onto the frosting, but not so much
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pressure that you indent the frosting with your finger. You can do this with several fingers at a time
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which speeds up the process on bigger cakes like this one. To completely cover a cake with sprinkles, you'll need a baking tray and lots of sprinkles
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I'm going to show you my preferred way of doing this by rolling the cake
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but I'll also tell you about a second method, a pressing method
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For both methods you'll need to give your cake a crumb coat and chill it for at least an hour in the fridge
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so that the cake firms up and holds its shape later. Meanwhile, prepare your sprinkles
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For the rolling method, pour them onto a baking tray. into a baking tray and you can pour a mix straight into the middle of the tray and shake the
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tray around to distribute the sprinkles evenly or pour the sprinkles into a pattern like
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I'm doing here. I want a rainbow-ombray gradient of sprinkles, so I'm choosing the placement of each colour
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and shape of sprinkle. If you're using the same sprinkle mix all over the cake, you can cover the tray completely
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but because I'm doing this pattern, I've measured the height of my cake, and it's six and a half
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inches so I'm making my sprinkle pattern six and a half inches as well
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When your sprinkles are spread out on the tray it's time to prepare the cake
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For the pressing method, the cake can be on any size cake board but for the rolling method
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the cake needs to be on a baseboard the same size as the cake. The board can be a tiny bit bigger than the crumb coated cake because you're going to apply another coat of frosting
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Apply a fresh coat of frosting, keeping it as thin as you can, because otherwise the sprinkles might get buried in the thick frosting
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the thick frosting. Only frost the sides at this point. I have a second cake board the same
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size as my cake and I pressing that against the top of the cake This is necessary for when you roll the cake so that you don imprint the top of the cake with your hand Now once the frosting is smooth all over the cake lift up the cake and hold the top and bottom in your hands
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pressing gently against the cake boards. Lower the cake on its side into the tray with sprinkles and roll it carefully over the sprinkles
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and the sprinkles will press into the frosting and stick onto the sides of the cake
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After each roll, you'll need to shake the tray to redistribute the tray to redistribute the springles. to redistribute the sprinkles and you might need to add more sprinkles to cover the tray
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If you're creating a pattern, just pour on more sprinkles the same way you did at the beginning to create the same pattern
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Then turn the cake and roll the naked side into the sprinkles to cover that side
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You can do this as many times as you need until you're happy with the coverage
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Then you can touch up any bare areas, any bare areas by pressing sprinkles into it with your hands, which is what you would do if you
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avoided the rolling method and just pressed the sprinkles into the frosting to begin with
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It's a lot slower this way, pressing the sprinkles in with your hands, but if you're nervous
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of lifting your cake up, go with this method. For both methods you really want the final coat of
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frosting to be thin, so it doesn't bulge when you press the sprinkles in. And you can see here I
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had a patch of thick frosting and the sprinkles have sunk right in. Not a good look
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You can take off any sprinkles you don't want, like the ones that don't fit in my ombre pattern, and replace them with different sprinkles
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To cover the top of the cake with sprinkles, just take the cake board off the top of the cake and spread some butter cream on the top
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Then pour some sprinkles onto the top of the cake and press them gently into the frosting
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I'm obsessed with sprinkles and love finding new ways to decorate cakes with them
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Please tag me in your cake photos on Facebook and Instagram so I can see how you use your sprinkles. Subscribe to my channel for new cake decorating tutorials every week