How to Decorate a Cake With Sprinkles
Nothing looks as fun or celebration-worthy than a cake decorated with sprinkles. Learn how to make and decorate a rainbow sprinkle cake, step by step.
Servings: 1 8-inch of 9-inch layer cake
Ingredients
- 2 8-inch or 9-inch cake layers, baked and cooled
- 1 recipe buttercream, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups rainbow sprinkles, or sprinkles of choice
Instructions
For the Cake and Buttercream
- Bake and fully cool your preferred layer cake. I like red velvet or homemade funfetti cake.
- Make a batch of vanilla buttercream frosting or Swiss meringue buttercream.
- Set the bottom cake layer on a flat dish or (preferably) a cardboard cake round. Layer the cakes with buttercream and spread buttercream on the sides and top of the cake using your offset spatulas and straight-edge cake smoother. Use this guide to How to Layer and Buttercream a Layer Cake for a detailed step by step.
- Chill for at least 15 minutes, until the buttercream feels firm. PRO TIP: If you are using confectioner's sugar-based frosting, I recommend loosely draping the cake in plastic wrap so it does not form a skin. This will make the sprinkles harder to stick.
To Decorate the Cake With Sprinkles
- Set up your sprinkle station. Put a clean, rimmed half-sheet pan on the countertop. This will catch the falling sprinkles. Fill a small bowl with about 1 1/2 cups of sprinkles. You may use less, but you'll want extra.
- Press sprinkles by the handful all the way around the sides of the cake. Gather a handful of sprinkles and gently press them into the side of the cake, working from the base of the cake to the top edge, opening your palm as you go. Stop at the edge; don't "round the corner" onto the top of the cake, which will soften the crisp edges of buttercream. You want to keep those side edges sharp. Rotate the cake in your hand and repeat, going all the way around.PRO TIP: Gently pressing the sprinkles onto the cake is the reason the buttercream should be slightly firm. If the buttercream is too soft, you might end up with lots of dents in the cake. Firm buttercream keeps the straight sides and corners intact.PRO TIP: I often hold the cake with my left hand, and add sprinkles with the right. I find that getting the cake off the countertop gives me more space to work. To do this, you need to have the cake supported by a cardboard cake board or flat cake dish.
- Decorate the top of the cake with sprinkles, if desired. Gather another large handful of rainbow sprinkles and pour a mound into the wide center of the cake.Use your hand to gently spread sprinkles over the remaining surface of the cake.
- Check the cake for any bare spots. Spread more sprinkles as necessary to cover the bare spots. Serve.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
