Over the past several years, dripping cakes have taken the world of baking by storm as a delicious and trendy way to dress up a cake. The style has been adapted to fit in with all sorts of occasions, like weddings, baby showers, and birthdays. If you’ve seen the dripping cakes that have taken over Pinterest and have been wanting to try it out for yourself, it’s important to thoroughly understand what it is and how to make it first.
Dripping cakes are the perfect desserts to make when you want to impress your guests with a bold and sophisticated statement. By the time you finish reading, the only thing you’ll have to worry about with dripping cakes is eating them too fast to properly admire! In this guide, we’ll go through everything you need to know about dripping cakes so that you can get started on baking your very own masterpieces.
What is a Dripping Cake?
Dripping cakes have gained popularity in recent years and are a trendy cake style found often in the baking world. Simply put, a dripping cake is a cake with drips of chocolate, caramel, or another form of dripping candy coating dripping down the sides of the cake. To obtain the show stopping finish of a dripping cake, you’ll need a decorating turntable and buttercream scraper in addition to your standard baking tools.
How to Make a Dripping Cake: Step by Step
While they may be elegant and complex in appearance, dripping cakes are actually not super challenging to make. In order to get the stunning, dramatic drips that you want for your dripping cake, it’s important to use at least three layers of cake. One layer of cake would make for very short drips that wouldn’t do your dripping cake any justice.
Step 1: Bake and shape your cake.
The first step is, you guessed it, baking your cake! Once you’ve baked your cake layers, you’ll need to level off the top of each layer with a cake leveller or sharp knife so that the tops are all flat and can be stacked up evenly.
Step 2: Fill and stack your cake layers.
Once you’ve flattened out your cake layers, you can fill them with buttercream using a piping bag. A decorating turntable comes in handy during this step to assist you in evenly filling your cake as you stack the layers.
Step 3: Smooth and finish the buttercream coating.
During this step, you’ll want to use a palette knife to smooth out the buttercream in each layer. Once this has been done, finish the cake with a crumb coat to seal everything in. The crumb coat smooths everything out so that you aren’t left with a messy or uneven finish. Using a decorating turntable and a scraper, slowly and carefully smooth out the buttercream all around the cake.
Step 4: Create your drip.
For the next step, you’ll need to decide which type of chocolate or caramel you want to use. The most common type of drip is a dark chocolate chip, which can be achieved by melting equal parts of cream and dark chocolate together to create a ganache. Many people opt for colored drips by creating a white chocolate drip and adding food coloring.
Step 5: Add the drips to your cake.
The final step is to add the drips to your cake using either a piping bag, squeezable bottle, or spoon. It’s important to wait until your cake has been thoroughly chilled before adding your drips. Once chilled, position your dripping tool near the edge of the cake and squeeze the ganache onto it so that it drips down the sides of the cake. You’ll want to squeeze out different amounts of ganache each time to create depth and avoid uniformity in your drips.
If you want to top your cake with the ganache, squeeze out a drizzle into the center and smooth it out all around the top of the cake. In order to firm up the ganache drips, you’ll need to refrigerate your cake for around thirty minutes.
How to Decorate a Dripping Cake
Dripping cakes can be decorated any way you want. Whether you decide to use dark chocolate, white chocolate, caramel, or something else like jam or icing, the opportunities are endless. You can keep your dripping cake simple and leave the drips as the star of the show or you can dress up the top of the cake with more icing and cake decorations. Whether you’re creating an elegant cake for a wedding or a fun birthday cake for your child, dripping cakes are versatile and work brilliantly for any occasion.
There are many different trends when it comes to decorating dripping cakes, but creating gold and silver drips are one of the most popular trends. Many people use edible paint or luster dust to achieve this beautiful look by painting the white chocolate ganache drips gold or silver. This trend is certainly one of the most time-consuming ones, but worth it for the stunning result it provides.
Storing Your Dripping Cake
No matter how you decide to decorate your dripping cake, properly storing it in the fridge is critical in preserving the integrity of the cake. As most drip cakes tend to be around seven inches tall, you’ll need to make sure you have space in the fridge beforehand so that no part of your dripping cake gets damaged. In between your buttercream layers and after completing your dripping cake, you’ll need to chill the cake and will need a large enough tupperware container to contain it.
Contrary to popular belief, your dripping cake will not dry out in the fridge. The many layers of buttercream frosting seal and protect the sponge cake layers from drying out, lasting multiple days in the fridge while maintaining the same mouthwatering texture as the first time you ate it. Dripping cakes are incredible desserts, so it’s key to make sure that you preserve it and can enjoy every last bite!
Tools you’ll need
- Cake Decorating Tools 512 pcs Cake Decorating Kit
- Cake Turntable and Leveler-Rotating Cake Stand with Non slip pad-7 Icing
- Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls Set of 5, with Lids
- Silicone Spatula Set – Non Stick High Heat Resistant Kitchen Utensils
- 210 Piece Cake Decorating Supplies Kit
Dripping Cake Recipes
No matter what the occasion is, drip cakes are the perfect way to impress your family and friends. Check out these recipes for a great place to get started!
- Confetti Birthday Cake with a fun pop of rainbow confetti that you can’t help but smile about
- Blue Drip Cake for a delicious dessert that works for any occasion, whether it’s a baby shower or a backyard barbecue
- Milk and Cookies Cake that is sure to become the kids’ favorite new dessert
- Pink Ombre Drip Cake that makes for the perfect treat to bring to a bachelorette party or baby shower
- S’Mores Drip Cake that will have everyone at your next cookout begging for more
- Cardamom Spiced Carrot Cake for the perfect treat for the fall season
- Raspberry Blood Orange Cake is packed with fresh flavors and is a stunning way to celebrate any occasion
- Chocolate and Peanut Butter Drip Cake for a dessert that the chocolate lovers in your life won’t be able to resist
- Marble Drip Icing Cake that looks so beautiful you almost won’t want to eat it… almost!
- Junk Food Drip Cake for the cheat meal to end all cheat meals
- Peanut Butter Caramel Popcorn Cake that uses a caramel drip and a mountain of delicious caramel popcorn for all of the popcorn fans out there
- Rocky Road Layer Cake that’ll give you a chocolate overload in the best way topped with a glorious mound of marshmallows
- Strawberry Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake that is elegant enough to wow the guests at important events like weddings, baby showers, and birthdays
- Halloween Chocolate Drip Cake completed with meringue ghosts for a perfectly on-theme Halloween dessert that all the kids will go crazy over
