A Complete Guide To Drip Cakes!

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The Drip Cake Struggle

Today, we have a Complete Guide To Drip Cakes! Ever tried making a drip cake and the drip goes all the way to the cake board? 🙁 Have you tried perfecting this technique, like me, for years with little to no success??!

Cake Decorating Tools that will Help You

Being a cake decorator for several years, there are a number of tools and techniques that I’ve learned along the way. Check out this post if you’re just starting out!

The Best Cake-Decorating Tools for Beginners

Why Are Drip Cakes so trendy?

Drip cakes are so popular these days – of course they are, they have such a beautiful aesthetic and really elevate your cake (especially if it’s done properly!). Add some flowers, stick on some pretty sprinkles and pareils, maybe some edible 24k gold leaf, plus a cute and glittery cake topper, and you can call it a day!

Not to mention the variations of drips (chocolate drips, white chocolate drips, gold drips, blue drips, silver drips – the possibilities are endless!). When it comes to white chocolate, it becomes even more difficult when you have to add food colouring. If you don’t know already – WATER AND CHOCOLATE DON’T MIX!

Adding a water-based food colouring to your white chocolate drip becomes problematic. Your white chocolate will seize up and become a weird pasty unmixable mess, and there’s no saving it *tear* It’s best to use an oil-based food colouring, but those don’t come by so easily.

I know, what else can go wrong?!?! Well, guess what?!?! I finally found the best, foolproof recipes for drip cakes! After years of frustration! Hahaha! As someone who is a cake decorator, and perfectionist, and has tried many chocolate drip recipes, I’m sharing the best recipes to use for your cakes! I feel your pain, so I’m here to help!

chocolate drip recipe

Let’s start with a classic chocolate drip! Believe it or not, the recipe is equal parts chocolate and equal parts whipping cream. I gotta thank Cupcake Jemma for this one! Another favourite of mine, she has tons of great recipes and tips!

This recipe seems simple but melting, mixing, and waiting are key with this one! It all comes down to the consistency of your drip. If it’s too runny, it will keep running down your cake! So you need to be patient when melting your chocolate and make sure to do those test drips!

I also like to ensure my cake is cold when applying my drip. I even pop my cakes back in the fridge or freezer right away (just to give me some extra reassurance that the drip will STOP!).

Yield: 8″ Cake

Ingredients

semi-sweet chocolate drip

• 60g Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 60g Whipping Cream

Directions

1. Combine chocolate chips and whipping cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix slightly with a spoon.
2. Microwave for 20 seconds, and stir.
3. Microwave for another 10 seconds, and stir.
4. If your chocolate isn’t completely melted, microwave for another 10-second increment.
5. Let your chocolate rest for about 7-10 minutes.
6. Apply a test drip onto your cake with a small spoonful. If the test drip is to your liking, then continue to fill a disposable piping bag with the rest of your drip.
7. Cut a small piece off the tip of the piping bag and drip around the sides and top of your cake.
8. Smooth out the chocolate on the top of your cake with an offset spatula.

White Chocolate DRIP recipe

Next, white chocolate! Well, we’re not really using white chocolate here, but white candy melts! I saw a perfect drip post from fellow Instagrammer @sweetjosiebakes one day and she kindly shared the recipe! You can also use this recipe for the other colours offered by Wilton Candy Melts. Also, you can just use white and add any gel food colouring you wish!

Yield: 8″ Cake

Ingredients

white chocolate drip

• 100g Wilton Bright White Candy Melts
• 33g Whipping Cream

Directions

1. Combine candy melts and whipping cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix slightly with a spoon.
2. Microwave for 30 seconds, and stir.
3. Microwave for another 30 seconds, and stir.
4. If colouring, add your gel food colouring at this point and mix gently.
5. Let your drip rest for 10 minutes, mixing occasionally.
6. Apply a test drip onto your cake with a small spoonful. If the test drip is to your liking, then continue to fill a disposable piping bag with the rest of your drip.
7. Cut a small piece off the tip of the piping bag and drip it around the sides and top of your cake.
8. Smooth out the drip on the top of your cake with an offset spatula.

I like to add some gold gel food colouring to this recipe and paint it with Edible Art Decorative Paint from Sweet Sticks once the drip is dry. Or you can make your own paint by mixing some edible lustre dust with vodka (don’t worry, you won’t get drunk from the vodka – the alcohol magically evaporates! lol).

You can do the same thing for a silver drip! Just add a TINY bit of black food colouring to your drip to make it a light grey, and paint it silver.

White chocolate drip recipe note! If you’re just applying a partial drip and don’t want to waste candy melts and whipping cream, you can use 50g candy melts and 16g whipping cream and microwave for 30 seconds only 🙂

There you have it! It’s always a good idea to try that test drip if you’re new to drip cakes. Try these recipes for your next cake and let me know how it turned out in the comments!

Good luck & Happy Cake Decorating!

Mich