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How To Make a Drip Cake! Top Tips and Products
• Lynsey Macdonald
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TL;DR: Drip Cake Cheat Sheet In a rush? Here is the quick reference guide to getting your ratios right: White Chocolate Ganache: Use a 3:1 ratio (3 parts white chocolate to 1 part double cream). Water Ganache (No Cream): Use a 6:1 ratio (6 parts chocolate to 1 part water). The "No-Fuss" Method: Use Candy Melts or Ready-Made Drip Bottles (just heat and squeeze!). The Golden Rule: Always ensure your cake is chilled before adding your drip, otherwise, the chocolate will run straight off the board! |
A drip cake never goes out of style! This iconic design always packs a punch, allowing you to have fun with colour and create a striking table centrepiece. In this post, we're sharing our top tips and products, helping you learn how to make a drip cake yourself.
Whether it's for an upcoming birthday, baby shower or just for a night in with friends, a drip cake is sure to impress. Ready to dive in? Let's get started...
Contents:
What is a drip cake?
How to make white chocolate drip
How to make chocolate drip without cream
Candy Melts - making a drip cake without chocolate
Drip Cake Ideas!
What is a drip cake?
A drip cake is a popular style of cake featuring a chocolate, ganache, or candy drizzle around the top, running down in varying lengths.
Using a squeeze bottle, piping bag or even a spoon, work your way around the top edge of your chilled cake, allowing the chocolate to run down the sides. The consistency should be thin enough to pour but thick enough not to run completely off.
A drip cake is a simple but eye-catching design that looks great alone or with added decorations!
Preparation: The Secret to Success
Before you melt any chocolate, you need to prep your canvas! The single biggest mistake beginners make is adding a drip to a room-temperature cake.
- Chill Your Cake: Once you have frosted your cake, place it in the fridge for at least 20–30 minutes.
- Why is this important? You want the surface of the cake to be cold to the touch. When the warm drip hits the cold buttercream, it "shocks" the chocolate, cooling it down instantly. This stops the drip from running all the way down to the cake board and gives you control over that perfect drip length.
How to make white chocolate drip
You can make a simple white chocolate drip by making white chocolate ganache - you only need two ingredients: A ratio of 3:1 white chocolate and double cream.
- Gently heat your cream
- Add in your white chocolate callets, chips or chunks.
- Continue to heat and stir together until the chocolate is fully melted.
And there you have it! The perfect ganache.
Generally, white chocolate has a slightly creamy tone. If you want to create a really bright white chocolate drip cake, check out the fantastic Oil-Based Chocolate Whitener from Ingenious Edibles.
How to make a classic milk or dark chocolate drip
If you are a chocolate lover, you can’t beat a classic chocolate ganache drip. For milk or dark chocolate, the ratio is different from white chocolate. You need a 1:1 ratio (equal parts chocolate and double cream).
- Weigh your chocolate and cream into two separate bowls.
- Heat the cream until it just starts to bubble, then pour it over your chocolate.
- Let it sit for a minute, then stir gently from the centre outwards until smooth and glossy.
Top Tip: If you want a Milk Chocolate drip but it looks too pale, add a small spoonful of dark chocolate to the mix to deepen the colour!
How to make drip icing without cream
If you do not want to use cream, you can make drip icing using water ganache. Try a ratio of 6 parts chocolate to 1 part water for a drip that will set nice and firm.
Work the same way you would using cream.
- Heat the water in a pan (to a low boil) and then mix in your chocolate.
- Stir it together until it has melted and combined, then allow the chocolate ganache to cool before creating your drip design.
How to make drip icing without chocolate
You can make a fantastic drip cake using candy melts instead of chocolate. These are the perfect alternative - they are designed to melt beautifully, come in a wide range of colours and are easy to work with.
We have a wide range of Candy Melts, Candy Buttons and Deco Melts from some of our favourite brands, just waiting for you to explore.
Ready-Made Cake Drip
When it comes to creating a drip cake, one of the easiest ways to achieve this style is using a bottle of ready-made Cake Drip/Icing Drip or Chocolate Drip!
We stock fantastic squeeze bottles from Colour Mill, FunCakes and PME, in a range of colours.
- Simply microwave the bottle for a short burst (follow the instructions from each brand)
- Shake well, and you're good to go!
The squeeze bottle is perfect for creating those sleek drip designs - it's so quick and easy to use. A great time saver if you're in a rush or looking to practice!
3 Golden Rules for the Perfect Drip
Having the right recipe is only half the battle! To stop your drip from running all the way to the cake board, follow these three rules:
1. Chill your cake
Before applying your drip, your buttercream-covered cake must be cold. Place your cake in the fridge for 20–30 minutes. When the warm chocolate hits the cold cake, it slows down and sets in that perfect droplet shape.
2. Temperature is key
If your ganache is too hot, it will melt your buttercream and run right off. If it is too cold, it will look chunky and won't drip at all.
- The Test: Aim for body temperature (approx 30°C). Touch a drop to your lip; it should feel tepid, not hot.
3. The "Test Drip"
Never go straight for the front of the cake! Always do a single "test drip" on the back of your cake.
- Too runny? Let the ganache cool for another 5–10 minutes.
- Too thick? Microwave it for 5 seconds and stir.
- Just right? Go for it!
Drip Cake Ideas!
When designing your drip cake, there are lots of directions you can go in. Like the cute strawberry cake in the introduction to this post, you can use individual sprinkles and fondant shapes to create a specific design. Or the drip by itself can be enough to make a statement! But if you're looking for some more ideas, here are our current favourites...
Monochrome Drip Cake
For an elegant drip cake, why not go for a monochromatic theme! Using just one colour for your cake, cake board, and drip can really let the design do the talking.
We absolutely love this all white version by the talented Alice at @edesia_bakery! Alice focused on narrow, fairly short drips, on one side of each cake tier only, for a subtle drip cake. This gave a simple, neat effect, which worked so nicely with the other decorative elements like the gold palm spear!
This drip cake idea would be ideal for an engagement bake or even a wedding cake!
Two-Tone Drip Cake
Have some fun by doubling the colours of your cake drip! The beautiful cake in the middle, by our friend Judit @yoras.cakes is a perfect example.
Judit went for a pastel colour palette, choosing a soft pale blue and neutral beige shade for her drip cake, set against a pretty lilac backdrop! Simply work in sections, using your piping bag or squeeze bottle. Do a section of one colour, followed by a section of another, and repeat until the whole cake is done.
A two-tone drip cake is a great opportunity to play with colour and get creative with your favourite shades. What colour pairing will you choose?
Buttercream Topped Drip Cake
Take your drip cake to the next level with matching buttercream swirls on top! Another masterpiece by the amazing @yoras.cakes, this pretty pink, purple and blue design is one of our favourites.
Here, Judit drizzled a purple drip over a pink and blue layered background. She then made an ombre buttercream and created multiple swirls on the top of the cake. Finished off with a sprinkling of gold pearls, this is a beautifully colour-coordinated cake!
We are obsessed with this design for a birthday cake for something like a 21st or a 30th! It's so much fun and makes a gorgeous centrepiece.
Ready to start dripping?
Now that you know the techniques, make sure you have the right tools for the job! Whether you are looking for the finest Belgian chocolate callets for your ganache, vibrant Candy Melts, or the convenience of our Ready-Made Drips from top brands like Colour Mill and FunCakes, we have everything you need to create a show-stopping centrepiece.
Don't forget to grab a squeeze bottle for precision and a turntable to make the process effortless.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our guide! Don’t forget to follow along online for more baking ideas... (continue with your existing social media links)
We hope you've enjoyed our guide to making a drip cake! Don’t forget to follow along online for more baking ideas: we’re on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.
And if you create a drip cake of your own, tag us @the_cake_decorating_co so we can see your handiwork!
Looking for more inspiration for your upcoming bakes?
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