Welcome to Part III of the Ultimate Beginners Guide to Cake Decorating. In Part I, we made a buttercream scallop cake that was super easy but classic. Part II we made a cake covered with chocolate shard and topped with buttercream rosettes, another classic So.. this week we are taking it up a notch with a black and gold drip cake decorated with a chocolate sail. While I am not a person for trends, I simply can’t resist this one because they are just so beautiful. I am in love with drip cakes especially black and gold. Aren’t you? Making a drip cake is not hard, but there are a few things you need to know first to get a good drip. I want to say that even if you end up with a runny drip, it’s ok.

Now, I know this is a beginner guide for cake decorating and you are probably yelling at me wondering how do I make black frosting. No need to yell I have got you covered. I created a tutorial on how to make black buttercream frosting. It is not difficult all you just need a little bit of patience. To make this exact cake you will need some black buttercream.

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How to Make Black and Gold Drip Cake

Now that we have all the formalities out of the way, how do we make this drip cake? Here are three tips to help you before you go full steam ahead.

Tip #1: To make drip cake, make sure you use the right ratio for your ganache. The ratio for white chocolate is different from milk or dark chocolate. You can add a drip to a buttercream cake, ganached cake, or a fondant cake.

Tip #2: Make sure the ganache has cooled down and thickened up a bit. The ganache should not be too thick that you can’t pipe or too runny that it runs all over the place. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes before using it.

This brings us to tip #3: The secret is to a drip cake is to make sure your cake is smooth and cold. Apply the drip as soon as the cake comes out of the refrigerator.

Are good so far? Great…

Materials you will need

• Cake covered in buttercream, ganache, or fondant
• Gold luster dust
• Everclear Vodka, lemon extract or vanilla extract
• White chocolate or candy melt
• Heavy Cream
• Paintbrush
• Sprinkles (optional)

How to Make the Drip?

To make a drip cake using white chocolate or candy melts I like to use a 3:1 ratio. That is 3 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream. White chocolate is finicky and can be a bit sticky once the drip is applied. If you don’t like this make it 4:1 ratio or reduce the heavy cream. For this cake, I used white chocolate chips (which takes a bit to melt). I used 6 ounces of white chocolate with 2 ounces of heavy cream (1/4 cup).

The ratio for dark chocolate is 2:1 ratio, which is two parts of chocolate and one part heavy cream.

Steps for making the ganache

• Heat the heavy cream on the stovetop or in the microwave make sure it is not too hot or you will scorch the ganache. Then pour over the white chocolate or candy melts. Make sure it covers all the chocolate chips.
• Mix until all the chocolate is melted. If you become a bit impatient, just strain out the smaller pieces and let the ganache sit to cool.

Adding the Drip to the Cake

There are a few methods for adding the drip to the cake, one is with a spoon and the other piping bag or with a squeeze bottle. I prefer to use a spoon to test the drip and then use a piping bag or squeeze bottle for better control.

• Test the drip at first to see if the drip is thick enough and if the cake is cold enough. If the drip is too runny let it sit for a few more minutes and put the cake back into the refrigerator.
• Use the piping bag or squeeze bottle to add the drip all around.
• Make the drips long and short to your liking. It does not have to be perfect.
• Then add the ganache to the top of the cake and use a small spatula to carefully push it to the edge.
• Place the cake into the refrigerator to harden up so that you can paint.

Painting the Drip Cake

• Unfortunately, I lost the pictures showing the paint section. So here goes. Mix the luster dust with vodka, lemon extract, or vanilla (if you can spare some cause it is so expensive). Make sure the mixture is a thick paint and paint each drip and the top.
• Decorate with a chocolate sail (see tutorial below) and sprinkles. Because I couldn’t leave well enough alone I added some black buttercream to the top with some more sprinkles.

How to make the chocolate sail

To make a chocolate sail you need only two things black candy melts and parchment paper.

• Melt candy melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals.
• Cut a piece of parchment paper and crumble up for texture. Then add the melted candy to the parchment paper.
• Spread the candy melt with a small spatula spread the candy melt. Pick up the parchment paper and shake it a bit to smooth out.
• Place in a bowl for shape and place in the refrigerator to firm up quickly.
• Paint with the same gold paint, then attach to the cake using candy melts.

That’s everything you need to make a black and gold drip cake with a chocolate sail.