Sweet Drip Cake

Sweet Drip Cake

I'd like to begin by saying that I made this with absolute pleasure for Bridget's fourth birthday cake. It was by no means perfect in terms of appearance compared to some of the Insta-delicious and Pinterest-perfect creations I sought inspiration from (Ange des Sucres, Rosie's Dessert Spot, The Kitchnn I'm looking at you!) . Having said that, it tasted fantastic, was enjoyable to make and my two little girls were delighted with it. 

The drip icing was quite difficult to master, and master I didn't, my 'drips' were rather large compared to the desired result, but again, I was pretty chuffed with the end result.

I made a very simple all-in-one Victoria Sandwich cake filled with raspberry jam and then iced it with a simple buttercream. 

For the drip effect having referred to various sites and resources online, I chose a white chocolate ganache with a little food colouring to give the peachy colour required. Making it into gloriously unctuous and glossy icing was actually quite easy, but I think a few more attempts before I get the neat and tidy drips.  

The fun thing with these cakes is you can top them with all of your favourite sweet things, I used an array of jelly sweets, some Party Ring biscuits, pink macarons, pink wafer biscuits, marshmallows and a couple of lollipops but the choice is endless.

Here's how:

The sponges: 

• 225g butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 225g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs

The filling

• 3 tbsp raspberry jam

The buttercream:

• 300g salted butter
• 500g icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Tiny drop of peach food colouring

The ganache drip icing:

• 160g white chocolate
• 140ml double cream
• 3-4 drops of peach food colouring

The sweet toppings:

You can use a combination of any of your favourite sweet things, I used:

• Rose macarons
• Pink wafer biscuits
• Party Ring mini biscuits
• Jelly sweet assortment
• Marshmallows
• Lollipops

Firstly pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees and then grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins with parchment paper. 

As this is an all in one cake add all of the ingredients to a large bowl or mixer (sift the flour) and mix well until completely blended. Pour half of the mixture into each of the sandwich tins and then level out as best you can so they are fairly even. Pop into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, or until they have risen and bounce back if pressed lightly with a finger. You can use a skewer to check if they are baked through, if you spear the cake and it comes out dry you know they are ready.

It's important that you completely cool the sponges before icing so be sure to turn out onto a wire rack or if you haven't got one a flat chopping board will suffice just as well. Set aside and cool for at least an hour.

I like to prepare my cake on a cake stand, but if you have a cake turner this will be great here, or a simple plate or board is also fine. 

Spread the jam generously onto the top of one of the sponges - don't scrimp here, this is an indulgent cake.

Now carefully and as evenly as you can muster, place the second sponge on top of the first sponge.

Firstly make the ganache icing so it has a little time to cool. Break up the white chocolate and place into a heavy-bottomed pan with the cream and place on a low heat. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until fully melted and glossy. Do not allow to boil. Once you're happy with the consistency, remove from the heat and add the food colouring of your choice and stir through to ensure you're happy with the colour of the icing. Set aside for a while so you can make the buttercream and cover the cake.

To make the buttercream combine all of the ingredients and mix well until thoroughly blended and smooth - you don't want to see lumps here. 

Now you want to cover the cake and then use a pallette knife to smooth the icing around the cake. You want as smooth a finish as possible here as it fits the style, and particularly the top does need to be as flat as possible. Once you are happy set aside for the moment.

Sweet Drip Cake before the ganache

Once the white chocolate ganache is cool to touch, you can begin the icing work here, give a good stir and you're ready to begin.

Firstly spoon on some icing at the edge of the cake, a good tablespoon, then gently push a little over the edge to create your first drip. Repeat this process all around the cake until you have lots of drips and then spoon over the ganache on the top of the cake and ensure it is covered on the top.

Now decorate with your choice of sweet things in any design you fancy. This is the time for fun and indulgence so don't hold back. I added a gold 4 candle to mine, and you could do the same with the appropriate age or even add a sparkler or any other kind of decoration to add to the fun of this sweet drip cake. Enjoy!