Sweets! We are BEYOND excited to be sharing today’s post with you. We have one of our favorite cake decorators of all time here showing you how to make a chocolate drip cake with candy melts! Without further adieu, let’s get started!
Hi everyone! Niki here from Cake by Niki. I am so excited to be a guest on Sweets and Treats’ page today. I’ve been baking for about two years and run a little custom cake business from my home.
Today I want to show you a step-by-step picture guide on how to complete a sprinkle drip cake! It’s the perfect way to take your drip cakes to the next level. Here we go!
What To Use For Sprinkle Chocolate Drip Cake
To complete this look, you’ll need just a few things to get started.
- a pack of your favorite sprinkles from Sweets and Treats
- 1 cup of candy melts
- 3-4 TBS heavy cream
- tweezers
- a squeeze bottle for melted chocolate
- frosted baked cake
I used candy melts for this cake which come in so many colors. Add a little gel food coloring to white candy melts (or white chocolate) if you are looking for a specific shade for your cake or colored candy melts if you have time.
Dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate ganache also results in an excellent, smooth drip. Play around with the type of drip that you like the most. Candy melts are always super easy to find at local party shops.
How To Make A Drip Cake With Candy Melts
Start by pouring the heaving cream over the candy melts and microwaving at 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval. If you still have some clumps in your chocolate and are worried about burning it, run it through a fine mesh sieve. Let the chocolate sit for about 15-30 minutes at room temperature. You want your chocolate to be warm, NOT hot.
Pour chocolate into a squeeze bottle and secure the lid. Temperature is very important when it comes to achieving a good drip, so make sure you are working with a completely chilled cold cake straight from the fridge. You want your drip to slow as it drips down the side so it doesn’t touch the bottom.
Long or Short Drips? Your Pressure Decides!
Hold your bottle over your cake at an angle and apply pressure so the melted chocolate pours over the side. The more pressure you apply, the longer the drip on the side of your cake will be. I try to mix a variety of different lengths of drips on my cakes.
Release some pressure and move your bottle along the top of the cake. Apply pressure again to release the chocolate down the side when you’re ready for another drip. Repeat this completely around the top of the cake.
When you’ve completely covered the sides of your chocolate drip cake to your satisfaction, it’s now time to cover the top!
Remove the lid of your squeeze bottle and pour enough chocolate on the top of the cake to fill it in. Use an offset spatula to spread evenly enough to blend into the edge where the drips started.
Using a clean, damp finger, lightly press into a bowl of sprinkles and carefully add them to the drip. If your drip is too runny, move your cake to the fridge for about 3-5 minutes to help set the drip before adding your sprinkles.
If you don’t want to use your fingers, you can also use tweezers to apply the sprinkles especially to the larger sizes that won’t easily stick to your damp fingers.
Now, add a cute vanilla or chocolate buttercream border on top with more sprinkles and you have an adorable holiday cake ready to go! Mix and match with different frosting and candy melt colors for a truly unique look.
I hope this helps you guys complete your own sprinkle drip! Follow me at @cakebyniki for lots of fun cakes and other decorating ideas!
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Follow along with our friend, Niki on her Instagram page for all of her gorgeous creations. Stay tuned for more decorating methods coming up soon!
Other Drip Cake Ideas
There are so many different tweaks you can do to this cake decorating method. Single color drip with watercolor frosting or confetti frosting would be so fun! A really modern spin would be a marble drip on a solid buttercream or fondant covering. Here are some more drip cake ideas.
Instead of pouring multiple color candy melts into a squeeze bottle, you can easily swirl the candy melts in a bowl and spoon on top of the frosted cake for a fun multi color drip. Not sure how many sprinkles you need? Check out our comprehensive overview for different amounts of coverage!
This design technique is so versatile for holidays, birthday parties, and every celebration in between. What a fun birthday cake this would make! Not in the chocolate mood? Check out our metallic drip cake tutorial using our luster dust!
Whatever combination you decide, we can’t wait to see the end result! Feel free to tag us! #sweetssquad
Love this chocolate drip cake tutorial? Check out our other sweets inspiration!
- Homemade Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Two Tone Swirl Frosting
- Easy Homemade Funfetti Frosting Recipe
- Tree Stump Tutorial
- Fault Line Tutorial
2 comments
Thank you, I never thought I could use heavy cream with candy melt, I bought the wilton ezymelt which I add to the melted candy, but will definitely try with the heavy cream
You can do drips easily without candy melts using our new Luxe Dust as well! No more microwaving!