Candyland Drip Cake

The Art.

    This is my first foray into drip cakes, and I'm kicking myself that it took me so long! I was intimidated by all the beautiful cakes I had seen with bright icing dripping down in perfect little streams, and I imagined that my attempt would either be a runny mess or a clumpy defeat. However, I am happy to report I got it on the first try! You can, too, with the right chocolate and a few easy tricks. My favorite part about drip cakes is that they are usually piled high with other treats, such as these airy Swiss Meringues and Raspberry Macarons. The recipes for these are coming soon as well, so stay tuned!

The Science.

    I did quite a bit of research on the best way to make chocolate ganache before I began, but I was frustrated that everyone had wildly different recipes. In the end I concluded that it comes down to the type of chocolate that you use, and whether you want a more matte ganache like this one, or a shiny one. I used Ghirardelli white chocolate melting wafers for this cake because they taste absolutely amazing and I wanted something that was easy to melt and work with. However, you can use a wide variety of chocolates or melting wafers for your cake. The trick is determining the ratio of chocolate to cream that is best for your particular chocolate. For my Ghirardelli wafers, it was about 3 volumes of chocolate wafers to 1 volume of cream. For harder bar chocolate, like dark chocolate, it will be closer to equal amounts. Unfortunately I can't give a hard and fast rule for this, you will have to take some time to melt your favorite chocolate and play with the ratios until you get it right. This is why you always buy extra chocolate and cream-- in addition to the fact that chocolate does tend to mysteriously disappear when I'm in the room!

The Recipe.

Cake:

   For this cake, I made a 4-layer spice cake using 6x3inch round tins. The recipe for spice cake can be found here. I then leveled the layers flat with a knife and assembled and iced the cake with a batch of buttercream icing. Place the cake in the freezer for at least an hour before you add your drip ganache, so it doesn't stream down the cake too quickly.

Drip Ganache:

6oz. Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melting Wafers

2oz. Heavy Cream

    Combine chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between, until just melted. It is important to wait for the ganache to cool slightly before you spoon it onto the cake. It has reached the right temperature when it drips slowly off of your spoon, like thick honey.

    To begin decorating your drip cake, use a teaspoon to pick up some ganache, and slowly pour it onto the cake, about 1/4 inch away from the edge. Stop pouring slightly before the drip reaches the length you want it to be, as it will continue to drip down. Continue to do this at regular intervals around the cake, varying the length of the drips. Finally, use the remaining ganache to flood the top of

 the cake, but be careful not to spill it over the edges.

    To decorate this cake, I used a variety of shapes, textures, and sizes to make a visually interesting pile of sweets. It's very in vogue to place macarons on top of cakes right now, and if you don't have time to make your own you can buy them in most every color to match your desired color scheme. I liked adding the Swiss meringues piped with a French tip because the star shapes provide contrast against the round cookies and candies. It's also always a good idea to have smaller candies that you can use to fill in gaps once you get the big cookies on there. The best part is when you serve the cake and each piece gets an extra treat!