Your Freezer Is The Key To A Clean-Looking Drip Cake

If you're looking to impress your party guests with an expertly designed cake without paying professional bakery prices, a homemade drip cake is worth your time. A drip cake is a layer cake decorated with icing or ganache that appears as though it's dripping down the sides of a cake. It looks as impressive as some other viral cake trends without the need for special talents or fancy baking tools. To make a clean-looking drip cake, the one tool you need is already in your kitchen: the freezer. 

It's a well-known baker's trick to put cakes in the freezer to firm up before decorating, but freezing them after frosting also has advantages, especially for drip cakes. Before a drip cake is graced with the signature drips, it is first frosted in buttercream to achieve a smooth texture around the base. Then, the cake must be completely chilled before adding any other decorations or drips. While you could chill your cake in the refrigerator, the freezer cuts down on the waiting time. The freezer also ensures the frosting is not only cold but hard when touched, ensuring the drips won't melt the frosting or run down the cake into a sloppy mess. 

While the initial freeze is key before adding drips, the second freeze keeps your drip cake looking gorgeous. After your buttercream frosted cake is nice and firm, it can be removed from the freezer to receive its decorative drips. Once you decide on your color, the icing or ganache can be dripped with a piping bag or a spoon to create an eye-catching design. After the drips are added, you'll want to place the entire cake back into the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes until the drips have completely set.

If you plan to add more decorations, like piped roses or edible toppers, wait until the second freeze is complete. The piped frosting will adhere to the cake, even if frozen, and the final cake will look picture-perfect. On the off-chance that the drips didn't set the way you like and you'd like to redo them, it's easier to scrape them off a frozen cake. You can use an offset spatula to remove the drips without damaging the frosting underneath. If you are going to re-pipe your drips, follow the two-step freeze each time.