Tips For A Flawless Drip Icing Effect On Your Cake

America is a country of trends. It seems people are constantly seeking out the next new thing, whether it's in the form of food, fashion, technology, or decorating. Effectiviology proposes that humans ultimately follow trends in order to have other people's approval or to feel included. But some trends are just plain fun, and who doesn't like that? Take cakes, for instance. There seems to be a new decorating trend every year that takes over social media overnight. Some of these styles have included ombre cakes, naked cakes, mirror glaze cakes, cupcakes, and — currently — drip cakes.

A drip cake is one that includes a thin icing or ganache literally dripping down the edges of a cake, reminiscent of a dripping wax candle. Blog Wedding Forward suggests that the trend was introduced by Katherine Sabbath, a cake designer from Australia. A drip edge adds a fun layer of decorating and gives a subtle air of whimsy. Appropriate for everything from birthdays to weddings, home bakers are also taking notice and trying their hands at it at home. And it is such a simple technique to achieve that amateurs can achieve the same results as professional bakers or perfect Instagram posts.

To make a drip cake you first need a baked cake. It can be short or tall but it should already be iced in buttercream. Betty Crocker suggests that you chill your iced cake in the refrigerator prior to adding the drip decoration. The baking giant says that a drip edge can be achieved in one of two ways — by using a spoon or a squirt bottle. To use a spoon, simply take a spoonful of chocolate or white chocolate ganache and gently pour a bit of it down the edge of your cake to create a drip. Continue the method until the entire edge is dripping. Once finished, simply pour the rest of the ganache into the middle of the top of the cake and spread until the top is smooth.

To use a squirt bottle, fill the bottle with ganache and work your way around the edge of the cake creating drips as desired. Fill in the top in the same way as the spoon method. Southern Living suggests you can pour ganache directly over the top of the cake and use a spoon to smooth and push the ganache toward the edges so that it drips off the sides of the cake. Baking blog Chelsweets says that white chocolate ganache can be colored any color of the rainbow to create any look you desire. The cake can then be detailed with whatever other decorations you have.