Description
This Dreadful Drip Cake is a visually striking dessert featuring a large black-covered Victoria sponge topped with a smaller matching cake and a vibrant green white chocolate drip icing. Perfect for Halloween or themed parties, this cake combines rich buttercream and smooth ready-to-roll icing with a glossy, colored chocolate ganache drip for a spooky yet delicious centerpiece.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cake
- 2 Tesco Finest Victoria sponges
- 150g unsalted butter
- 300g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 2 x 250g packs ready-to-roll black icing
For the Drip Icing
- 300g white chocolate, finely chopped
- 150ml double cream
- 1 x 10g tube green gel food colour
Instructions
- Prepare the base sponge: Place one Victoria sponge cake on a 22cm cake board. Cover the board with icing as preferred for a neat presentation.
- Resize the second sponge: Cut the second sponge into a circle 10cm in diameter and set aside for later use as the top layer.
- Make the buttercream: In a bowl, gradually beat the unsalted butter with the icing sugar until a smooth, combined buttercream forms.
- Buttercream application: Spread the buttercream evenly over the top and sides of both sponges, keeping them separate. Use a palette knife to smooth the surfaces.
- Cover the large cake with black icing: Roll out a 17cm circle of black icing on nonstick baking paper (using about 120g of icing). Very lightly brush the icing with cold water, place it wet side down on the large cake, and trim the excess, reserving the trimmings.
- Cover the sides of the large cake: Measure the height and circumference of the cake. Roll out a rectangle of black icing to this size, lightly brush with water, and stick it around the cake. Smooth gently with a plastic cake smoother or your hands.
- Cover the smaller cake: Use remaining black icing to cover the smaller 10cm sponge with a 10cm circle for the top, applying it similarly with light water brushing to adhere.
- Prepare the drip icing: Place the finely chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the double cream in a pan over medium heat until small bubbles appear around the edge, then pour over the chocolate. Stir until smooth and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Add color to the drip: Stir in the green gel food colour thoroughly until the mixture is smooth and vibrantly green. Allow the ganache to cool to just below room temperature to achieve the correct dripping consistency.
- Apply the drip icing: Pour or pipe the green icing carefully onto both cakes, allowing it to drip down the sides artistically.
- Assemble the cake: Let the drip set slightly, then place the smaller decorated sponge on top of the larger one. Secure with a skewer if necessary to stabilize the layers.
Notes
- Ensure the drip icing is not too hot when pouring to prevent melting the buttercream or icing.
- Brushing icing with water helps it stick smoothly without melting.
- Use a skewer carefully to prevent collapse but insert gently to avoid cracking icing.
- Chill the cake briefly if the buttercream feels too soft before applying the drip to maintain structure.
- The cake board can be covered with spare icing trimmings or decorative paper to enhance presentation.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/16 of the cake
- Calories: 595 kcal
- Sugar: 71 g
- Sodium: 0.3 g
- Fat: 28 g
- Saturated Fat: 17 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 83 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Cholesterol: 60 mg
