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    Chocolate & Strawberry Drip Cake

    Published: Jul 23, 2016 · Modified: Sep 30, 2020 by Jacqueline Bellefontaine ·

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    Made with a triple layer vanilla sponge cake, coated in vanilla frosting & decorated with chocolate ganache, chocolate dipped strawberries, dehydrated strawberries, and chocolate shards, this drip cake, being my first attempt, may not be as sexy as many others but it certainly tasted amazing.
    How to make a Chocolate and Strawberry Drip Cake

    Drip cakes.  They're tall.  They're elegant.  They're eye catching.  They're show-stoppers.  They're down-right sexy!

    In fact they're all the rage on Instagram and Pinterest right now.   There's pink ones, blue ones, cream ones, chocolate ones.  Some are topped with macarons, chocolate and candy.  Whilst others use seasonal fruits and flowers.  There are those styled with 'dropped' ice cream cones and even those which combine an illusion cake with the decoration of a drip cake.  There really is no limit to the style and flavours which can be brought to a drip cake.  And as such they make the perfect bake for any number of occasions; birthdays,
    anniversaries, weddings or simply 'just because'.   In fact check out my 'Impressive Cakes' Pinterest board for drip cake ideas and inspiration.

    Recipe for Chocolate & Strawberry Drip Cake

    I've been wanting an excuse to attempt a drip cake for ages now, and although I tend to only bake cakes for special occasions the perfect excuse arrived when Alor, the star of the YouTube channel The PinProject, contacted me asking if I'd like to collaborate with her on a bake.  In fact it was her video showcasing how to assemble an illusion cake (also referred to as anti-gravity cake) which provided the "Ah!" moment when I was preparing to make my jellybean illusion cake.

    Of course I accepted Alor's invitation to collaborate on a
    bake, after all being a fan of home baking I need very little excuse!
    After a few e-mails back and forth Alor and I were in agreement that a
    chocolate & strawberry drip cake would be the perfect bake.  Not
    only does everybody love chocolate, but strawberries are abundant in the
    shops now that summer has arrived, and of course drip cakes
    are so of the moment.

    Chocolate and strawberry Drip Cake

    Now, at the top of my post I said that drip cakes are down-right sexy.  And in most instances they are, there's no getting away from that.  But my drip cake, being the first I've attempted, is less beautiful, lacy, seductive, lingerie but more akin to Bridget Jones' belly warmers 😉    OK , you're not going to see this particular cake in a glossy magazine, but in just the first attempt at making this cake I've learnt a lot (more of that shortly).  I'm sure this homemade cake would still be warmly accepted as a birthday treat, and despite it's visual flaws it tasted absolutely delicious.  Mr E, whose sweet tooth is very restrained, even went back for a second slice and our elderly neighbour, who we often share baked goods with, went out of her way to pass comment on how much she enjoyed the cake.

    The cake itself is constructed from 3 layers of vanilla sponge. These were sandwiched together with strawberry jam and a buttercream frosting.  The cake was then covered with a subtle pink frosting.  A chocolate ganache 'drip' was then applied to the cake before the decoration was completed with dehydrated strawberries, chocolate coated strawberries and chocolate shards.

    Chocolate & Strawberry Drip decoration over a triple layer Vanilla Victoria Sponge cake

    So, as I've already eluded to, there are clear visual flaws with my first attempt at this Chocolate and Strawberry Drip Cake. As you can see the chocolate ganache has drizzled too far down the side of the cake.  Although my reading preparation had said to chill the cake prior to applying the drip effect, I clearly hadn't chilled it sufficiently.  So based on my experience of making this Chocolate & Strawberry Drip Cake, here are my three top tips for decorating a drip cake:

    • Chill, chill, chill the cake.  This step speeds up the setting of the ganache as it trickles down the side of the cake and also prevents the buttercream frosting from melting when the ganache is applied.  Although I chilled our cake in the fridge for 30 minutes before applying the ganache, this clearly wasn't sufficient - or our fridge wasn't cold enough.  So if you're not sure if your cake is cold enough er on the side of caution and chill it a little longer.  Or even pop it into the freezer for a few minutes.
    • Ensure your chocolate ganache isn't overly warm before applying the drip effect.  I had allowed our ganache about 20 minutes to cool before I attempted this step.  Although it had cooled down there was still a little residual heat in the mixture.  So my second tip when decorating a drip cake would be to ensure the ganache is lukewarm (blood warm) - so when you touch it it neither feels warm nor cold.  This again will help slow down the ganache as it trickles down the cake.  That said though, avoid letting the ganache cool down and firm up too much before applying the drip effect to the cake as it will clearly be reluctant to form any drip effect at all.
    • Thirdly, once the drip effect has been applied, allow the the chocolate ganache to firm up a little before arranging your cake topper decorations. I didn't allow any time between applying the chocolate ganache frosting to the upper surface of the cake and arranging the strawberries on top.  This is possibly the biggest mistake I made as the the weight of the strawberries pushed a large amount of ganache down the side of the cake, overriding any nice 'drips' I may have created.  So, be patient and allow things to firm up a little before completing the decoration.

    So, if you too have never made a drip cake before, or simply fancy watching a cake demo, have a read of my recipe below and then pop over to The PinProject on YouTube and watch Alor demonstrate how to make a drip cake.

    So, let's get to it and bake!

    Chocolate & Strawberry Drip Cake   

    How to make a Chocolate & Strawberry Drip Cake

    Yield: 1 x 7" 3 layers cake
    Serves: 12
    Difficulty: Moderate
    Time: hands on time around 1 hr 10 minutes; plus 20-25 minutes bake time; cooling time.
    Freezable: Yes, undecorated

    You will need:

    3 x 7" Sandwich Cake Tins (or similar, see note a below)
    Greaseproof  Paper
    Baking Tray
    Mixing Bowls (large & medium)
    Electric Hand Held Beater
    Wooden Spoon
    Sieve
    Spatula or large Metal Spoon
    Cooling Tray
    Bowl & Pan suitable for building a bain marie for melting chocolate
    Cake Stand or Plate
    Pallet Knife
    Small Pan
    Chocolate Thermometer (not essential but ideal)

    For the Vanilla Sponges

    270g Unsalted Butter, softened (plus a little extra for preparing the tins)
    270g Caster Sugar
    1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    Pinch of Table Salt
    5  medium Eggs, beaten
    270g SR Flour (or Plain Flour with 1 heaped teaspoon Baking Powder) (Plus a little extra flour for preparing the tins)
    1 - 2 tablespoon Milk

    For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

    150g Unsalted Butter, softened
    300g Icing Sugar
    1 capful Vanilla Extract
    1 tablespoon Milk
    Pink Food Paste Colourant (we used Sugar Flair Colours Spectral Paste in the colour 'Pink', which is vegetarian)

    For the Dehydrated Strawberries

    200g Fresh Strawberries (or buy them ready dehydrated)

    For the Chocolate Dipped Strawberries & Chocolate Shard Decorations

    400g Fresh Strawberries
    200g Milk or Plain Chocolate (I used milk chocolate)
    Sprinkles

    For the Chocolate Ganache

    100ml Double Cream
    100g Milk or Plain Chocolate (I used milk chocolate)

    For Sandwiching the Cakes

    1.5 tablespoon Strawberry Jam

    How to make it:

    1.  Dehydrate the strawberries a day or two before you need the cake (or use ready prepared shop bought ones).  Preheat the oven to the coolest setting.  Base line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.  Wash and hull the strawberries.  Use a paring knife or similar to slice the strawberries fairly thinly (about 3mm)  Aim to slice them all a similar thickness so that they dehydrate at the same rate.   Discard (or eat) the first and last slices of the strawberry (ie/  the outer pieces as these don't seem to dehydrate as effectively.)  Arrange the slices of strawberries onto the baking tray and place in the oven.  Allow them to dehydrate for about 8 hours.  Once they are ready they will be dry and crisp.  Remove from the oven.  Once cooled place in an airtight container.   Alternatively, use a dehydrator rather than an oven if you have one available, and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

    2.  Pre-heat the oven to 180c / Fan 160c / Gas 4.

    3.  Prepare the sandwich tins.
    Grease the base and side of the sandwich tins.  Base line the tins with greaseproof paper.  Standing by the sink and holding a cake tin on its side place a teaspoon of
    flour into the tin.  Rotate the tin so that all of the
    greased sides are covered in flour.  Knock out the excess flour.  Repeat with the other cake tins.

    4.  Make the vanilla sponge.  Place
    the softened butter and sugar into a good sized bowl.  Beat together
    with a wooden spoon or electric beaters until very pale and fluffy.
    Add the vanilla extract and pinch of salt.  Beat again to combine.  Add the beaten eggs a little at a time, beating well after each
    addition.  Add 1 tablespoon milk and beat again.  Sieve the flour (and baking powder if using plain flour) into the
    mixture.  Using a spatula or large metal spoon fold this in gently.  The batter should have a dropping consistency (see note b below), if it is still a little thick add a little more milk and mix to combine.

    5.  Fill the sandwich tins.
    Divide the mixture between the prepared sandwich tins.  Use the back of a
    spoon or spatula to level out the mixture.  You're
    aiming for the tins to be half to two - thirds full.  Avoid over filling them.  If the tin seems a little too full remove a little of the batter with a spoon.  Make a small hollow in the
    centre of the batter to encourage the cake to bake level rather than
    domed.  See note c below.

    6.  Bake.  Place the tins in the
    centre of the oven and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes.  You may need to
    rotate the tins after 15 minutes of baking.  The cake is
    ready when an inserted skewer comes out clean.  The cake will also pull
    away slightly from the side of the tin.  Once baked, remove from the
    oven and place on a cooling tray.  After 5 minutes carefully remove the
    cakes from their tins and allow to fully cool on the cooling tray.

    7.  Meanwhile make the buttercream frosting.
    Place the butter into a mixing bowl.  Use a wooden spoon to beat until soft.  Add the vanilla extract and beat again to combine.  Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and mix together.  Add the remaining icing sugar and mix well.   Add a little milk and beat to slacken the mixture.

    8.  Prepare to assemble the cake.
    Place the strawberry jam into a pudding bowl.  Stir to loosen.
    Remove any large chunks of strawberry.  Add a couple of drips of water and stir again.   If  your cakes have domed during the bake use a serated knife to level the top of the cake.

    9  Start the assemble.  See note d below.  Place one of the vanilla sponges on your chosen cake stand or plate.  Spoon half of the
    strawberry jam onto the cake's upper surface.  Spread it out to the edge of the cake.  Select the sponge which will be sat in the middle of the cake.  Spoon a little vanilla frosting to that sponge and spread it out with a pallet knife or the back of a table knife (non serated side).  Carefully turn that cake over and sandwich it against the base sponge (the jam and vanilla frosting will now be in contact with one another.)  Spoon the remaining strawberry jam onto the top of the second sponge.  Spread it out to the edge of the cake.  Spoon some vanilla frosting onto the third sponge and spread it out to the edge of the cake.  Again, carefully turn that sponge over and sandwich it onto of the jam face of the stacked sponges.   Try to ensure that the three stacked
    layers of cake aren't leaning.

    10.  Colour the remaining frosting.  Use a tooth pick or the the end of a spoon to take a little colour paste from the container.  Mix it into the remaining buttercream frosting until you have an even colour.  If the colour is too pale for what you are aiming for add a little more paste, and mix again.  Continue until you have the colour you want.

    11.  Start to apply the frosting.  Use a spoon or pallet knife to apply some coloured frosting to the top of the cake.  Spread it out.  Use a pallet knife to apply some frosting to the sides of the cake.  Ensure that all of the surfaces have a
    nice thin layer of frosting.  Don't be concerned if the frosting contains a few cake crumbs as the next layer of frosting will hide those.  Place the cake into the fridge for half an
    hour to allow the frosting to firm up.

    12.  Finish applying the frosting.  Apply the remaining frosting
    to the top and sides of the cake with a pallet knife.  Take your time to smooth out the frosting as best you can.  Aim
    to get the top and side of the cake as smooth as you can.

    13.  Chill the cake.  Place the cake in the fridge to chill.

    14. Prepare to work with the tempered chocolate.  Clean and hull the strawberries.  Dry them thoroughly.  Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper onto your work surface, tack it down with cellotape if necessary.

    15.  Temper the chocolate. (ideal but not essential - see note e
    below)
    Break the 200g chocolate into pieces.  Place ¾ of it into the bowl of
    a bain marie.  Use a sharp knife to chop the remaining chocolate small.  Ensure the bowl of the bain marie doesn't touch the water in the pan
    beneath.  Place the pan and suspended bowl over
    a medium heat on the hob.  If using milk chocolate, melt it to 32.5c / 90f.  Remove
    the bowl from the ban marie.  Add the remaining broken solid chocolate to the melted
    chocolate and stir together.  This will help to cool the chocolate.
    Allow the milk chocolate to cool to 27-28c / 80-82f.  Place the bowl of
    chocolate back over the pan of warm water and allow it to re-heat to 30c /
    86f.  (The tempering temperatures are slightly different when working with plain chocolate.  These are: melt to 40-45c / 104-113f.  Cool to 27-28c / 80-82f.  Reheat to 31-32c / 89-90f, as advised by a chocolate recipe book called 'Tempt').

    16.  Start to make the chocolate shards.  Spoon half of the melted chocolate onto the greaseproof paper.  Use a pallet knife to spread it out thinly, around 1-2mm thick.  Scatter a few dehydrated strawberry slices and sprinkles over the top.  Allow to set.

    17.  Dip the strawberries.  Dip the pointed end of the prepared strawberries into the remaining melted chocolate.  Set aside on a plate.  Scatter with sprinkles.  Allow the chocolate to set.

    18.  Make the chocolate ganache.  Pour the 100ml cream into a small pan and set over a low heat on the hob.  Whilst the cream is warming break the 100g chocolate into small pieces by chopping it on a board.   Place the chopped chocolate into a bowl.  Once the cream has started to steam, but is not boiling, remove it from the heat and pour it into the bowl over the chocolate.  Use a spoon to stir the mixture until the chocolate has melted and the ganache is smooth and well blended.  Set aside.

    19.  Apply the drip to the chilled cake.  Once the cake is very cool and the ganache is lukewarm (bloodwarm) but still in a thick liquid form, apply the drip decoration.  With  a teaspoon spoon a small amount of ganache to the top of the cake near the edge.  Allow it to trickle down the sides.  Repeat all the way around, applying smaller amounts and slightly larger anounts of the ganache to achieve shorter and longer drips of the chocolate.  Once the drip decoration has been completed spoon the remaining ganache to the top of the cake so that it covers all of the soft pink frosting. Set the cake aside to allow the ganache to firm up.

    20. Break the tempered chocolate.  When the temperate chocolate has completely set on the sheet of greaseproof paper use a sharp knife to cut it into pointy triangles / shards.

    21.  Complete decorating the cake.  Once the chocolate ganache is firm gently position the dehydrated strawberries to the exposed frosting around the base of the cake.  Arrange the chocolate coated strawberries and chocolate shards to the top of cake.  Gently but firmly push the chocolate shards a little way into the top of the cake to secure them.  Any remaining chocolate coated strawberries, shards and dehydrated strawberries can be set aside to serve with the cake.

    Notes:

    a)  If you don't have 3 x 7" sandwich tins for this bake, you could either bake the sponge batter in batches (as I did - I only have 2 of these tins.  The remaining batter awaiting an available cake tin was covered and didn't suffer whilst it waited 25 minutes).  Or perhaps use a deep cake tin and split it in half horizonatally.  This will create two layers.  Though consider that using a deep cake tin will mean that the bake time will increase substantially.
    b)  Dropping consistency - this is when the batter falls slightly reluctantly from a spoon when held vertically.  It shouldn't run off the spoon nor cling to the spoon and take over 5 seconds to drop off.
    c) Avoid overfilling the sandwich cake tins.  You will probably have a
    little sponge batter remaining, consider using it to make a muffin
    sized cupcake and bake it for about 20 minutes.  If you have room in
    your
    oven you could bake it at the same time as the cake layers.
    d)  Avoid using too much jam and frosting between the cake layers as this is likely to result in them slipping.
    e)
    Although I aimed to temper the chocolate I was unsuccessful due to not
    having a thermometer suitable for chocolate work.  Tempering gives the
    chocolate a lovely sheen and snap when broken.
    f)  Remaining dehydrated strawberry pieces could stored in an airtight container to eat as a snack or with a breakfast.

    « Date Slice
    Bilberry & Custard Crumble Tart »

    About Jacqueline Bellefontaine

    Jacqueline is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and has been a cookery writer and food stylist for over 25 years. She has written over 15 cookery books, in addition to writing for several major magazines. She likes to champion good basic home cooking and as the daughter of a master baker, she is passionate about home baking.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Alison

      August 02, 2016 at 8:40 am

      That cake looks completely amazing, well done. I bet it tasted gorgeous

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        August 05, 2016 at 8:50 am

        Thank you Alison, it was absolutely yummy 🙂
        Angela x

        Reply
    2. Silly Mummy

      August 01, 2016 at 12:22 am

      Looks lovely! I've never tried making one, but they always do look so amazing & impressive! #anythinggoes

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        August 01, 2016 at 8:32 am

        Don't they just 🙂
        Thankyou for your lovely comment,
        Angela x

        Reply
    3. Hayley @ Snap Happy Bakes

      July 31, 2016 at 7:46 am

      Oh Wow this looks amazing! Is it OK to want it for breakfast?! Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 31, 2016 at 2:27 pm

        Hahaha, it certainly is OK Hayley, between you and me I may have done something similar myself 😉
        Angela x

        Reply
    4. Mandy

      July 28, 2016 at 5:51 am

      Well it looks pretty amazing to me! I'd be delighted if a cake I made turned out like that. Well done!

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 28, 2016 at 10:08 am

        Thank you Mandy 🙂
        Angela x

        Reply
    5. Louise Fairweather

      July 26, 2016 at 10:26 am

      This looks fantastic - can't go wrong with strawberries and chocolate! #cookblogshare

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 27, 2016 at 8:47 am

        Thank you Louise, strawberries and chocolate are just a winner aren't they? 🙂
        Thanks for popping by and commenting,
        Angela x

        Reply
    6. Eb Gargano

      July 26, 2016 at 10:04 am

      Well I still think this cake looks pretty darn good - much nicer than Bridget Jones' underwear, that's for sure! 😉

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 27, 2016 at 8:46 am

        Hahaha 🙂 Thnakyou Eb x
        Angela x

        Reply
    7. Wendy

      July 25, 2016 at 10:16 pm

      Ohh I love baking. I think this cake looks amazing and I would love to make one myself, looks so yummy xx #anythinggoes

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 27, 2016 at 8:45 am

        Ooh definately give it a go Wendy if you love baking, I'd love to see how you get one if you give it a go 🙂
        Thanks for popping by and commenting,
        Angela x

        Reply
    8. Choclette Blogger

      July 25, 2016 at 8:35 pm

      And thanks for sharing this masterpiece with We Should Cocoa too 🙂

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 27, 2016 at 8:44 am

        You're welcome Choclette, and thankyou for hosting,
        Angela x

        Reply
    9. Choclette Blogger

      July 25, 2016 at 8:34 pm

      Oh my, that looks pretty sexy to my and might delicious too. I don't know what it is about dripping icing, especially chocolate, but it just looks fantastic. Love your shards too.

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 27, 2016 at 8:41 am

        There really is something enticing about chocolate trickling down the sides of a cake, it just makes you want to dive right in 🙂 I'm going to have to get a decent chocolate thermometer than I can the chocolate shards nice and shiny for next time, but thankyou for your lovely comment Choclette,
        Angela x

        Reply
    10. Charlotte Oates

      July 25, 2016 at 2:45 pm

      I keep thinking about attempting a drip cake but I struggle to get my buttercream all neat and tidy, let alone getting the gorgeous ganache drips own the side too. I think yours is great for a first attempt and it sounds as though it will do even better next time 🙂

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 27, 2016 at 8:38 am

        I have to admit I normally struggle to get superneat buttercream too Charlotte, and because I don't often made full cakes I rarely have the chance to allow myself to practice the technique. Somebody must have been smiling down on me when I applied the buttercream this time as it's the neatest it's ever been! I guess it's all down to practice, and that includes applying the ganache drip effect 🙂
        Thanks for popping by Charlotte,
        Angels x

        Reply
    11. Rebecca Beesley

      July 24, 2016 at 8:55 pm

      we've just been strawberry picking today so this would be an amazing thing to make with any surplus strawberries! I think when it comes to baking there is more to learn when things don't go quite as planned so your tips are really really useful to anyone else wanting to try this type of cake. I think it looks fab anyway and far more amazing than anything I could attempt. x

      Reply
      • Angela - Only Crumbs Remain

        July 25, 2016 at 7:44 am

        I completely agree with you, that we learn so much more when things don't go as planned (and that's certainly not just limited to baking). The strawberry picking sounds as though it was great fun, we were picking bilberries yesterday and ended up with gorgeous purple fingers!
        Thanks for your kind words Rebecca, though I'm sure if you were to attempt a drip cake it would look fabulous 🙂
        Angela x

        Reply

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