How To Create a Drip Frosting Effect on Any Cake

Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn
Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.
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updated Sep 8, 2022
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Mastering this Pinterest trend at home is way easier than you think.

Makes1 cup

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1. Combine the chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Place the chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl and stir to combine. (Image credit: Joe Lingeman)

You’ve seen them across the internet, flooding your Pinterest and Instagram feed: cakes finished with all hues of gorgeous drip frosting, pouring delicately down their sides. Want to know a secret? That beautiful drip detail is incredibly easy to make at home.

Whether you want to upgrade a store-bought cake or really put a show-stopping finishing touch on a homemade layer cake, a pretty waterfall of frosting down the side of your cake is just a few steps away.

What Is a Drip Frosting or Drizzle Frosting?

Cake drizzle, also known as drip cake frosting or waterfall frosting uses a chocolate ganache-style frosting to create a drip frosting effect on cake. Ganache, whether white, tinted a color, or dark chocolate, is made from chocolate and cream and is preferred for this technique, thanks to its ability to set without bleeding into other frostings.

Important Tips for Beautiful Drip Cake Frosting

  • Make sure the frosting is cool to the touch. The drizzle frosting is made by warming cream with chocolate and whisking them together. You want to cool the drizzle so it thickens slightly but also so it won’t melt the cake frosting.
  • Your cake should be at room temperature too. If you’ve stashed your finished cake in the fridge, be sure to bring it to room temperature before adding the drizzle frosting. A cold cake with seize the frosting, resulting in a lumpy rather than cascading drizzle.
  • Use a spoon rather than a piping bag. A piping bag results in a spindly drizzle rather than more organic flowing drips that create the imperfect effect we are after, so a small serving spoon is best for the job.

A Few of Our Favorite Layer Cake Recipes

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How To Create a Drip Frosting Effect on Any Cake

Mastering this Pinterest trend at home is way easier than you think.

Makes 1 cup

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

Option #1: White chocolate or colored drizzle

  • 4 ounces

    white chocolate (not white baking chips or morsels), finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup

    heavy cream

  • Gel food coloring (optional)

Option #2: Dark chocolate drizzle

  • 4 ounces

    semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup

    heavy cream

Equipment

  • Measuring cups

  • Microwave-safe bowl

  • Whisk

  • Small serving spoon

Instructions

  1. Combine the chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Place the chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl and stir to combine.

  2. Microwave for 1 minute. Microwave the chocolate-cream mixture for 1 minute on HIGH.

  3. Stir to combine and let cool about 5 minutes. Whisk together the chocolate and cream until smooth. Set aside until just warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.

  4. Spoon the drizzle onto the edges of the cake. Use a small serving spoon to pour the drizzle onto the top edge of the cake until it drips over the edge.

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