Dripping ganache birthday cake
One of my early childhood memories is my mom preparing pink icing for my fourth birthday party. I don’t really remember the party itself, nor the cake, but I do remember this icing. So this year, preparing my girls combined birthday party, I decided that I’d like them to remember at least the icing. But I’m not a cake making professional, and I’m not that patient, so I was looking for an easy yet pretty ideas. And I thound the Instagram feed of Catherine Sabbath. She’s an amazing cake artist, who came up which the idea for a colourful dripping ganache! And so my imagination started working, and I came up with this!
Since my daughter couldn’t decide if she’d prefer a chocolate or a vanilla cake, I made this cake using both chocolate and vanilla cake. And when you mix a chocolate cake with vanilla cake, a lot of buttercream icing and some pink white chocolate ganache, then the result is really outstanding! And let’s not forget about candies and lollipops for decoration! Honestly this dripping ganache birthday cake is a must-try!
And I think it’s pretty clear that I got inspired by the Valentines day vibe! Well, my daughters didn’t mind it really!
What you’ll need:
Chocolate cake:
3eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon coco powder
1/2 (melted) chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetarian oil
For the vanilla cake:
3eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetarian oil
(Or you could also make a shortcut and use boxed cake., I won’t judge you !)
Buttercream:
2 cups icing sugar
1 cup soft butter
1 tablespoon cream
Gel food colouring
Chocolate ganache:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup ( melted) white chocolate
Gel food colouring
For decorating:
Sprinkles
Crushed candy
Lollipops
Whether you’re making a chocolate or a vanilla cake, start by mixing dry ingredients together, and set them aside. Then mix together the rest of ingredients, slowly adding the dry. Bake for around 35-49 minutes on 350F.
Prepare the butter cream: mix soft butter with icing sugar (add it gradually) and cream. Add a drop or two of gel food coloring until you get the desired hue ( I added a bit if blue and pink).
Cut each of your cooled down cake in two. ( Before icing it with buttercream, let it cool down completely, and leave it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes) start by putting a little bit of icing on your cake tray, that way it’ll stay in place. I started by a chocolate cake, then pink buttercream icing, then vanilla cake, and so on. Once your entire cake is iced, put it in the fridge of at least 30 minutes before adding the ganache.
Prepare the pink ganache: Slowly heat cream in a water bath, and add small chunks of white chocolate, mix it’s till smooth. Add gel food coloring ( a drop of pink). Once ready, don’t pour it all at once on that cake! Start by slowly dropping it on the edges, and then pour the ready slowly on top.
And now for the fun part: decorating! (Just cool it in the fridge before! ). I used crushed candies, sprinkles and lollipops, but you could also use chocolates, candies and flowers!
So even though I’m still the lazy mom, who generally prefers simple and fast recipes, I’ll be definitely making this cake again!