Easy Black And Gold Drip Cake

Drip cakes are a decorating style that has taken the world by storm. It doesn’t seem like they’ll be leaving anytime soon, so I thought I’d give my personal touch to this trend.

A black and gold drip cake is just what it sounds like; a cake decorated with black buttercream that has golden drippings on it. The cake itself is very moist and rich, made with chocolate sponge and chocolate buttercream.  

I find this cake not only aesthetically pleasing but also brag-worthy in the terms of flavor and texture. This is one of my best cakes so far because the sponge is beautifully moist and the buttercream is the real star!

At first, the drip cake may look difficult to make, but once you break it down into steps, there is nothing scary about it. 

How To Color Your Buttercream

Coloring buttercream is not difficult when you start with the proper base. I have discovered that it is easier to color chocolate buttercream black than white, plain buttercream.

The cocoa or melted chocolate in your buttercream will initially give some dark color, which is easier to color deeper to black. With the white buttercream, you may end up with a kind of grayish color.

There are two ways to color the buttercream:

• With black edible color
• With black cocoa

Both methods will give the perfect black color, but some people reported that edible food color stained their teeth. I have not experienced that, but if you are worried about that, then you can use black cocoa powder.

Black cocoa powder has a slightly higher pH than Dutch-processed cocoa and is less acidic than natural baking cocoa. This gives a bittersweet, chocolaty taste like an Oreo cookie. Black cocoa can be hard to find in stores, but you can purchase some on Amazon here. 

The second method is to use food color. Here, you can use the gel food color or powdered color. The gel colors are more intensive, but the powder color will work too. I have used the powdered food color, just to show that perfect color can be achieved. 

The trick when combining any food color or cocoa powder is to take some of the buttercream out and combine it with the desired coloring.

Microwave the buttercream until almost runny and stir well. Fold the colored buttercream into the chocolate buttercream and stir until well combined. Chill the buttercream for 10 minutes before applying it to the cake. 

I have read that people also use activated charcoal. Activated charcoal is widely used in the kitchen, but I have never used it. Activated charcoal can impact the absorption of medications, so be careful if you choose it!

How To Make Golden Drip

Golden drip can be made in three ways. They are all easy to make, and to create the decorative drips, you just need to have some creativity. 

The easiest way to make golden drips is by using prepared golden cake drip. The other method is to drip some white chocolate on your cake and then color the chocolate with a paintbrush dipped into golden luster dissolved in vanilla extract.

The third method is just combining golden luster with vanilla extract, lemon extract, or lemon juice. This will give the original golden color, and the way to apply it is just to let it drip down the spoon on your cake edges.

Add more or less of the color to create longer or shorter drips. 

How To Make The Perfect Sponge Cake

The sponge cake is the base. This cake can be decorated this way or the other, but if the base is bad and dry, all your hard work will be wasted. The perfect sponge cake is one of the keys to having the perfect cake.

My tip for a perfect sponge cake is to use buttermilk and some oil; these ingredients will supply enough moisture, but also lock in the moisture during the baking. They will also prolong the shelf life of your cake.

Instead of buttermilk, you can use Greek yogurt or sour cream, but make sure you do not swap the oil, as the results will not be the same.

Easy Black And Gold Drip Cake

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 1 hour

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

For the sponge cake:

• 2 cups flour
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1 ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp espresso granules
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ¾ cup + 1 tbsp hot water

For the buttercream:

• 1 ½ cup + 2 tbsp softened butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 5 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Black food color, gel or powder

For the drip:

• 1 ¼ tbsp lemon juice or vanilla extract
• 1 tsp golden luster dust

Instructions:

Make the sponge cake; preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 3 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

Fold in the liquid ingredients; eggs, oil, vanilla, buttermilk, and hot water. Stir until you have a smooth batter.

Divide the batter between the cake pans. Bake the sponge cake for 22-25 minutes. 

Cool the sponge cake a cake pan for 10 minutes before removing it from the cake pan.

Make the buttercream; In a bowl, beat butter with powdered sugar, vanilla, heavy cream, and cocoa powder. 

Spread some of the buttercream over the first layer of the sponge cake. Place the second sponge cake layer on top of the buttercream and cover that one with the buttercream. Place the third sponge cake layer on top of the buttercream.

Remove 1/3 of the buttercream and combine it with desired coloring, gel, or cocoa powder. You will need ¼ cup of dark cocoa. Place the buttercream in a microwave for 20 seconds. Stir the buttercream until all is combined well with the black food color or cocoa powder.

Stir the colored buttercream into the chocolate buttercream and place the buttercream in a fridge for 10 minutes. 

Place some of the black buttercream on top of the cake and side. Smooth the surface of the cake with a cake spatula or decoration tool. 

Make the gold drips; in a bowl, combine golden luster with vanilla extract or lemon juice.

Take some of the golden mixture in a spoon, and pour it over the cake edges, creating drips down the cake.

Play with drips and create shorter and longer ones, as that will give a more organic look to the cake.

Refrigerate the cake for 1 hour before slicing and serving.

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