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The Perfect Vegan Chocolate Drip Cake Recipe

Of course I was going to share my super glossy and delicious vegan chocolate drip cake recipe, considering how popular it's non-vegan drip cake recipe is here. For those thinking, "really?!! It's 2018, are we still doing drip cakes?!", yes we are. Why? Because, while it *can* be thought of as a fad, ultimately its staying power is in the fact that it adds SO MUCH to the taste and texture profile of the cake - why would anyone say no thanks to a lovely layer of smooth chocolate that melts in the mouth? And now that at least 7% of the UK population identify themselves as vegans, with this dairy-free vegan version, everyone can tuck into the drip cake delight!

Perfect Vegan Chocolate Drip Cake Recipe 01

I've shared my perfect egg-less and dairy-free vegan chocolate sponge recipe, but if you would like to dress it up you really couldn't go wrong with making this quick and super easy vegan chocolate ganache to drip over. It'll elevate your cake to show-stopper status. I know it can be daunting to bake a cake, and then frost it to perfection, and then worrying about messing it all up by adding a drip, but you won't, not with my very simple and brief instructions. It'll make all the difference and that tiny little extra effort will pay off in spades in terms of the WOWS you'll get, let alone the "I can't believe that's vegan!" comments from both vegans and non-vegans alike.

Perfect Vegan Chocolate Drip Cake Recipe 04

Vegan Chocolate Ganache Drip Recipe

To decorate a 6" or 8" layer cake

100g dark chocolate, chopped (most brands' dark chocolate, with at least 70-80% cocoa, are vegan friendly but do check the ingredients label to be certain)

50g vegetable shortening/margarine/coconut oil 

1. Set a double-boiler over medium heat (ie a saucepan with a few inches of water in - make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water). Melt the vegan chocolate gently, stirring slowly.

2. Once all the vegan chocolate is melted, take off the heat and mix in the shortening/margarine/coconut oil, a teaspoon at a time, and stir to melt. The vegan ganache is ready when all the margarine has melted in to make a shiny glaze and is at 30 degrees Celsius.

3. The trick to make sure your vegan ganache drip doesn't melt your frosting is to make sure your frosted vegan cake is cool, so place the whole frosted cake into the fridge or freezer for a good few minutes before glazing it. The frosting should be firm to the touch before glazing with the drip.

4. Place the cake on a turntable and spoon the glaze along the edge of the vegan cake. Now slowly push a bit of the glaze over the edge with the back of the spoon and continue to do this all the way around. It looks nicer when drips aren't uniform so you can push a bit more and a bit less as you go along.

Perfect Vegan Chocolate Drip Cake Recipe 02

5. Once all the sides of the cake are dripped over, spoon more of the glaze into the centre of the cake and flood to cover and smooth over the top.

Perfect Vegan Chocolate Drip Cake Recipe 03 

There you have it - how easy is that! You can leave it in its glossy gorgeous drip state or further decorate it to your heart's delight. Here are some vegan cake decorations I suggest as a handy guide:

Vegan Chocolate Drip Cake Decorating Ideas

Vegan sprinkles

Check the packaging carefully as not all cake decorating sprinkles are vegan with ingredients such as confectioners' glaze or shellac, bees wax, and food colours derived from bugs such as carmine and cochineal.

Oreo cookies

Crushed, whole, halved, most vegans I know go crazy for a bit of cookies & cream Oreo magic.

Lotus biscuits

Aka Speculoos or Biscoff. These awesome caramelised biscuits are like crack, but better for you. And they are "accidentally" vegan too!

Bourbon biscuits

I mean, there's no better biccie than a good ol' Bourbon biccie IMHO. Also, WHOA they are vegan whaaaa!

Nuts & Peanuts

Hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios and peanuts are all popular pairings with chocolate and cake.

Fresh fruit

Fresh washed berries and cherries are always a good choice (personally, I'm not so hot on mixing fruit and chocolate but I'm a weirdo so there). Make sure the fruit is properly dry before decorating as any water droplets on the ganache drip would ruin the glaze. Also, be aware that fresh fruit can "bleed" into cakes though and while the cake itself will live happily at room temp for a good few days, the same can't be said about the fresh fruit decor on it.  

Edible flowers

No, not the daisies or whatever else is growing in your garden or in the park. Proper edible, safe-for-human-consumption, flowers. You can buy them at most posh supermarkets now and also online from MaddocksFarmOrganics.co.uk. The most popular edible flowers are pansies and dahlias but there are many others. They are cute but they taste of absolutely nothing (and again, aren't my personal cuppa tea) and have very limited ambient shelf life before they start looking wilted and sad so be sure to add them on at the last minute! 

Please tag @angesdesucre #angesdesucre on your pics if you use our techniques or recreate our designs - I love seeing them! And of course, if you're stuck for time to create that vegan cake you can always order a vegan cake for delivery in London from our gorgeous vegan cake collection which also includes our super popular and now insta-famed vegan fat unicorn cake!

Lots of vegan drip cake love,

Reshmi xoxo

 

9 Responses

Hannah Kennedy

Hannah Kennedy

January 28, 2021

Hello I made your chocolate vegan cake with the vegan buttercream and the chocolate drip. I had to use copha and nuttlex as I’m in Australia 🇦🇺
I was dubious as most recipes that say there “the best” or “the perfect cake” are usually a let down but this cake was actually amazing no one knew it was vegan cake (my daughter is anaphylactic to eggs nuts and dairy) everyone came back for second servings, you know it’s a good cake when everyone’s plate is empty and you have no cake left over
Only problem I had was I put the chocolate drip on and it was a bit hot so it ran a bit but first time attempting this cake was a success

Nadia

Nadia

September 20, 2020

Really lovely recipe and so easy to do. I used the shortening to make this and found it a little runny initially but once I left it to cool for a couple of minutes it was perfect to use. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Hannah

Hannah

June 16, 2020

Hi
I’m looking for the whole recipe for this cake as going to make for birthday for my son 1st

Melissa

Melissa

April 14, 2020

I have tried to make the drip 3 times and everytime i add the butter it just goes hard. the chocolate is hot enough and the butter is at room temp, and im adding a tiny amount at a time but it immediately goes hard. what am i doing wrong?

Reshmi Bennett

Reshmi Bennett

April 08, 2019

Hi Lesli, you can use either or a mix of shortening & coconut oil should you wish. I prefer using only shortening as the coconut oil imparts a coconut flavour to the chocolate drip which on some cakes may not work very well in terms of flavour pairing etc x

Reshmi Bennett

Reshmi Bennett

April 08, 2019

Hi Katriona, sorry to hear it made a mess! Ganache drips are best worked with at around 28-32 degrees celcius, which does make it quite runny. I’d advice using a little at a time to drip for more control, and of course, a very chilled buttercreamed cake so the drip sets best.
I hope you have better results next time xoxo

Lesli Jouskey

Lesli Jouskey

April 08, 2019

Do I only use the chocolate & shortening or coconut oil to make the drip ?

Lesli Jouskey

Lesli Jouskey

April 08, 2019

Do I only use the chocolate & shortening or coconut oil to make the drip ?

Katriona

Katriona

April 08, 2019

This came out very runny for me and just made a mess :( tasted OK which is the main thing!

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