Opulent Golden Christmas Drip Cake
Equipment
- Three 20cm cake tins
- Baking parchment
- Cake stand or cake board
- Wire rack
- palette knife
- Disposable piping bag
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 225 ml vegetable oil plus extra for greasing
- 375 g plain flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 375 g golden caster sugar
- 1½ tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 300 ml buttermilk
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 5 ml red food coloring gel optional
For the Icing:
- 250 g pack slightly salted butter at room temperature
- 900 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 500 g tub full-fat soft cheese
- For the Chocolate Drip:
- 200 g white chocolate chopped
For Decoration:
- Edible gold spray optional
- Gingerbread star tree or choice of decorations
Instructions
Step 1 – Make the Sponges:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.
- Grease and line the base and sides of three 20cm cake tins with baking parchment.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, mixed spice, and salt.
- Whisk together the buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and water with the eggs until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and whisk until well combined.
- Scoop about a third of the cake mixture into one tin.
- Optionally, mix the food coloring into the remaining batter and divide among the other tins.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cakes have risen and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 2 – Make the Icing:
- Beat the butter with half of the icing sugar and the vanilla until smooth.
- Add the remaining icing sugar and the cream cheese, then beat again until combined.
- Be careful not to overmix.
Step 3 – Assemble the Cake:
- Place one red sponge on a cake stand or board and secure it with a small amount of icing.
- Sandwich with a gold sponge, generously layering with icing.
- Top with more icing and the final red sponge, placing it flat-side up.
- Use a palette knife to cover the entire cake with a thin layer of icing.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Once the crumb coat is chilled, use the remaining icing to completely cover the cake.
- Chill for another 30 minutes.
Step 4 – Make the Chocolate Drip:
- Melt the white chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of lightly simmering water or in the microwave in short bursts.
- Pour the melted chocolate into a disposable piping bag and set aside to firm up slightly.
Step 5 – Decorate the Cake:
- Remove the cake from the fridge.
- Optionally, use edible gold spray to add a shimmer to the surface.
- Once the white chocolate is at the right consistency, snip off the end of the piping bag and pipe drips down the sides of the cake.
- Fill in the top with the remaining white chocolate.
- Top with a gingerbread star tree or your choice of decorations.