Black Chocolate Ganache Drip Cake Recipe

Jump to Recipe

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you may have seen this Reel where I made melting candles out of cupcakes. I had so much fun with this project! I essentially turned my small batch black velvet cake recipe into cupcakes, then stacked, frosted, and dripped them with black chocolate ganache to mimic the way a pillar candle melts. Today I’m going to highlight how I made the black chocolate ganache because so many of you asked for the recipe. It’s so perfect for spooky cakes or non-spooky cakes that could use some striking contrast.

_{This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, see our disclosure policy.}

This black chocolate ganache recipe is essentially my favorite chocolate ganache recipe with a few drops of black food color gel added. Since the chocolate ganache is already so dark brown in color, it doesn’t take much to turn it into a rich black color. My favorite food color gel to use for this is AmeriColor Super Black because it’s very concentrated and doesn’t affect the taste or consistency of the ganache. 

Can I Use Other Types of Chocolate?

In order to achieve a rich black color, you’ll want to start with ganache that is dark brown in color. This means you could use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate (which is the type this recipe is written for). It’s much easier to go from brown to black with no more than a couple drops of black food color gel. You won’t be able to create a black color if you start with white chocolate because the amount of food color you’d have to use would ruin the consistency and flavor of the ganache. Trust me, just use any brown-colored chocolate for this recipe. 

Keep in mind that if you replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe with dark chocolate chips, you’ll want to add two extra Tablespoons of heavy whipping cream to your saucepan. If you substitute milk chocolate chips, keep the heavy whipping cream amount the same. Easy peasy. 

How to Create a Drip Cake with Ganache

Drip cakes can seem intimidating if you’ve never made one before, or if you haven’t been successful in the past. If you fall into either of those categories, I put together this blog post to help you achieve drip cake perfection! It includes all my best tips, a full drip cake tutorial, and troubleshooting in case things go haywire. You can also watch the video below to see my preferred techniques:

Want to see more videos like this one? Head to my YouTube Channel to see my growing collection of recipes, cake decorating tutorials, and more. Be sure to hit the subscribe button so you never miss a new video!

If you make this black chocolate ganache, I want to know how it went + what you used it for! Leave a comment below and be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you share it. I love to see your cake creations!