Ever since I shared this recipe and tutorial for semi-sweet chocolate ganache drip cakes, I’ve gotten so many questions about making white chocolate ganache drip cakes. I’m so excited to share these tips with you because I know how finicky white chocolate ganache can be if you don’t get the ratio and timing just right. In fact, the first time I made it (using a super popular recipe that won’t be named) the ganache was so thin and runny that the drips just ran down the side of the cake and pooled at the bottom, even after cooling it to below room temperature! I have since experimented with white chocolate ganache to find the perfect ratio of chocolate to heavy whipping cream, and have found some handy tips for making it extra white and beautiful.
The first thing you need to know about white chocolate is that it’s not a true chocolate, meaning there’s a lack of chocolate solids and therefore doesn’t behave the same as semi-sweet, milk, or dark chocolate. Instead, it’s made from a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, milk products, vanilla, and some sort of fatty substance called lecithin. Although I’ve never tried making white chocolate ganache with anything fancier than Hershey’s white chocolate chips, you can feel free to go as branded or non-branded as you want. Generic white chocolate chips or a white chocolate bar chopped into small pieces will work just fine.
With the absence of chocolate solids, the ratio of heavy whipping cream to white chocolate chips is going to be different than other ganache recipes. I’ve found a 3:1 ratio to be absolutely perfect (exact recipe below), meaning three parts chocolate to one part heavy whipping cream. Just bring the cream to an almost-boil, pour it over the white chocolate chips, whisk it together until it’s uniform, and you’re good.
Here’s a detailed video of the recipe, and you can continue reading below for all of my tips on working with white chocolate ganache:
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White Chocolate Ganache For Drip Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 Cup (190g) white chocolate chips or bar, chopped into bits
- 1/3 Cup (80ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp food color gel or whitening gel (optional)
Instructions
- Chop the white chocolate chips or bar as finely as you can and place it into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal).
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm heavy whipping cream until it just starts to simmer, whisking constantly. I always look for small bubbles forming around the edge and a soft boil starting in the middle. When it reaches this stage, pour the cream over the white chocolate.
- Whisk together until the ganache is uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. It can help to hold the bowl over the residual heat from the burner (once it's turned off) if you're having a hard time whisking everything together.
- Whiten or color the ganache (optional), then cool ganache at room temperature for anywhere from 5-20 minutes (depending on your kitchen environment), or until the ganache itself is slightly above room temperature. See the instructions for dripping a cake with white chocolate ganache + troubleshooting tips in the rest of this blog post below.
Notes
Tip 1: Whiten Your Ganache If It’s Too Yellow
The thing about white chocolate chips is that they aren’t exactly as white in color as they seem to be. To whiten the ganache, I swear by Americolor Bright White food color gel. It works like a dream every time, and you only need about half a teaspoon per batch of white chocolate ganache to get a perfectly bright white.
Some bakers like to use white candy melts in place of white chocolate chips to make white ganache, but I don’t like the taste of candy melts. So the whitening method is my favorite option.
Tip 2: Be Patient With The Cooling Process
Once you’ve whisked the ganache together, it’s crucial to let it cool on your countertop until it’s room temperature, about 20-30 minutes depending on how cold your environment is. Trying to speed up this process by placing ganache in the refrigerator doesn’t usually end well – I’ve found that it cools unevenly, leading to thick, globby drips.
Cooling in the fridge also leads to the urge to stir it too often. Ganache (especially white chocolate!) does not like to be stirred too often, and the end result can mean that your whipping cream starts to separate from the chocolate. You’ll know that this has happened because the ganache will look grainy and dull, or even separated like oil and water. To fix situations like these, you’ll need to reheat the ganache to 92ºF to melt the fat crystals and re-whisk to bring it back together.
Tip 3: Chill Your Buttercream
There’s a science to this tip. Since molecules move more slowly at cooler temperatures (and warp speed at higher temperatures), it makes a lot of sense that you can better control how far the white chocolate ganache drips when the buttercream is chilled. Make sure that after you do your final coat of buttercream, you chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Tip 4: Start With A Test Drip
When your buttercream is nice and chilled, do a test drip by letting the ganache run down the side of your cake. If it travels rapidly and pools at the bottom, your ganache is too warm. Continue to cool the ganache for another 5-10 minutes and try your test drip again. If it’s globby or doesn’t travel very far down the side of the cake, it’s too cold. Reheat the ganache in the microwave for about 10 seconds, stir, and try again. Repeat the reheating process as needed until you get the perfect consistency.
The good thing about a test drip is you’re able to see how the ganache will behave. That way you don’t have to commit until you like what you’re seeing.
Tip 5: Drip The Sides Before Filling In The Top
Whether you’re using a spoon to create drips (like I am!) or you’re into the squeeze bottle method, it’s best to drip the sides of the cake before filling in the top. Although it might be tempting to just dump all of the ganache on the top of the cake and let the drips fall where they may, you’ll have more control over the length of each drip by starting with the sides (after a successful test drip of course).
Try not to add too much ganache to the top when filling it in, because if you add any more to the drips you’ve created, it will make them travel farther than you’d like. Instead, try to use just a little ganache and spread it so that it just touches where your drips begin. The ganache on the top should self-level a bit, so don’t worry too much about getting it super smooth.
And there you have it – everything I know about dripping cakes with white chocolate ganache. It’s a really good skill to have in your cake decorating repertoire, especially with how versatile white chocolate ganache can be color-wise. Adding a little food color gel can turn it any vibrant color of the rainbow! And whether you keep it white or color it up, I promise it’ll taste a million times better than candy melts.
Is there anything else you’d like to know about drip cakes? I’m certainly not an expert per se, but if you have more questions, let me know in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer!
can you use this recipe on a buttercream cake?
Absolutely, Hannah!
yay thank you so much 🙂
What can i do for the drip to go hard in order to paint it?
Hi Nicoletta! If you want to paint a drip, I would suggest trying melted chocolate or white candy melts instead of ganache. I’ve never painted a drip before, but when I’ve researched it that is what I see recommended. Feel free to experiment with painting the ganache though – like I said, I’ve never tried it before!
This is so so helpful. Thank you!
Of course, Lianna! Happy to help!
Hello!
I need rescue in my white chocolate ganache dripping. I tried 2 time with your recipe and it doesn’t come that smooth and runny. I comes quite thick and the drips are not long. What could be the reason? Maybe I am not heating the cream enough? I don’t have a microwave so I have to go for the traditional method where I heat the cream. I am using Valhrona white chocolate which is high quality chocolate. I cannot understand why this is happening! Please help.
Thanks
Hi Ann Marie! It sounds like an issue with the cream. I always heat mine over the stove until it’s just about to boil, then whisk it with the chocolate. If it’s not incorporating well, I put the entire bowl over the burner (be sure to wear an oven mit!) and continue whisking until it all comes together smoothly. If you’ve well-incorporated the cream and chocolate and still find the ganache to be too thick, try adding 1-2 Tbsp more heavy whipping cream next time. Hope that helps!
Is there a way of painting the white chocolate black after doing the drip?
Hi Su! I have never tried painting a drip. Instead, I would make semi-sweet, dark, or milk chocolate ganache and add a little black food color gel to color it if you want a black drip. Here’s my recipe for those ganaches: https://sugarandsparrow.com/ganache-drip-cake-tips/
We’re trying a tsunami cake tomorrow with edible glitter. If i do a 2:1 ratio, do you think it will “tsunami” with the glitter? Or should I go thinner?
How fun! I have never made a tsunami cake before so I am not sure what ratio to go with. I would assume that 2:1 would be the best for that technique, but I would do a little research to see what ratios others are using for tsunami cakes.
Would this recipe worl on an icecream cake? Thanks in advance.
Hi Andrew! It definitely will. Since the ice cream cake will be very cold, it will slow down the ganache drip considerably more than a chilled buttercream cake, so try to do a test drip when the ganache is a little warmer than room temp (but not so hot that it melts the cake!). Hope that helps!
Hi I’ve just tried to whiten my ganache with americolour white soft gel paste and it’s still yellow with little white flecks, and ideas why?
Thankyou
Hi Claire, sorry to hear that the coloring is acting up! I think it may be because the ganache is too cool when you add the coloring. With the ratio of chocolate to cream in this recipe, it doesn’t take long for the ganache to cool, so sometimes even if you add the ganache right after whisking it all together you might have some separation. To troubleshoot, try whisking things together over heat while adding the coloring or add it in with the heavy whipping cream so that when you whisk everything together it’s already in there working its magic. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for this! I made my first ever drip cake last weekend and it came out perfectly!!! So happy with the results thanks to your easy to follow instructions
So happy to hear that, Megan! Yay!
Hi, what size cake would this recipie cover
Hi Haleema, this recipe yields quite a lot, enough to drip two 8 inch cakes.
Thankyou, have you tried flavouring candy melts using liquid flavouring. I assume this would change the consistency of your recipie but if slightly more candy melt was added to bring back consistency do you think that would work. Also in your recipie if gel food colouring was added to the heavy whipping cream before adding the chic, when on the heat would that be best time to add it to ensure it fully incorporates?.
I personally haven’t tried flavoring candy melts, so I’m not sure how that works but feel free to experiment! And if you add the gel coloring to the heavy whipping cream, just go ahead and add it right into the pan with the heavy whipping cream and bring it all to a simmer before pouring it over the chocolate. I usually add the gel coloring after whisking together the heavy whipping cream and chocolate though.
Hi there,
Thank you for this white chocolate drip recipe, you say that use a 3:1 chocolate to cream ratio, but your recipe isn’t 3:1, I’m a bit confused?
Hi Jo. By 3:1 chocolate to cream I mean three parts chocolate and one part cream. So, 1 cup of chocolate and 1/3 cup cream, because 1 cup is three parts (or 3x) 1/3. Does that make sense?
Can i use liquid food colour on this ganache
Hi Osward! Yes, you can. After you whisk together the white chocolate and heavy whipping cream, add the food color while the mixture is still warm. Hope that helps!
Hi! I’ve tried to make a white chocolate drip without success. If I add my whitening gel it seizes up the choc and dries it out almost immediately, even after just a few drops. (I used “the cookie countess” white gel). My gel colour also made the choc speckled, like the color particles aren’t dissolving (I used Chefmaster gel food colour, tried with an open and a brand new bottle, same result). Any tips?
Hi Mitzi! I have never tried those color gels before, so I’m not sure if it’s the gel that is the culprit or the process. I swear by Americolor Bright White and have never had an issue. Are you adding the food color gel right after whisking together the simmered heavy whipping cream and chocolate, while the ganache is still warm? Or are you waiting until the ganache is room temperature to add the gel? I always add mine right after whisking the mixture together, so if you haven’t been doing that I would try that next time or add the food color gel in with the heavy whipping cream and then bring all of it to a simmer before pouring it over the chocolate. Let me know if that helps!
What kind of buttercream did you use for your cake? It turned out really nice
Thank you, Rahil! I used my vanilla buttercream recipe and tinted it with Americolor Fuchsia color gel: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-buttercream-recipe
You’re amazing thanks
I need a pink drip for a cake I’m making. Can I color the white chocolate ganache?
Hi Jill! You totally can color this ganache pink. I would use Americolor Bright White first to whiten the ganache before adding pink food color gel though, as the ganache itself is more yellow in color and adding pink color gel to yellow ganache will give you an orange result.