My first order of business was figuring out what kind of drip to use as the base. I’d heard that using straight melted chocolate was one way to go, but I found that too thick and hard to work with. Instead, I figured out a way to create the gold drip with my favorite white chocolate ganache recipe. It’s easy to work with, tastes superb, and if you give it enough time in the refrigerator it will set firmly enough to paint.

That brings me to my next order of business: what product to use for turning the drip gold. First I tried mixing gold luster dust with a little lemon extract to create a paint-like consistency. It looked great when I painted it on the drip, but it ended up doing two terrible things in the long run: it would not dry and it was so thin that it ran right down past the drip. Luster dust mixed with something like vodka or grain alcohol might work better, but I wasn’t up for a trip to the liquor store to figure it out. 

Instead, I decided to use Edible Art Paint in Glamorous Gold. It’s a premixed edible metallic paint that’s FDA approved and it worked like a charm. I needed to paint two coats onto the drip to get the best coverage, but it looked amazing and ended up drying perfectly. With the right product, all that was left to do is practice! I’ve been working on getting better at painting the drip without painting the cake (but I did find a solution that works for cleaning up small mess-ups that I’ll talk about below).

Here’s a quick video that shows the full process of creating a gold drip, from dripping the cake with white chocolate ganache to painting and troubleshooting:

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You Will Need

• A cake that’s been frosted smooth and chilled 
• Cake turntable
• 1 batch of my white chocolate ganache recipe
• Piping bag
• Angled spatula
• Edible Art Paint in Glamorous Gold
• Small food-grade paint brush
• Vodka or grain alcohol (just for touch ups)

Step 1: Drip the Cake 

Place the chilled, frosted cake on your turntable. When the white chocolate ganache has reached room temperature and is ideal drip consistency, place it into the piping bag and carefully snip off about ¼ inch opening on the end. Add a test drip to the side of the cake to make sure the ganache is just right (not too thick or thin), and if all is good, continue adding drips around the side of the cake.

When the sides are dripped, fill in the top of the cake with more ganache and smooth it down with an angled spatula. Be careful not to add too much ganache or smooth too closely to the edges so you don’t accidentally push more ganache over the edges of the cake. 

If this is your first time working with white chocolate ganache or you could use some tips on getting better at drip cakes, this blog post and video tutorial should answer all of your questions! 

Step 2: Let the Drip Set

After you drip the cake, place it into the refrigerator for 30 minutes at minimum. The more time you can let the drip firm up in the refrigerator the better (overnight is actually best!). 

The more firm the drip, the easier it will be to paint in the next step. 

Step 3: Paint the Drip 

Add 5-10 drops of the Edible Art Paint into a pinch bowl. Using the small paint brush, carefully paint the gold onto the ganache, starting on top of the cake and working your way over every drip. This is a tedious process that requires some patience, so be prepared for that! 

After painting the first coat of Edible Art Paint, place the cake into the refrigerator for another 15-30 minutes to let the paint dry a bit. Then, paint a second coat over the top of the first. 

Step 4: Erase Mess-Ups (if needed)

If there are any spots where you accidentally painted past the drip and onto the buttercream, there is a fix! Place a few teaspoons of vodka or grain alcohol into a pinch bowl and dip a clean paint brush into it, then paint over the stray paint. The idea here is essentially like using nail polish remover to clean up around your nails after painting them. Do this part carefully!

The higher the alcohol content in your paint remover, the quicker it will evaporate and dry. It will not make your cake taste like alcohol (in case you’re worried about that!). 

And there you have it – a beautiful metallic drip cake that is sure to impress! It’s the perfect way to add some glitz and elegance to your cake. 

FYI: I finished the look on this particular cake with a star border made with Wilton tip 6B and Sprinkle Pop “Treasure Hunt” sprinkles. And the color I used for this beautiful buttercream is AmeriColor Electric Purple. So stunning!

Did you make a gold drip cake with this tutorial? I’d love to know how it went! Leave a comment below and be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me your work. I love to see what you create!

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This wonderment sent me on a quest to find the best product for a perfect metallic buttercream finish: one that’s as shiny as Super Gold, as easy to paint with (aka I wouldn’t have to paint a million coats), and of course, one that is universally FDA approved for eating. After scouring the internet and reading countless reviews, I ordered three to try: King’s Gold by CK Products, Gold Pearl Dust by Wilton, and Glamorous Gold by Edible Art Paint. I made a little video to show you how they look in action:

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Important Tips For Painting On Buttercream

Whether you’re painting a metallic finish or a non-metallic finish, it’s important to start with the right consistency of whatever you’re painting with, the right brush for the job, and a solid cake finish. All three of these things can make or break the final outcome. Here are my best tips for success:

First, to avoid messing up your final coat of buttercream, you must start with a well-chilled cake. After applying my final coat of buttercream, I place the cake in the refrigerator for a good 30 minutes or more, until the finish is hard to the touch.

Second, you need a good brush that won’t leave a ton of bristles in your paint job. This brush by Innovative Sugarworks is a great one, made specifically for cake decorating so you can rest assured that the bristles are made from high quality synthetic fibers and are safe for use with food. Your local craft store might have good brushes, but make sure they’re made with the right bristle fiber because a lot of paint brushes are made with animal hair. After all, the last thing you want is horse hair ending up on your cake!

And finally, you’ll need the right consistency of edible paint to get the look you’re going for and the best mixing solution to help the finish dry quickly. When working with luster dusts, you’ll need an alcohol solution to mix with so the liquid evaporates after you paint with it. Some cakers prefer vodka, but I always use grain alcohol to mix luster dusts with.

Grain alcohol can be found at your local liquor store (it’s also known as Everclear), and at 180 proof it has the highest alcohol content of any alcohol. The higher the alcohol content, the faster it will evaporate from your cake and leave you with that shiny gold finish you’re pining for. If you only have vodka or lemon extract on hand, those will work as well, they’ll just take longer to dry.

The Best FDA Approved Products For A Metallic Buttercream Finish

To my amazement, I ended up really liking all three of the products I tried for metallic finishes. There was one that stood out above the rest (read all about it below!) for color and ease of use, but all three will work depending on the color you need. Be sure to watch this video to see them all in action.

Glamorous Gold By Edible Art Paint

Rating: 10/10

Spoiler alert: this one was my absolute favorite of the three products I used. It comes in a bottle pre-mixed with the right amount of alcohol solution, so you don’t even have to worry about making that extra trip to the liquor store. Edible Art Paints come in all sorts of colors, metallic and non-metallic, and the Glamorous Gold was the perfect shimmery gold color I was after.

The finish dried in about ten minutes and I found that one coat was sufficient for applying to the cake. I was worried about it looking streaky, but after the first coat dried, it ended up looking really uniform.

King’s Gold by CK Products

Rating: 9/10

The King’s Gold by CK Products is a luster dust, so you will need to mix it with a solution like everclear (or vodka!) to make it paintable. After mixing it with everclear, the luster dust dissolved really well and ended up being a breeze to paint with. Here’s how it looked after one coat:

My reasoning for the lower rating is mainly because of the color and the semi-streakiness. King’s Gold was a bit vibrant for my liking, but they do make some other metallics that I would be interested in trying (there’s a Shiny Gold that looks a bit more like the color I was after). After painting a second coat, the streaks are diminished.

Gold Pearl Dust by Wilton

Rating: 7/10

The best thing about Gold Pearl Dust by Wilton is that it’s more commonly found at your local craft store. It’s a luster dust that you’ll need to mix with an alcohol solution to make it paintable, but I found that the dust didn’t dissolve as well as other luster dusts I’ve used, making it a little more grainy of a finish.

The color was also more of a champagne gold, and to my knowledge it’s the only gold metallic color option available from Wilton. If that’s the color you’re going for though, I’d totally recommend trying it. The finish ended up being shiny after two coats, although still a little streaky.

If you’re looking for the best metallic buttercream finish that’s FDA approved and edible, I would definitely recommend any of these three, my favorite being Edible Art Paint. Remember that any time you paint on buttercream, make sure you start with a well-chilled cake that’s firm to the touch. Let me know if you end up trying any of these recommendations in the comments below, or if you know of other FDA approved solutions that work well!

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