I made this Semi-Naked Drip Vanilla Layer Cake with a Strawberry Buttercream center, covered in Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Pink Chocolate Spheres cake as a part of an Upside Down Drip Collab hosted by Rebecca from Rose and Whiskers! And what a great idea this was.
I was inspired by Tortikannuchka and their incredible cake creations. When I first saw these chocolate Spheres on one of their cakes, I knew I had to try it.
These rounded spheres are made using melted candy melts in a silicon pan.
Place about 1 cup of candy melts in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to them and microwave for 45 seconds to one minute. Remove bowl. The chocolate will not look melted, but it mostly is. Begin to stir. It will melt as you are stirring. If there are a few pieces still not melted after stirring, place the bowl back into the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until the mixture is smooth.
Place about 1 teaspoon of the melted chocolate candy mixture in one of the cavities. Use the spoon or your fingers to spread the mixture all around the inside of the cavity. Make sure the whole area is covered. Repeat with the remaining circles. Place into the freezer for about 5 minutes to harden.
Now repeat the process again so that each cavity has 2 coats of the chocolate candy mixture. Place in the freezer again.
Remove circles by inverting them onto a small baking sheet or plate. Work quickly so they do not melt.
Dip a toothpick into some of the melted chocolate candy and place the chocolate around the rim of one of the Spheres. Place a second sphere on top so that it makes a ball. Repeat with remaining spheres.
On a flat surface, build your sculpture. You may want to use rubber gloves so your hands do not melt the chocolate.
Dip a small area of one side of the ball into the melted chocolate candy. Connect it to another ball. Hold them in place with toothpicks or chopsticks. Do not use your fingers because the warmth of your fingers will melt the chocolate. Add a third ball using the same method so that they form a triangle. Keep adding more balls going upward, placing them on top of each other, connecting them the same way with the melted chocolate until you have a design that you like.
Place into the refrigerator until ready to use on top of your cake. I made mine the night before and left it in the refrigerator overnight.
The cake is a Semi-Naked Vanilla Layer Cake with a Strawberry Buttercream.
For the buttercream I cooked strawberries down with sugar, then puréed them in a blender before adding them to the buttercream.
I crumb coated the cake with American vanilla buttercream before adding the outer layer of Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Then just add a pink chocolate drip. Flip the cake upside down and the chocolate Spheres!
Making this cake was a lot of fun!
Recipe:
Vanilla Cake
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 4 tbsp vanilla
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
Strawberry Buttercream:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 stick butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
Vanilla Buttercream:
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla
Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
• 4 egg whites
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 sticks butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
Pink chocolate drip:
2 tbsp white chocolate chips
1/2 cup pink candy melts
3 tbsp heavy cream
Vanilla Cake
1. Mix oil, sugar and eggs. Add vanilla, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour. Add buttermilk. Pour into three 6 inch pans and bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Strawberry Buttercream:
Place strawberries and tablespoon of sugar in a small saucepan. Cook until strawberries are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Cool. Place mixture in a blender and purée. Strain and set aside.
Place all the buttercream ingredients in a standing mixer. Blend at a medium setting. Add the strawberry mixture and blend again. Set aside.
Level the cake layers so that they have an even top.
Frost the bottom layer with the Strawberry buttercream. Add the second layer and another layer of the buttercream. Place the last layer on top, top side down.
Blend all of the ingredients for the vanilla buttercream. Frost the outside of the cake with it, but not the top.
Refrigerate until ready to add the Swiss meringue buttercream.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.
Place bowl over a pot with 1-2″ of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch or reads 160F on a candy thermometer (approx. 3mins)
Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins).
Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
Add vanilla extract.
Place half of the frosting into a pastry bag and cut off about 1 inch of the tip. Pipe the frosting around the cake starting from the bottom until you get to the top. Add more frosting on top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting on top. Then use the spatula to smooth the frosting around the sides.
Then take a large scraper to smooth the sides more until the frosting is even on the cake.
Refrigerate until set for about 1 hour.
Drip:
Melt the white chocolate, candy melts and heavy cream in the microwave. Stir until smooth.
With a spoon drip the ganache around the cake spreading it out evenly. Refrigerate again for about 10 minutes or until the pink chocolate is set. Place a cake board on top and flip the cake over so that the drip is now upside down. Use the remaining Swiss meringue buttercream to cover the top of the cake. Add the pink sphere cake topper.
