How to Create a Marble Drip Cake

4.62 from 54 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 0 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 1 large cake
Jump to Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.

If you are looking for a fun and pretty way to decorate a cake for a party, this marble drip cake is for you! Follow this decorating tutorial for and easy drip cake with a marble effect, and you’ll have a stunning cake in a matter of minutes! Also check out my marble candy apples!

marble cake with blueberries and gold leaf and a marble drip title.

Pin this now to find it later

Pin It

We’re sharing a deliciously easy way to create a marble drip cake! Drip cakes can be so intimidating to make, but to be honest, they’re actually a fairly simple way to frost a cake!

Two marble drip cakes on a work surface

As long as you’re comfortable using fondant to cover the cake, the frosting part is easy peasy! Fondant isn’t difficult either, it just takes some strength and time to roll it out!

We used a simple icing recipe and added a little corn syrup to keep some of the shine.

A close up of the side of a marble drip cake.

Marble Drip Cake

Fondant – Homemade or store-bought. You can try our marshmallow fondant recipe too!

Rolling Pin – Used to roll out the fondant.

Fondant Smoother – To get a smooth texture.

Baking Sheet and Cookie Rack – Used to place the cake so the icing can drip down and not create a mess.

Measuring Cup with Spout – To pour the icing over the cake.

How to Make

Bake a homemade cake. We love this vanilla recipe and this is our favorite chocolate cake. We also love our funfetti cake too!

Bake the cake in a standard 8″ round cake pan. Lightly frost the cakes before adding the fondant.

Knead and roll out the fondant to about 1/4 inch thick. Then place it over a lightly frosted cake.

The reason you frost the cake is so the fondant will stick to it and hold. Frost all the way down the sides, top, etc.

Place the fondant on top and then smooth it out using the fondant smoother. This will remove any bumps, it doesn’t have to be perfect!

If you need, store these cakes in the refrigerator for one day.

Place a rack on a rimmed cookie sheet and place the cake on top. This way the frosting will fall beneath.

Make the frosting (recipe below) and add drops of desired food coloring. We used food coloring gel for this recipe.

Don’t stir it, it will marble as you pour. Since we love blue so much, we did different shades of it to create our marble effect. You can use any color to make this cake!

Pour the icing over the top of the cake and watch it drip down the sides. It’s awesome to see the colors blend together and make such stunning patterns!

In about 30 minutes, your marble drip cake will harden and keep its shape!

Tips for Decorating

  • Make sure your cake has cooled to a warm temperature before decorating.
  • Once the cake is covered in fondant, you can let it cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes if needed.
  • Remember to place the cake on a rack over a cookie tray before pouring the icing over it. This will ensure you don’t end up in a mess!
  • For the marbling, try to stick to different shades of the same color. It will give the marble drip cake a marble look.
  • To make it even easier, call your local bakery and order an 8″ round cake covered in white fondant. Then all you need to do is add the icing.
Shot of a marble drip cake on a tray
A marble drip cake decorated with blueberries and gold leaf.

More Recipes You’ll Love!

Looking for more? Here are some of our top cake recipes!

Now that you know how to make the most amazing marble drip cake, show us your pictures! Please tag us on social and leave a comment below!

You can also FOLLOW US on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more delicious recipes, cocktails, desserts, and parties!

Entertaining with Charm cookbook.

My new Entertaining book is here! Order Now!

Blue tie-dye frosting dripping from the side of cake
4.62 from 54 votes

Marble Drip Icing

By: Eden
An easy and pretty cake decorating technique
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 0 minutes
20 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 1 large cake
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Ingredients 

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • food coloring, gel or drops

Instructions 

  • Cover a round cake in fondant.
  • Add all of the ingredients, except the food coloring, in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
  • Add in drops of food coloring, or use a wooden popsicle stick to add drops of gel food coloring to the icing. Do not mix it. It will give it’s own marbling effect when it’s poured.
  • Place the fondant cake on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet underneath.
  • Pour the icing over the top and let it dry.

Notes

Nutritional values are based on the whole recipe.
Use any colors of food coloring you like. 

Nutrition

Calories: 1468kcal, Carbohydrates: 376g, Protein: 0g, Fat: 0g, Saturated Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 24mg, Sugar: 369g, Iron: 0.2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

About Eden

I’m Eden Passante and I develop, create, style and photograph every recipe and party on Sugar and Charm. I’m the author of Entertaining with Charm and have a Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics and I’m here to help you create simple and easy recipes for entertaining and how to add charm to any gathering!

You May Also Like

4.62 from 54 votes (46 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




66 Comments

  1. Mark Ullmann says:

    WHERE IS THE ACTUAL FONDANT RECIPE?

    1. Eden says:

      We bought the fondant at our local craft and baking supply store. Much easier!

  2. Lisa Valles says:

    I saw a few comments asking about using buttercream instead of fondant and wanted to share my experience.
    I used a standard buttercream frosting recipe, used half in between my layers, then very slightly thinned the remainder with +/- 1 Tablespoon of milk (amount may vary depending on your recipe and humidity). I then microwaved it on 50% heat for about a minute to make it pourable. I poured this mixture over my cake and let it cool and dry for about 30 minutes. This created a soft “shell” that allowed the top swirl frosting to go on and look smooth.
    I used the recipe above BUT used hot water instead of warm and mixed it with the corn syrup separately to fully dissolve the corn syrup, let that mixture cool to room temperature, THEN added it to my powdered sugar. I also don’t care for almond extract so used vanilla. I used Wilton Color Right food coloring, then poured.
    OMG, I wish I could share a picture. It looked amazing. Like Italian glass. It had a beautiful sheen and tasted just like “regular” frosting. My buttercream “shell” did not budge.

    1. Cyd says:

      Hey, I’m attempting this effect with buttercream tomorrow and was wondering if there was any particular reason you choose to air-cool your “shell” instead of putting it in the fridge for a bit? Thanks!

  3. Whitney says:

    will the marble effect still come it right if I use regular, store brand food coloring? I’m trying to make the drip frosting pond for an alligator cake

  4. Brycie says:

    For those who would rather use buttercream with this, the warm water would definitely melt the buttercream. However, I’m assuming the warm water is to help incorporate the corn syrup properly. If you mixed it all first, and then chilled a little, I wouldn’t think it would make the corn syrup seize up since it is already well incorporated. I think I will definitely try this with buttercream, make the glaze mixture and chill until it is totally cool as to not melt the buttercream (without food gel of course).

    1. Eden says:

      Let me know how it works with buttercream, I love buttercream more than fondant but didn’t think it would work. I will be interested in hearing!!!

      1. Brycie says:

        I tried it, and I was surprised at how well it worked! No melted buttercream over here! I mixed the warm water and the corn syrup together first, and then I let it chill in the fridge. It didn’t take long to cool. Then I added the rest of the ingredients, added my food coloring and drizzled away. Although, here are a few things I would definitely do differently next time.
        1) With the cooler corn syrup/water mixture, the mixture had thickened quite a bit since it was cold, making it not as pourable. Next time I may try just having the corn syrup mixture slightly cooled as to where it isn’t cold, or just warm enough where I know it wouldn’t melt the buttercream. That or I would add less powdered sugar (probably my preference) so it wouldn’t be nearly as thick.
        2) Don’t use food coloring gel. I think I’d rather add liquid as the gel was difficult to really get in the mixture without slightly stirring.
        3) Research what the heck I’m doing! ???? While the method I used did work, mine did not look nearly as pretty as yours because I just winged it lol. I should have watched videos or something on the technique first.

        The glaze also tasted so phenomenal with buttercream! It was a surprisingly nice compliment. Thanks for the awesome idea! I 100% will try this again to hopefully perfect it!

      2. Eden says:

        Yay! Thank you so much for sharing all of your tips for this! I love buttercream WAY more than fondant so now I’m going to try this!! I am so happy it worked for you!

      3. Brycie says:

        I also should add that my cake was completely chilled in the fridge for a good bit before I poured the glaze on. That way the buttercream was totally set and hard, just in case it may have made the buttercream run or something.

  5. Georgie says:

    Hi there, you don’t say how big a cake this amount of icing will cover and also no mention of how much food colouring? How do you know how when there’s enough colouring in the mixture? Once you start pouring it’s too late to add more… Are we talking 10 drops per colour maybe?

    1. Ariel says:

      I was wondering this too. How many drops did everyone use?

      1. Eden says:

        You can really use as many as you like. It depends on the color you want and how deep of a color you want. Just start with a few drops and add more as needed to your liking.

  6. Shabnaz says:

    Can this drip icing recipe be used over whipped cream frosted cakes?

    1. Eden says:

      Hi! It wouldn’t work over whipped cream. It has to have a fondant seal. That would look cool though!

  7. Heather says:

    Will the drip on top harden? Or will it continue to slide? Im looking to cover a dome shaped cake. Thanks!

  8. Belinda says:

    Why pour over fondant? Can this be poured on buttercreame?

    1. Eden says:

      I think it would melt buttercream, but you can put buttercream under a thin layer of fondant.

  9. Karen Simon Peterson says:

    Will this work over buttercream? We HATE fondant.
    Thanks!

    1. Eden says:

      We didn’t try buttercream, but maybe if you get the buttercream nice and cold it might work? I’m not sure!

  10. Natasha says:

    Wow – this is so beautiful! {And so is your rolling pin!}

    1. Eden says:

      Thank you Natasha!!!