This white chocolate cake is my favorite white cake recipe. The white chocolate adds a bit of flavor that I find lacking in most white cake recipes. It's a match made in heaven with a tart raspberry filling and an insanely creamy white chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Let's talk Cake.
This white chocolate cake is tender, moist, and versatile. Works great for layer cakes, cupcakes, and is sturdy enough to support fondant if needed. A great recipe to have in your collection. Much less boring than a traditional white cake recipe. You really can't necessarily detect that it's white chocolate in the cake, it just adds a really nice, subtle layer of flavor.
Fill 'er up!
You could absolutely fill the cake with frosting, but I strongly recommend balancing the flavor with something tart like a fruit filling. Raspberry is my go-to, but you could also do strawberry or a lemon curd or anything you like! For this recipe, the raspberry filling yields enough to fill an 8-inch layer cake and also have a bit leftover to serve on the side with the cake. Trust me, you'll want it! It's so good.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream, white chocolate style.
If you've never made Swiss Meringue Buttercream, you're in luck. It's been my very favorite buttercream for many years, starting way back when I used to run a tiny cake decorating business from my home. The texture is unbelievably smooth because the sugar is melted in the preparation, and it is incredibly light and fluffy because it has a meringue base which involves beating egg whites and sugar until they turn into a giant fluffy cloud of meringue before adding in the butter and remaining ingredients. It sounds complicated, but trust me, it is pretty quick to make and the results are outstanding. Well worth the few extra minutes. This version is a White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which just adds another depth of flavor instead of plain vanilla. For my regular Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe, click here to read the really old post. :)
White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling + White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
This white chocolate cake is tender, moist, and versatile. Works great for layer cakes, cupcakes, and is sturdy enough to support fondant if needed. Paired with tart raspberry filling and white chocolate buttercream, it's a match made in heave. A great recipe to have in your collection.
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 2 8-inch cakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
For the cake-
1 ⅓ cups (334g) milk
4 ounce bar of white chocolate (112g), chopped fine
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons (305g) all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons (40g) corn starch
2 ½ teaspoons (10g) baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 ½ cups (305g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the raspberry filling-
1 ½ cups/12 ounces fresh (249g) or frozen (340g) raspberries
⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (16g) corn starch
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
For the White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream-
3 egg whites
¾ cup (152g) granulated sugar
2 ounces (56g) white chocolate, melted and cooled
2 ½ sticks (283g) unsalted butter, very soft and cut into pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make the cake layers-
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with a round piece of parchment paper. Butter the parchment also.
Place chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, warm the milk, but do not boil. Pour warm milk over white chocolate and let sit a minute, then stir until melted and very smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla.
Slowly add ⅓ of the flour mixture, followed by half of the white chocolate, another ⅓of the flour mixture, the remaining white chocolate, and then the remaining flour. Mix just until combined and no pockets of flour remain.
Transfer batter to the prepared pans and bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Do not fill or frost the cake layers until they are completely cooled.
Prepare the raspberry filling-
In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, water, and lemon juice over medium heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil and continue cooking a few minutes until thickened and jam-like. (Jam sets at 220°F). I prefer mine to be a little bit thicker than jam so the cake slices come out clean.
Set aside and allow to cool completely before filling the cake. Filling can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use.
Prepare the White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream-
Heat egg whites and sugar over a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over simmering water until sugar has melted and mixture has reached 140°F.
Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Switch to the paddle attachment and beat in the butter, a few pieces at a time, until very smooth.
Add cooled white chocolate, vanilla, and salt, mixing until combined and very smooth.
For best results, serve buttercream at room temperature. Store in fridge, and allow to come to room temperature before using of serving the buttercream. (It will be very firm when cold.)
This buttercream recipe yields enough icing to cover a 2-layer 8-inch cake, or about 2 dozen cupcakes.
To assemble the cake-
Arrange one cake layer on a cake plate. Using a serrated knife, level the top of the cake.
Using a piping bag filled with buttercream, pipe a border around the perimeter of the cake. Spread raspberry filling in the center. Top with a thin layer of buttercream if you’d like both raspberry and buttercream between the cake layers.
Place the second cake layer on top of the filling. Using an offset spatula, apply a very thin coat of buttercream to the top and sides, this is called a crumb coat. Let set a few minutes and then coat cake with remaining buttercream.
Top with fresh berries, if desired.
Serve at room temperature with remaining raspberry filling on the side. Store in refrigerator and let come to room temperature before serving.
Keywords: white chocolate cake, white chocolate buttercream, white chocolate raspberry cake
Mary ellen Sellers
I made this but I made it with gluten free flour and it turned out so delicious!! The buttercream with the white chocolate takes it to another level!
★★★★★
Mandy
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!