This white chocolate raspberry cake has a moist and tender raspberry vanilla sponge and white chocolate buttercream. There’s a balance of sweet, tart, and rich flavors that make it an impressive, elegant cake for any occasion.
Why You’ll Love This White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Have you ever had TruFru Chocolate Raspberries? They’re frozen raspberries covered first in white chocolate and then a layer of dark chocolate. If you’ve never had them, then step one would be to go buy some because I fear you are missing out. While dark chocolate + raspberry is classic, the white chocolate on those raspberries is really *chefs kiss*. Something about the tart berry + sweet white chocolate makes for a perfect balance of flavors.
This white chocolate raspberry cake has a vanilla cake with fresh raspberries and a fluffy, rich white chocolate buttercream. It’s an overall elegant, stunning cake that is perfect for any occasion. I think this cake would be lovely to serve over for a bridal shower, engagement party, or for Valentine’s Day.
- The Cake: Soft, tender vanilla cake swirled with lightly smashed fresh raspberries. Smashing the raspberries before mixing it into the batter gets you a more even distribution of berries.
- White Chocolate Buttercream. The buttercream is sweet and rich, with melted white chocolate and whipping cream. It pairs nicely with the soft and tart raspberry vanilla sponge for an overall well-rounded flavor.
Raspberry lovers, you may also want to check out my recipe for big fluffy raspberry muffins, or white chocolate raspberry shortbread bars.
Ingredients for White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Here are some of the key ingredients that you will need as well as some notes on how to measure and substitution options. This recipe makes a three-layer, 6 inch round cake (use 6″ aluminum cake pans for the best results).
Ingredients for Vanilla Raspberry Cake
- Fresh Raspberries: I personally recommend fresh raspberries for this cake instead of frozen.
- If using frozen berries though, do not thaw them and skip the smashing step. You may also need to bake the cake a few extra minutes to compensate for the cooler temperature.
- All-Purpose Flour: Measure flour with a scale for the most accurate results. If you don’t not have a scale, fluff the flour first and then use the spoon-and-level method.
- Granulated Sugar: I use only granulated sugar for sweetness, no brown sugar. This makes a lighter, fluffier cake.
- Oil: Pick any neutral flavored oil, such as vegetable, canola, or avocado.
- Eggs, at room temperature: Soak eggs in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes before baking to bring them to room temperature.
- Sour Cream and Buttermilk: These two ingredients add moisture and tenderness to the cake. You can also use full-fat Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream if preferred.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: A high quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste yields the best flavor.
Ingredients for White Chocolate Frosting
- Softened Butter: Either salted or unsalted butter are fine. The little bit of extra salt in salted butter doesn’t hurt here.
- Chopped White Chocolate: You can use white chocolate baking bars, white chocolate chips, or a combination of the two (which is what I did).
- Powdered Sugar: Not much more to say here other than this being a pretty standard ingredient in buttercreams!
- Heavy Cream: Beating heavy cream into the buttercream makes it fluffier and lightens it up.
Tips for Vanilla Raspberry Cake
The sponge itself in the white chocolate raspberry cake is incredible by itself. It’s moist and tender, yet sturdy enough for stacking and frosting. Here are a few tips to ensure that you get the best cake possible:
- Room temperature ingredients: make sure that the eggs, buttermilk, and sour cream are warmed as close to room temperature as possible before baking. Cold ingredients don’t mix well together and can cause the batter to split, impacting the cake’s texture.
- Microwave the buttermilk and sour cream for 10-15 seconds.
- Soak eggs in warm to hot water.
- Fresh leavening agents: did you know that baking powder and baking soda lose their potency over time? If it’s been over a year since you last remember replacing them, it may be time to buy fresh.
- Allow cake to cool completely before assembly: if your cake is even slightly warm, the buttercream may melt and cause a mess. You can actually chill the cake layers (wrapped of course) in the fridge before assembling. It tastes great cold!
Tips for White Chocolate Buttercream (Melting White Chocolate)
The trickiest part of the white chocolate buttercream is actually melting the white chocolate and whipping it into the butter. White chocolate acts differently than regular chocolate and turns chalky if you overheat it (which is surprisingly easy to do).
- Melt the white chocolate slowly. There are two options here. The first is to use a double burner and slowly melt the chocolate over a pot of simmering water. The other option is to use a microwave at half power, microwaving in 20 second intervals. Stir the white chocolate between each interval and heat it until it is just smooth and melted.
- Cool melted chocolate completely. You know what happens when warm and butter get mixed together? Butter melts. Delicious on toast, not so much in frosting. Therefore, before whipping the white chocolate into the frosting make sure it is no longer warm to the touch. You want it still melted, but cooled down.
- Add salt to balance out the sweetness. White chocolate is a very rich, sweet flavor. To add more depth, don’t hesitate to add an extra pinch of salt to the buttercream.
How to Store Leftover White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Due to the high fruit content of the cake, I recommend storing leftovers in the refrigerator. Make sure to tightly wrap leftover cake before putting it away to prevent it from drying out too much. The good news is that this cake tastes pretty great when cold (at least I think so lol), so you can serve it right out of the fridge.
Pin and Save for Later
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Happy baking and hope you love your raspberry cake with white chocolate buttercream! <3
White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Soft and tender vanilla raspberry cake frosted with white chocolate buttercream and topped with fresh raspberries.
Ingredients
Raspberry Cake
- 2 ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60ml) vegetable or canola oil
- 1 ½ cup (300g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (170g) sour cream, room temperature
- ¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 cup fresh raspberries, gently smashed with a fork
White Chocolate Buttercream
- 8 oz chopped white chocolate
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy cream, room temperature
Instructions
Raspberry Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line three 6" round cake pans.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set it aside for now.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and granulated sugar together for 2-3 minutes, or until very light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next.
- Beat in the sour cream and pure vanilla extract until well mixed. The batter may look a little split after adding the sour cream but that is okay.
- Now grab the bowl of flour that you prepared at the beginning. Alternate mixing in ⅓ of the flour, ½ of the buttermilk, another ⅓ of the flour, the remaining buttermilk, and then the remaining flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed and mix until all of the flour is just combined. Avoid over-mixing.
- If you haven't already, using a fork, gently smash down on some of the raspberries to break them up into smaller pieces. This will help give a better distribution of raspberries throughout the cake. Mix or beat the raspberries into the batter until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans (use a scale or measuring cups to help), and then bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Once cool, I recommend chilling them in the fridge for 30 minutes as well before assembling.
White Chocolate Buttercream
- Melt the white chocolate. Place all of the chopped white chocolate a microwave-safe bowl and heat it at half-power in 20 second intervals. Stir the chocolate between each interval, continuing until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Make sure to keep the microwave at half power and heat only for short periods of time to avoid turning the white chocolate into a chalky mess.
- Set the white chocolate aside to cool down until it is no longer warm, but has not turned back into a solid.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter and salt together for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Then add the powdered sugar and beat for another 1-2 minutes.
- While continuing to run the mixer on low speed, start streaming in the melted white chocolate until it has all been added, and then stream in the heavy cream. Turn up the speed and whip the frosting at high speed for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and smooth.
Assemble the Cake
- Lay one layer of cake on a stand or board and top with a roughly ½ inch layer of white chocolate buttercream, or as much as you prefer. Add another layer on top and repeat.
- Add the final layer of cake, and then coat the entire cake in a thin layer of buttercream to form a crumb coat. Set this in the fridge to chill for 15-20 minutes (or if there is no room in the fridge, then leave it on the counter).
- Add another layer of frosting around the entire cake and smooth it out with a spatula or scraper. It doesn't have to be perfect!
- If desired, top with fresh raspberries and enjoy.
Notes
- Make sure that you are using room temperature ingredients. You can quickly bring the eggs to room temperature by soaking them in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes. For everything else, feel free to give them a quick zap in the microwave.
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