White Cake with Raspberry Filling and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
This White Chocolate Raspberry Cake is made of layers of soft, airy, buttery vanilla cake, luscious raspberry filling and white chocolate cream cheese frosting! The bakery style white cake is the BEST white cake ever — the only white cake recipe you will ever need, and becomes exponentially better (just when you didn’t think it was possible) when combined with the filling. The combination of airy cake, fresh raspberries, and luscious white chocolate frosting is indulgently rich yet fresh at the same time. You can either use homemade or store-bought raspberry jam (directions included for both) and the best part is you can make the cake a day ahead for a stress free, stunningly delicious White Chocolate Cake.
Servings 12 -14 slices
Ingredients
WHITE CAKE
- 1 1/2 cups milk at room temperature**
- 9 large egg whites at room temperature**
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 1/3 cups cake flour (see notes for substitution)
- 2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 18 tablespoons (2 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, cubed small, softened
RASPBERRY FILLING
- 16 ounces frozen thawed raspberries or very ripe fresh raspberries
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSING
- 12 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped small
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 8 ounce pkgs. cream cheese (16 ounces) at room temperature ***
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature ***
- ¼ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 7 cups powdered sugar, more or less as needed
Instructions
WHITE CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 9-inch cake pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper then spraying the entire inside of the pans with nonstick cooking spray WITH FLOUR (or grease and flour pans). If you only have 2 pans, bake 2 cakes then bake the third cake immediately after.
- In a large liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg whites, and extracts. Set aside.
- Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment at low speed. With the mixer still running, add the butter a few pieces at time. Increase speed to medium and continue to mix until the mixture resembles moist crumbs and the largest pieces are the size of small peas, about 3 minutes.
- Pour in half of the milk mixture and mix on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl. With the mixer on low, stream in the remaining milk mixture. Mix on medium-low no longer than 30 seconds. If the batter looks a little lumpy, resist the urge to over-mix! Instead, stop the mixer and give it a few stirs by hand.
- Divide batter evenly between the three prepared cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs and has no wet batter clinging to it, about for 22-25 minutes. Let the cakes rest in pans for 5 minutes then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting, about 1 ½ hours. Meanwhile, you can make the raspberry filling and frosting.
RASPBERRY FILLING (See Notes for Store-Bought)
- Whisk cornstarch, sugar and lemon juice into the puree until cornstarch is mostly dissolved. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to medium (medium-low if your stove runs hot) and continue to cook and stir continuously until puree is thickened. It needs to be quite thick but spreadable so the cake layers don't slide around. Refrigerate until completely chilled (it will thicken as it chills).
WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- Add chopped white chocolate and heavy cream to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then continue to microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is completely smooth; set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- Beat cream cheese, butter and salt at medium speed in a large bowl with a hand-held electric mixer until very creamy, 1-2 minutes. Beat in white chocolate and vanilla until smooth.
- Gradually add powdered sugar in batches, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so to help thicken up. The frosting should be on the thick side after chilling to stand up against the cake layers.
- Spoon roughly 1 cup frosting into pastry bag (to use to pipe the dams of frosting). If you don't have a freezer bag, snip 1 corner of a freezer bag to make a small hole, set aside. Spoon 3/4 cup frosting into a small bowl to use to create the crumb coat ("Crumb Coat Frosting"); set aside.
ASSEMBLE
- Once the cakes are completely cooled, use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the top of the cakes so that they’re flat.
- Place four strips of parchment paper around the edges of a platter or cake stand to create a square with an open space in the middle (to keep cake stand clean). Place a small dollop of frosting in the center of the cake stand/plate to keep the cake from moving, then top with one cake, top side up.
- Pipe a ring of frosting just inside the top edge of cake. Add half of the chilled Raspberry Filling and spread it to the edges of the piped frosting. Add 1 cup White Chocolate Frosting and spread to the edges of the cake.
- Top with the second leveled cake, top side down. Repeat procedure with piping/filling/frosting. Top with third cake, top side down.
FROST CAKE
- Create a crumb coat by frosting the cake using the reserved Crumb Coat Frosting starting with the top and working down until the cake is evenly, thinly frosted, removing any excess frosting. Refrigerate cake for 30 minutes or until the crumb layer has set. Meanwhile, refrigerate remaining frosting and lightly beat again before using.
- Frost the outside of cake as you desire with the remaining frosting. Remove parchment paper then pipe a ring of frosting around the bottom of the cake. Garnish with raspberries if desired.
Video
Notes
Baking Tips for Success
- Use the correct size pan: You will need three 9-inch cake pans for this recipe. I have not tried this recipe with 8-inch cake pans, but the batter should fit, the white cakes will just take longer to bake, closer to 27-30 minutes, and be thicker.
- Cake Four: You may substitute the cake flour with 3 cups all-purpose flour plus 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
- White chocolate: Use quality chocolate baking bars such as Bakers or Ghirardelli for the best results. Quality chocolate chips can also work but ONLY use Guittard or Ghirardelli. Other chocolate brands don’t have enough cocoa butter and too many additives so they will not melt well. Note: weigh the chocolate chips and don't use a measuring cup - it does not translate.
- **Room temperature ingredients: It is essential that you use room temperature egg whites, milk and butter for this recipe or your cake will not rise properly or be as light and tender. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, add eggs (in shells) to a bowl of warm water (not hot) and let sit for 20 minutes. You can microwave the milk at 15 second intervals to warm, but only warm to room temperature- not hot or it will scramble the egg whites!
- Raspberry filling consistency: The raspberry filling should be chick and barely spreadable so that it stays in place and doesn’t run over the edges, otherwise, you’ll have cake layers sliding all over the place! If the jam thickens too much, microwave it for 10 seconds.
- Store-bought raspberry jam: You’ll need about 1 1/3 cups seedless raspberry jam. Use 2/3 cup per layer. If your store-bought jam is too hard to spread, microwave it for 10 seconds.
- ***Frosting: This frosting should be on the thicker side and not a thin icing so it’s thick enough to stand up against the weight of the cake layers. To achieve a thick frosting without having to add too much powdered sugar, use cream cheese and butter softened at room temperature. I made sure there is plenty of frosting - so don’t be shy! The frosted cake should have about 1/2 cup leftover which you can use to decorate the cake if you wish.
Make ahead
You can make the cake entirely ahead of time, or in stages, here’s how:- Raspberry Jam: Make the raspberry jam and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 48 hours. You may need to microwave for 10 seconds to loosen it a little, just so it’s thick but spreadable – you do NOT want it runny!
- Frosting: Is best freshly made, but you can whip it together up to 24 hours before assembling the cake, tightly cover and refrigerate. Let it come close to room temperature before re-whipping.
- Cakes: The white cake layers can be prepared one day in advance. Let the layers cool completely then wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
- Crumb Coated Cake: Tightly wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze after you apply the crumb coating.
- Frosted Cake: Assemble the entire cake, cover with a cake cover or tent with foil, refrigerate, then let sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.
HOW TO STORE
The assembled and frosted cake should be covered with a cake cover or foil and refrigerated. It will stay fresh for up to 2 days, but may be stored for up to 4 days. Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.How to FREEZE
- To freeze individual cake layers: Tightly wrap the individual cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze for up to three months.
- To freeze crumb coated cake: Tightly wrap in a couple layers of plastic wrap followed by a couple layers of foil, freeze for up to two months.
- To freeze frosted cake: Tightly wrap in a couple layers of plastic wrap followed by a couple layers of foil, freeze for up to two months. Allow the cake to thaw overnight in the refrigerator then unwrap and come to room temperature on the counter for 1-2 hours before serving.