This white chocolate raspberry cake features sweet white chocolate cake layers, a tart raspberry filling, and plenty of white chocolate buttercream. Just try to stop at one slice!
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Hey guys! Are you ready for some delicious, delicious cake? I know I am! It’s been, like, weeks (!!) since my last layer cake post and I’m going into withdrawals. Cake DTs are really unpleasant.
Do you love making layer cakes like I do? I know they can be sort of a pain what with baking the layers, filling the layers, frosting the layers. . .but nothing is quite as satisfying as slicing into a layer cake.
Except, obviously, for taking that first bite of your gorgeously filled and frosted cake.
And never was that more true than when I took a bite of this white chocolate cake with RASPBERRY FILLING! That little pop of tart berry is so perfect when paired with the creamy sweetness of the white chocolate.
It’s totally swoon-worthy.
And hey, guess what? The filling is made with frozen raspberries so this cake is totally do-able year-round. (I love that!) I’m thinking this would be a pretty great holiday cake because of the bright pop of red.
I’m sorry to bring up the h-word but I like to plan menus way ahead of time. Remember Bree on Desperate Housewives, doing a Christmas dry run? She was channeling me. (At least I think that happened on Desperate Housewives and not just in my actual life.)
White chocolate raspberry cake: the process
The white chocolate cake layers are simple to make because we use a box mix doctored up with sour cream and pudding. I used white chocolate pudding but you can substitute vanilla or cheesecake—just as long as it’s white-ish—if you don’t have white chocolate pudding on hand.
Baker’s tip: be sure you use instant pudding mix, NOT cook and serve. I’ve used both Godiva and Jell-o pudding in this cake and preferred Godiva, but use whichever you like.
Start by melting your white chocolate and butter together in the microwave at 50% power in 15-second intervals, stirring after each interval.
Melting white chocolate slowly is important so it doesn’t scorch; I thought I got a picture of this process but apparently not. I’m sorry!
- Next, combine your cake mix (I used Duncan Hines) along with the pudding mix, milk, egg whites, sour cream, a little vanilla, and salt.
- Beat all of that with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. The batter will be very thick. Add the white chocolate-butter mixture and beat again until fully incorporated.
Divide the batter between three 8-inch round cake pans and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Because the batter is thick, it will not spread on its own so spreading it out is necessary.
Bake for about 25 minutes, then cool the cake layers in the pans for 20 minutes and carefully invert them onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cake layers will turn out to be slightly concave in the center, as in the second picture above. This is fine.
If the concavity bothers you, you can use a long serrated knife to trim off the tops and even them out. If you go that route, chill the cake layers in the fridge until they’re cold enough to cut through. The cake is very soft and if you try to trim the layers without chilling them, they’ll crumble.
The filling is just a matter of boiling the frozen raspberries with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch until the berries are thick and spreadable.
Be sure when you fill and frost your cake that you don’t spread the jam all the way to the edge (see last picture above); this prevents jam from getting in your frosting.
If you wanted to substitute store-bought raspberry jam, I think that would be just fine.
After you make your filling, frost the cake with a simple white chocolate buttercream and you’re ready to eat! I won’t tell you to have dinner first. . .because, I confess, I had a slice of white chocolate raspberry cake for dinner the day I did these photos.
It was the best dinner I had all week 🙂
How to store your white chocolate raspberry cake
Should you happen to have uneaten cake you can store it, covered, at room temp for a couple of days.
If you can’t eat all the leftovers in two days, this cake freezes well.
Slice the cake, set the slices on a baking sheet, then pop the baking sheet in the freezer for about half an hour to set the buttercream.
Once the frosting has hardened, tightly wrap each slice individually with a few layers of plastic wrap and/or freezer paper. You can store it this way for a couple of months.
A few more layer cakes (in case you’re hungry)
Strawberry Layer Cake
Tuxedo Cake
Death by Chocolate Cake
Coconut Mango Cake
If you make this white chocolate raspberry cake–or any of my recipes–be sure to let me know what you think by leaving a comment and rating below. And post a pic on Insta too—tag @theitsybitsykitchen so I can see!
- 6 ounces white chocolate finely chopped
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into chunks
- 1 15.25-ounce box white cake mix*
- 1 3-ounce box instant white chocolate pudding mix**
- 1/2 cup whole milk at room temperature
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream at room temperature
- 4 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups frozen raspberries
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 ounces white chocolate finely chopped
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
- 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 to 6 tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- fresh raspberries for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray and set pans aside.
Place the white chocolate and the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on 50% powder in 15-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer set to medium for 2 minutes. Beat in the white chocolate until combined. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans and smooth with a spatula.
- Bake 24 to 28 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pans for 20 minutes, then carefully invert onto a wire rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.
- While cake is in the oven, combine all filling ingredients in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and simmer until mixture is very thick and clings to a wooden spoon. Scrape into a small bowl and refrigerate until cool enough to spread.
- Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat at 50% power in 15-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- Beat the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and creamy, about 30 seconds. Turn mixer to low and beat in 5 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla and salt until combined. Add the cooled white chocolate and mix on low until incorporated. Turn mixer to medium and mix until smooth. If frosting is too thick, add additional milk; if it’s too thin, add additional powdered sugar.
- Assembly:
If your cake layers are too concave for your liking, chill the cake layers, then even them out with a long serrated knife.
Place one cake layer on a cake stand or cardboard cake circle. Spread half of the raspberry filling over the top of the cake (don’t go all the way to the edge). Gently spread (or pipe) a layer of frosting over the top of the filling, this time going all the way to the edge. Repeat with remaining filling and another layer of frosting. Top with remaining cake layer.
- Frost your cake with remaining frosting and decorate as desired. Serve.
*I used Duncan Hines
**You can substitute cheesecake or vanilla pudding--just be sure that it's instant.
Filling adapted from Genius Kitchen
DH says
I made this yesterday for a friend’s birthday, since our local bakery has decided it is a seasonal item. Well, this cake was soooo much better. It got rave reviews, and I was told that it was the best frosting one of my guests has ever had!
A couple of comments/tricks:
1. The concave layers were perfect for holding the raspberry filling.
2. I found it easier to make a frame of icing to put the filling in. Then I frosted the bottom of the next layer and placed it on top of the filing. I failed completely at gently spreading frosting over the filling, so that was my workaround.
This is a must save, already requested agin hit! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Kelsie says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Cheryl Stebbins says
Can this be made into cupcakes instead of a cake?
Kelsie says
Hi Cheryl! You can make it as cupcakes but the cupcakes will probably fall in the middle.
Scarlet Lynx says
I made this recipe for my seventeenth birthday, and it turned out fantastic, other than the fact that I had only two 9-inch cake pans and made too much frosting and filling. However, if you make the same mistake, just toss the extra frosting and just top the cake with the extra filling and garnish the final product with fresh raspberries.
Kelsie says
Oh that’s great! Thanks for the tip, Scarlet!
Audra Reddy says
I made this for my daughters BD. All she wanted was a box white cake, but I needed the cake to be better than that. This cake did the trick. The batter was super thick and I didn’t think that it was going to bake properly but I gave myself a day in advance in case it failed. It is hardly a fail, we cut one of the cakes when it came out of the oven to make sure it was okay and I have to say, this is the BEST cake ever. My daughter said this is the cake she wants every year now for her BD and she’s 24. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary recipe !
Kelsie says
I’m so glad you liked it, Audra!
Sue says
Will ( 2) 9” rounds work?
Kelsie says
Hi Sue, I think that will work but the baking time will be different and you won’t need as much filling.
Micah says
Hi, I’m wondering if I can make the filling a few days in advance and then keep it in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it?
Kelsie says
Hi Micah! That should be fine. It will probably thicken up quite a bit so if it’s not spreadable just let it sit at room temp to warm up a bit before you use it.
Danielle says
I have made the filling up to 3 days in advance and had it turn out just fine-as she stated, let it warm to room temp before spreading! ((I have been doing a quadruple berry filling && adding sugared berries to the top of the cake))
Mackenzie says
What a yummy looking recipe! Do you know if the frosting could serve as a base layer to a more decorative buttercream layer? I love the idea of serving this cake & flavors while also being able to decorate the outside for my daughter’s birthday. Thank you again for sharing!
Kelsie says
I’ve used variations of this frosting to decorate with before so I think as a base it would work. Another option would be to halve the recipe and just put it between the cake layers, then use whatever you normally would use to frost and decorate the outside of the cake. (With that option you’d have more frosting between the layers than I have but that’s not a bad thing!) I hope you love it!
Danielle says
I have added white chocolate shavings to the top of the cake rather than incorporating into the frosting-so that way I can utilize it like “normal” buttercream to decorate 😁
Devon says
Do you know if I could make the cake layers a week ahead of time and freeze them? I’ve never done that but it would make it so much easier to prepare for my sons birthday party!! Not sure how the thawing process works or if the cake would get stale!
Kelsie says
Hi Devon! I think you’re fine to freeze them for a week. Just cool the layers completely to room temperature, then wrap them well with plastic wrap and foil. I’ve frosted cake layers right out of the freezer and it works just fine. Just be sure the cake layers are fully cooled before you wrap them or they might sweat!
Jen says
Absolutely wonderful recipe! I made it today for my boyfriend’s birthday. The creamy buttery frosting with the moist cake and tart raspberries makes your tastebuds dance! Thank you for sharing!
Kelsie says
Oh I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know, Jen!