White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

Photo: The Answer is Cake

I’ve never really been a fan of white chocolate so I never considered baking with it.

Give me cocoa, dark or milk chocolate cake any day, but I always thought that white chocolate cake would be too sweet for me.

But at the request of a friend I baked a white chocolate cake – and what a revelation! I was astounded at how fantastic it tasted and also how incredibly easy it was to make.

Since then, I’ve baked more than a few white chocolate cakes. To give you an idea of what a convert I am to white chocolate cake, it was even my birthday cake of choice one year (I baked it – of course).

This recipe for White Chocolate and Raspberry cake is one of my favorites these days. A layered white chocolate cake, with lashings of creamy white chocolate ganache and a tangy raspberry sauce.

Photo: The Answer is Cake

The cake is sweet – but no sweeter than a regular chocolate cake really.

The raspberry sauce adds a wonderful tart contrast. While you could use fresh raspberries, frozen work really well and are often more tangy than fresh berries. Steer clear from tinned raspberries though, as they are far too sweet. You want to maintain that sweet and tart flavor contrast as it’s one of the reasons this cake is so delicious.

The cake is super-easy to make too. You actually mix it all up with a spoon in the saucepan after you’ve melted the white chocolate and butter. The white chocolate ganache is also very simple with just white chocolate and cream but you do need to let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour to thicken so factor that time in.

Photo: The Answer is Cake

I’d go as far as saying that I seem to have more success in baking white chocolate cakes than most other cakes. They are incredibly reliable and always seem to work out beautifully.

Without fail my white chocolate cakes have been golden on the outside with a lovely moist crumb in the center.

While I’d love to claim this is down to my baking prowess, I have a suspicion that there’s something in the sugar, oil and fat content of white chocolate that works really well in baked cakes. The cake also bakes at a fairly low temperature (160 degrees Celsius) which I think has something to do with it too. I’ll ask a food scientist one day about my baking with white chocolate theories.

I urge you to give this White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake recipe a try – even if, like me, you’re not a fan of white chocolate. You may just be surprised.

Photo: The Answer is Cake

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake Recipe

 

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

For the White Chocolate Cake:

• 220g white chocolate, chopped
• 180g butter, chopped
• 185ml cold water
• 155g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 150g self-raising flour, sifted
• 115g plain flour, sifted

For the Raspberry Sauce:

• 1 cup frozen raspberries

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

• 260g white chocolate, chopped
• 80ml thickened cream

Instructions

1. Step 1 - Preheat your oven to 160°C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake pan.
2. Step 2 - Place white chocolate, butter and water in a medium saucepan over low heat for 5 minutes or until chocolate has melted. Stir the mixture occasionally while it's melting. Remove from heat and leave for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
3. Step 3 - To the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, add sugar and eggs and stir until just combined. Add flours slowly, stirring well between each addition. Once all flour is added stir until well combined. Pour mixture into lined pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a few crumbs still cling to a skewer inserted into cake. Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Step 4 - To make the white chocolate ganache, place chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan quarter-filled with simmering water. Don't allow the bowl to touch the water while you're melting the chocolate. Stir with a spoon until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool in the refrigerator for an hour, stirring occasionally. The mixture should be thick but still spreadable.
5. Step 5 - To make the raspberry sauce, place raspberries in a small saucepan over medium heat until thawed through. Mash raspberries with a fork to break up and create a sauce. Leave some larger pieces of raspberry for variety. Taste test to ensure raspberries are not too tart - add a small amount of castor sugar to taste if required. Allow sauce to cool completely.
6. Step 6 - Once the cake has completely cooled, slice the cake horizontally to make two layers. Place bottom layer onto a plate or cake stand. Spread bottom layer with one-third of ganache and one third of the raspberry sauce. Top with other cake layer and remaining ganache and raspberry sauce.

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