Lemon Kit Kats

During a recent visit to the grocery store, I found myself meandering down the candy aisle. Not something I usually do, but it’s nearly Easter, which means Easter candy! How could I resist?! I quickly locked eyes on a bright yellow bag of Kit Kats. Before you question my pick in candy, you must know – these weren’t just any Kit Kats. No, these were special. These were LEMON Kit Kats.

If you’re new here, I must inform you that my love of lemon desserts and treats has grown immensely over the years – thanks to my mom’s influence. (She loves all things lemon and makes the most delicious lemon bars – which inspired my Lemon Bar Cake). I used to pick chocolate without hesitation, but now, lemon flavored desserts have me thinking twice about my usual quick jump to chocolate or peanut butter (my other go-to). Sometimes the freshness and tartness of lemon really hits the spot.

And this cake does just that!

Lemon Kit Kat Cake

To recreate the Lemon Kit Kat candy bar in a cake, I made lemon cake layers, a lemon white chocolate buttercream, and a lemon white chocolate wafer cookie crunch filling.

The lemon cake is fluffy and moist, thanks to a combination of egg whites, lemon instant pudding mix, and a heaping one and a quarter cup buttermilk! I think the lemon instant pudding mix is a must, but if it’s something you can’t get your hands on, add an extra teaspoon of lemon emulsion and the zest of one lemon to the cake batter in place of it.

For the buttercream, we’re using my white chocolate buttercream and a bit of lemon emulsion (you can also use extract). This replicates the white chocolate coating on the outside of the KitKat bars and is an extremely delicious combination.

Wafer Cookie Crunch Filling

To mimic the crunch of the wafer from the Kit Kat bar, we’re taking some inspiration from Milk Bar and making a crunch filling. Christina Tosi, founder of Milk Bar, often takes elements like pretzels and potato chips, bakes them with butter, brown sugar, and milk powder, and then coats the clusters with white chocolate to give her cakes a layer of texture that doesn’t get soggy.

For the wafer cookie crunch, you’ll want to grab wafer cookies like Loacker lemon cream-filled wafer cookies. If you can’t find lemon flavored wafer cookies, you can absolutely use vanilla wafer cookies, like Voortman’s. With the vanilla wafer cookies, you’ll want to add the zest of a second lemon to the recipe below.

Once we bake the crushed wafer cookies with milk powder and butter, we get crunchy clusters that we’ll then coat with white chocolate. Once that white chocolate hardens, it ensures the clusters maintain their crunch.

One note about the filling – it’s highly munchable. Try to save a little for the cake

How to Make a Moist Cake from Scratch

Don’t forget to follow my go-to tips for getting moist cakes that rise well:

• Preheat your oven for 30 minutes prior to baking.
• Use good quality pans like Fat Daddio.
• Spray your pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper. 
• Make sure to beat the butter, sugar, oil and eggs really well. The mixture should be smooth in texture and nearly doubled in volume when you’re done mixing. THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT!
• Don’t overmix your cake batter once you add the dry ingredients.
• Use room temperature wet ingredients. Not cold at all.
• Use fresh baking powder.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. REMEMBER: the cake continues to bake for a few minutes while it cools in the pan.

More Lemon Cakes to Love

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Lemon Kit Kat Cake

Lemon cake layers with wafer cookie crunch and white chocolate lemon buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword Kit Kat, Kit Kat Cake, KitKat, Lemon Cake, Lemon Kit Kat Cake, Lemon white chocolate buttercream

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 18

Author Courtney Rich

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 3 cups (345 g) cake flour
• 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) salt
• 3/4 cup (169.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cup (350 g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (2 oz.) instant lemon pudding mix
• 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup (300 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) lemon extract or emulsion
• Yellow food coloring optional

FOR THE WAFER COOKIE CRUNCH FILLING

• 1 1/2 cups (75 g) milk powder, divided
• 8.8 ounces (250 g) lemon wafer cookies, crushed but not finely ground
• zest of one lemon
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
• 6 ounces white chocolate chips, melted

FOR THE LEMON WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM

• 6 ounces white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup (60 g) heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
• 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
• 2 teaspoons (8.4 g) lemon extract or emulsion
• Pinch of salt
• Yellow food coloring, optional

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
• In another medium size bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and pudding mix together on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• With the mixer on medium speed, add the egg whites, one at a time, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions. Stir in the lemon extract or emulsion.
• Continue to beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until the mixture gets smooth in texture and slightly bigger in volume.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until combined. Fold in food coloring, if using.
• Divide batter evenly among your pans, about 16 ounces of batter in each pan.
• Bake the cakes, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes before inverting them onto cooling racks to cool completely.

FOR THE WAFER COOKIE CRUNCH FILLING

• Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium size mixing bowl, stir together 1 cup of the milk powder, the wafer cookies, and lemon zest.
• Pour in the melted butter and stir the mixture until the wafer cookies are "wet."
• Spread the cookie clusters on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
• In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the baked cookie clusters and the additional 1/2 cup milk powder.
• Pour the white chocolate over the crumbs and toss until the clusters are covered. Spread the clusters are parchment to dry.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• In a microwave safe bowl, combine the white chocolate and heavy cream. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until the white chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Gradually add the white chocolate ganache and mix until the mixture is smooth. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the lemon extract and salt. Mix until combined. Add yellow food coloring, if using. Mix until incorporated completely. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the frosting for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

ASSEMBLY

• Spread a small dollop of frosting onto a cake board. Place the first cake layer, top side up, on the board.
• Evenly spread about 1 cup of buttercream over the cake. Cover with the wafer cookie crunch. Pat the clusters into place.
• Place a second cake layer on the filling and repeat step 2.
• Place the third cake layer, top side down, on top of the second layer of filling. Lightly coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream to lock in the crumbs. Freeze the cake for about 10 to 15 minutes to set the frosting.
• Finish frosting and decorating the cake with the remaining buttercream. Top with more wafer cookie clusters.

Notes

*If you can’t find the lemon flavored wafer cookies, you can use vanilla wafer cookies. Add the zest of a second lemon to the recipe. 

**These cake layers bake about 1.25″ tall. If you want thicker cake layers, you can use two 8-inch pans or 1.5x the recipe. For both, the bake time will increase about 10 minutes.

The post Best Ever Lemon Kit Kat Cake with Lemon White Chocolate Buttercream first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

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White Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake

It’s time to thank Westin again for his brilliant flavor combination! White chocolate, raspberries, and brownies were made for each other – and putting them into a cake was a winning idea! Thanks, Westin!

For this delicious White Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake, we’ll be making white chocolate cake layers, raspberry cream filling, brownies, chocolate ganache, and white chocolate buttercream.

It may sound like a lot, but don’t let that stop you from making this cake! You can easily spread out the different elements over the course of a few days. Plus, we’re using a box brownie mix to speed up the process just a tad!

How to Make White Chocolate Cake

This white chocolate cake is adapted from my White Chocolate Peppermint Cake. In the white chocolate peppermint cake layers, we’re using melted white chocolate. The melted white chocolate adds great flavor, but does make the cake slightly more dense.

I wanted to play around with this recipe a bit, so I switched up the melted white chocolate for white chocolate instant pudding mix – with hopes of getting great flavor and a light and fluffy texture.

Success!

These layers are just as delicious as they are light and fluffy.

FAQ About White Chocolate Cake

Tips for Making Moist Cake From Scratch

• Start with room temperature ingredients – the eggs, butter, and buttermilk should all be room temperature before you start making the cake batter. These ingredients better blend together and are better absorbed by the dry ingredients, which helps your cake to rise well and stay moist.
• When mixing the butter, sugar, and eggs, beat the mixture on medium-high to high speed until light and fluffy, almost the consistency of a fluffy buttercream frosting.  This should take about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Once you start adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk, turn the mixer to low and mix until just combined.  Over-mixing will cause the cake to be dense and sink.
• Watch the cooking time. Remember, all our ovens are different. My time is a guide, so check your cake toward the end of the bake time I’ve given. The cake is done when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it.

Easy Raspberry Cream Filling

This raspberry cream filling is seriously SO easy to make. Three ingredients (freeze-dried raspberries, sugar, and heavy whipping cream) and less than 5 minutes are all you’ll need.

Where do I get freeze-dried raspberries? I have found freeze-dried fruit at most of my grocery stores, as well as Target.

The Best White Chocolate Buttercream

This white chocolate buttercream frosting is so incredibly delicious and pairs so well with many different cake flavors. I especially love using it with cakes that have fruit in them.

How to Make the Best Buttercream Frosting

To get a light and fluffy homemade buttercream frosting, I have a detailed post: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM to give you in-depth instructions for making your buttercream unreal! Here’s a quick overview.

• Sift your powdered sugar
• Use slightly cold butter and mix on its own for 2 to 3 minutes
• Use heavy whipping cream
• Beat for 5 minutes
• And then stir by hand to push out air pockets

You’ll want to check out the post linked above for more details on each step to make sure you get the best buttercream frosting. And remember, these steps can be used for any buttercream recipe on my blog.

Convert This Cake

How to Make a Layered Cake a Sheet Cake or Cupcakes

I get asked almost every day if one of my layered cakes can be turned into a sheet cake or cupcakes. The answer? Yes!

For baking temperature and time, the temperature will always remain the same. The time for a 9″x13″ sheet cake will be about 10 minutes longer than listed and the time for cupcakes will be about 5 to 10 minutes shorter.

Sheet Cake

If I were making this cake into a sheet cake, I’d stack it just like I would the layered cake:

• Cake
• Raspberry brownie cream filling
• Freeze-dried raspberries and a drizzle of ganache
• White chocolate buttercream (piped on)

Cupcakes

If I were making this cake into cupcakes, I’d fill and decorate them like this:

• Scoop a small hole out of the center of the cupcake
• Fill with brownie raspberry cream filling
• Pipe with buttercream
• Sprinkle on freeze-dried raspberries
• Drizzle on ganache

Cake Stands for This Cake

For a tall, 6-inch round cake, I like using 7 or 8-inch cake stands. I tried to find this pink cake stand at Target for you, but it’s a little old and it’s not online anymore. However, this scalloped one is so cute, it’s inexpensive and it’s the perfect size for this cake.

For shorter, 8-inch round cakes,I like using 10-inch cake stands. This one by Hearth and Home is on my list to get because you can never have too many white cake stands. I love how it doesn’t have any kind of lip around the edge. This makes it super easy to transfer your cake from the cake board to the cake stand.

Other Recipes You’ll Love

• Best Chewy Brownies from Scratch
• Chai White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie Bars
• Chocolate Raspberry Swiss Roll
• Raspberry Oreo Cake with Cookies and Cream Filling
• Pink Velvet Cake with Raspberry Buttercream

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White Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake

White chocolate cake with brownie filled raspberry cream filling, chocolate ganache and white chocolate buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword Raspberry brownie filling, Raspberry Cream Filling, white chocolate buttercream, white chocolate cake, White chocolate raspberry brownie cake

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 3 cups (345 g) cake flour
• 1 tablespoon (14 g) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon (1.4 g) salt
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 3 ounces white chocolate instant pudding mix
• 3 whole eggs, room temperature
• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup (262.5 g) buttermilk, room temperature

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy whipping cream
• 8 ounces (150 g) white chocolate chips
• 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
• 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

FOR THE RASPBERRY CREAM FILLING

• 1/4 cup (15 g) freeze dried raspberries, measured and then pulverized into a powder
• 1/4 cup (40 g) sugar
• 1 cup (225 g) heavy cream

For the Brownies

• One batch of your favorite boxed brownies. I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownies.

For the Ganache

• 8 ounces chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

• Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray four 6-inch round cake pans (or three 8-inch round cake pans) with nonstick spray, line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside
• In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until light in color. Add the sugar and pudding mix and continue to mix until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Turn the mixer to medium-low, add in the whole eggs, egg whites, and vanilla. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix on medium-high for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture should be smooth and silky.
• With the mixer on low, alternately add in the dry ingredients and buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.
• Pour batter into prepared pans (about 12 to 13 ounces in each 6-inch pan) and bake until slightly golden in on top, 30 to 35 minutes. (A few moist crumbs should come out on a toothpick when testing the centers).
• Let the cake layers cool about 10 minutes in the pans and then invert onto wire cooling racks.
• When the cake layers are room temperature, level each layer (if needed), with a cake leveler. Wrap each layer with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cream and the pour it over the white chocolate to melt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and silky. If needed heat the mixture for another 20 to 30 seconds and stir until the chips are melted. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed for about two minutes.
• Slowly add the white chocolate ganache and mix until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the white chocolate.
• With the mixer on low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix for another minute.
• Increase the speed to medium-high and beat the frosting for about 3 to 5 minutes, until light in color and texture.

FOR THE RASPBERRY CREAM FILLNG

• In a food processor or blender, pulse the freeze dried raspberries until they resemble a powder.
• Add the sugar and cream. Scrape down the sides and corners to gather all the fruit powder.
• Pulse the mixer for about 1 to 2 minutes or until the texture becomes thick like Greek yogurt. Keep chilled until ready to use.

For the Brownies

• Make brownie batter according to directions. Bake in a 9″ x 13” pan for about 10 mins less than recommended time. Allow to cool completely before using.

For the Ganache

• In a microwave safe bowl, heat the heavy cream.
• Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and stir to melt.

Assembly

• Chop brownies into bite size pieces. Fold in about 1 cup of the brownie pieces into the raspberry cream filling. Reserve remaining brownies to decorate the top of the cake (and for snack, of course).
• Place the first cake layer, top side up, in the center of a cake board or cake plate.
• Pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of the cake and fill the center with raspberry brownie filling. (For the 6-inch layers, you'll use a generous 1/2 cup of the filling between each layer. If you make three 8-inch layers, you'll use about one cup of filling between layers).
• Sprinkle crushed freeze dried raspberry pieces over the filling, followed by a drizzle of chocolate ganache.
• Repeat these steps for the next two layers (if making a four layer 6-inch cake, or the next layer, if making a three layer 8-inch cake).
• Place final cake layer, top side down, on the filling.
• Apply a thin layer of buttercream around the cake. This is the crumb coat. Freeze the cake for about 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
• Continue frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream. Use remaining ganache for a drip, if desired.

The post White Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

Gingerbread Cranberry Cake

With Christmas around the corner, I have another new cake that would be perfect for your holiday gatherings. Whether you’re getting together with family or keeping your celebrations small, having cake as your dining table centerpiece is always a good idea!

This week’s new cake is my Gingerbread Cranberry Cake. Gingerbread is one of my favorite holiday desserts this time of year. In fact, I’ve made a few gingerbread cakes in the past that I think you’ll also love:

More Gingerbread Cakes to Love

HOW TO MAKE MOIST CAKE FROM SCRATCH

Don’t forget to follow my go-to tips for getting moist cakes that rise well:

• Preheat your oven for 30 minutes prior to baking.
• Use good quality pans like Fat Daddio.
• Spray your pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper. 
• Make sure to beat the oil, sugars, and eggs really well. The mixture should be smooth in texture and nearly doubled in volume when you’re done mixing. THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT!
• Don’t overmix your cake batter once you add the dry ingredients.
• Use room temperature wet ingredients. Not cold at all.
• Use fresh baking powder.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. REMEMBER: the cake continues to bake for a few minutes while it cools in the pan.

How to Make Buttercream Frosting

To get a light and fluffy homemade buttercream frosting, make sure you follow my tips over at: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM

These steps are written up for my vanilla buttercream, but are supposed to be applied to any of my buttercream recipes.

• Sift your powdered sugar
• Use slightly cold butter
• Use heavy whipping cream
• Beat for 5 minutes
• Stir by hand

You’ll want to check out the post linked above for more details on each step.

HOW TO MAKE CANDIED CRANBERRIES

• Bring the 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Pour the simple syrup into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
• Add cranberries and stir to coat.
• Refrigerate cranberries during the day or overnight, stirring occasionally to coat with syrup.
• Remove cranberries from syrup and roll in remaining ½ cup sugar. You’ll need to roll them a few times to get a couple of layers of sugar on them.
• Set cranberries aside to dry for an hour or so.

More Christmas Cakes to Love

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Gingerbread Cranberry Cake

Gingerbread cake layers with cranberry compote and white chocolate buttercream.  

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword Cranberry Compote, Gingerbread Cake, gingerbread cranberry cake, Gingersnap, white chocolate buttercream

Servings 1 3-layer, 6-inch cake

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 3 1/4 cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons (5.3 g) ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons (5.3 g) cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) salt
• 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter room temperature
• 3/4 cup (165 g) brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups (300 g) buttermilk, room temperature

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
• 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
• 6 ounces white chocolate
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla
• generous pinch of salt
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

FOR THE CANDIED CRANBERRIES

• 2 cups (200 g) fresh cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar, divided
• 1 cup (236.6 g) water

FOR THE COMPOTE

• 2 cups (200 g) fresh cranberries
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (118.3 g) water
• 1 tablespoon (8.12 g) cornstarch, sifted

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch pans with nonstick spray, line the bottoms with parchment and spray again. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
• Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add in the brown sugar and beat together on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
• On medium-low, gradually add in the eggs and molasses until incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium-high and mix until smooth and nearly double in volume, about 3 minutes.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
• Once mixed, evenly divide all of the batter into the prepared pans (about 16 ounces in each 8-inch pan).
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes, checking around 25 minutes. When you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, a few moist crumbs should come out on it. Remember, the cake continues to bake for 5 minutes as it cools in the pans. 
• Cool on a wire rack before de-panning.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter on medium-high for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Melt white chocolate and cream together until smooth consistency and then add to butter.
• On low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the vanilla, and salt.
• Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

FOR THE CANDIED CRANBERRIES

• Bring the 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Pour the simple syrup into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
• Add cranberries and stir to coat. Refrigerate cranberries during the day or overnight, stirring occasionally to coat with syrup.
• Remove cranberries from syrup and roll in remaining ½ cup sugar. You’ll need to roll them a few times to get a couple of layers of sugar on them.

  Set cranberries aside to dry for an hour or so.

FOR THE COMPOTE

• In a saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar and water over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and then cover to allow the cranberries to cook and soften.
• When the cranberries have softened and begin to pop, slowly add the sifted corn starch and stir until it is incorporated. (If you don’t sift the cornstarch, you’ll likely get white clumps in the compote that are hard to dissolve.) You can use a fork or potato masher to help break up the cranberries as well.
• Allow the cranberries to simmer for another 5 minutes. The mixture will become thick and somewhat jelly-like. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and let cool to room temperature or store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use.

ASSEMBLY

• Place the first cake layer (top side up) on a cake board. Spread about 1/2 cup of the buttercream evenly over the cake layer. Pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of the cake.
• Spread half of the cranberry compote across the buttercream.
• Repeat these steps for the second layer and then place the third cake layer, top side down.
• Apply a thin coat of frosting around the entire cake to lock in the crumbs. This coat of frosting does not need to look pretty, it’s simply to lock in the crumbs so they don’t get into the final coat of frosting. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes. 
• After the crumb coat is set, continue to frost and decorate the cake with the remaining buttercream and candied cranberries.

The post The Best Gingerbread Cranberry Cake first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

Gingerbread Biscoff Caramel Cake

This Gingerbread Cake recipe definitely has a lot going on, but don’t let that scare you off. It’s worth every minute and every step! To keep it stress-free, I recommend making the different elements of the cake over the course of a few days and then doing the assembly the day you plan to serve it. We’ll also talk about how to turn it into a sheet cake later in the post!

How to Schedule Cake Making

• Day 1 – bake the cookie crust and cake layers. Once the layers are cooled completely, wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze until 30 to 60 minutes before you want to decorate the cake.
• Day 2 – start the white chocolate ganache. For this recipe, you will need the white chocolate ganache to refrigerate overnight before you whip it. You can also make the Biscoff caramel on day 2.
• Day 3 – make the Biscoff caramel buttercream, whip the white chocolate ganache, and assemble the cake to serve.

How to Make Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

One of the most important steps of making the white chocolate ganache is emulsifying it. So let’s start with that: why is it important to emulsify ganache?

When you emulsify ganache, it creates a smooth texture without air getting incorporated. Too much air in the ganache will result in the ganache splitting.

How to emulsify ganache

To emulsify the ganache, you can do it one of three ways:

• One: with a whisk or spatula, gently stir the mixture starting in the center and then working your way outward to blend.
• Two: use an emulsion blender to blend the ganache.
• Three: use a hand mixer to blend the ganache.

Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, as the white chocolate often settles.

Once the mixture is smooth and cooled a little more, cover the ganache with plastic wrap, making sure to press it gently into the ganache to ensure a film doesn’t form.

Refrigerate the ganache overnight, or at least 6 hours. You won’t be able to whip it if it’s not cold.

Once chilled, pour the ganache into a chilled stainless steel bowl. Using medium-high speed on your mixer, beat the ganache until fluffy and thick. This will take a couple minutes.Use immediately or cover and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days.

Can This Cake Be Made Into a Sheet Cake?

Absolutely! To make this layered cake into a sheet cake, you’ll do the crust and cake in a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan. You’ll bake the crust for the same amount of time as written in the recipe, but you’ll need to add about 10 minutes to the bake time when you’re baking the cake on top of the crust. I would then spread the buttercream evenly over the cake. Top with the white chocolate ganache and drizzle of Biscoff caramel.

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Gingerbread Biscoff Caramel Cake

Moist and tender gingerbread cake layers baked on a gingerbread cookie crust, filled with whipped white chocolate ganache, Biscoff caramel buttercream, and Biscoff caramel.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword biscoff, biscoff caramel, caramel, Gingerbread, Gingerbread Cake, Gingerbread Cookie Cake,, whipped white chocolate ganache, white chocolate ganache

Ingredients

For the Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

• 2 cups (360 g) white chocolate (made with cocoa butter – this can be a bar chopped or chips)
• 2 cups (480 g) heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons (8.4 g) vanilla extract

For the Crust

• 30 (300g) store bought gingersnap cookies, the really crunchy ones
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar

For the Cake

• 3 1/4 cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons (5.3 g) ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons (5.3 g) cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
• 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups (300 g) buttermilk, room temperature

For the Biscoff Caramel

• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 g) water
• 2 teaspoons (37.5 g) light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla
• 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
• 1/2 cup (120 g) Biscoff cookie butter

For the Buttercream

• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
• 1/2 cup (120 g) Biscoff cookie butter
• 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
• 1/4 cup Biscoff caramel, recipe above

Instructions

For the Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

• *Start this a day before you want to assemble the cake
• Place the white chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Set aside.
• Pour the heavy whipping cream into a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Heat the cream, stirring frequently until it boils. Stir in the vanilla.
• Turn off the heat and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes to cool ever so slightly.
• Carefully pour the warm heavy cream over the white chocolate. Allow the mixture to sit for another 1 to 2 minutes before stirring.
• With a spatula or whisk, begin to gently stir the mixture starting in the center and then working outward to blend. This helps to create a smooth emulsion and prevents too much air from being incorporated. Too much air means the ganache may split. You can then use a hand mixer or immersion blender to emulsify the white chocolate ganache.
• Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, as the white chocolate often settles.
• Once the mixture is smooth and cooled a little more, cover the ganache with plastic wrap, making sure to press it gently into the ganache to ensure a film doesn’t form.
• Refrigerate the ganache overnight, or at least 6 hours. You won’t be able to whip it if it’s not cold.
• Once chilled, pour the ganache into a chilled stainless steel bowl. Using medium-high speed on your mixer, beat the ganache until fluffy and thick. This will take a couple minutes.
• Use immediately or cover and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days.

FOR THE COOKIE CRUST

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch pans with nonstick spray, line the bottoms with parchment and spray again. Set aside.
• In a food processor or blender, pulse the gingersnap cookies until the texture resembles sand.
• Mix in the melted butter and granulated sugar.
• Evenly divide the cookie crumbs between the three pans, about 5 to 6 ounces in each. Firmly press the cookie crumbs to form a crust on the bottom of the cake pan.
• Bake the cookie crusts for 5 minutes.
• Remove the pans from the oven and allow to cool while making the cake batter.

FOR THE CAKE

• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed for about 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
• On medium-low, gradually add in the eggs and molasses until incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium-high and mix until smooth and nearly double in volume, about 3 minutes.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
• Once mixed, evenly divide all of the batter onto the cookie crusts in the pans (about 15 to 16 ounces in each 8-inch pan).
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes, checking around 25 minutes. When you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, a few moist crumbs should come out on it. Remember, the cake continues to bake for 5 minutes as it cools in the pans.
• Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

FOR THE CARAMEL

• Mix sugar, water and corn syrup in a small saucepan.
• Bring the water and sugar mixture to boil over medium heat, but DO NOT STIR. (Stirring encourages crystallization). Let the mixture cook until it caramelizes into a golden brown color. It happens quickly, so keep an eye on it.
• Remove the caramelized sugar syrup from the heat and slowly mix in the cream. Pour in just a tiny bit at a time, especially at the beginning, and mix to combine. You can start adding more and more as you go along.
• Mix in salt and vanilla. Stir to combine.
• Stir in the Biscoff cookie butter.
• Let cool to room temperature before using in buttercream or adding in between layers.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and Biscoff cookie butter on medium-high for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Turn the mixer to medium and gradually add 1/4 cup caramel. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again until the caramel is incorporated.
• On low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
• Remember to mix the frosting by hand with a wooden spoon or large spatula to push out the air to create a silky-smooth frosting.

ASSEMBLY

• Spread a small dollop of buttercream on a cake board or cake plate. Place the first cake layer, top side up, on the cake board.
• Evenly spread about 1/2 cup of the buttercream over the cake layer.
• Using a piping bag, pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of the cake.
• Fill the center with 1/2 to 2/3 cup whipped white chocolate ganache, followed by a drizzle of the caramel.
• Repeat this step for the second cake layer and filling.
• Place the final cake layer (top side up) on top of the filling.
• Use the remaining buttercream to frost a thin layer of buttercream around the cake. This is the crumb coat, which helps to lock the crumbs in place and give the cake some stability before doing the final decorating. Freeze the cake for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Using the remaining whipped white chocolate ganache, frost the sides and top of the cake. Remember: this is a whipped frosting and won’t work the same as typical buttercream. It will be “rustic” looking

The post Gingerbread Biscoff Caramel Cake with Gingerbread Cookie Crust first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

Be sure to check out the full video tutorial below!

The Tom Cruise Cake

Have you heard about the viral Tom Cruise cake? It’s a white chocolate coconut cake from Doan’s Bakery – a cake so delicious, Tom apparently gifts it to all of his friends at Christmas. In fact, several of those said friends have talked about it on social media and talk shows. The world of foodies hasn’t stopped talking about it, but many people aren’t trying it. Why? Because ordering the real deal has a hefty price tag on it: nearly $130.

Lucky for me, I got my hands on a few slices thanks for a friend who had it delivered for her birthday!

Doan’s Bakery White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

The original Doan’s Bakery version of this cake is described on the Goldbelly website as:

“The White Chocolate Coconut Cake is Doan’s most famous creation and for good reason. They start with a ring of moist, luxurious coconut bundt cake, mix in chunks of sweet white chocolate, layer on rich cream cheese frosting, and then dust it all over with toasted coconut flakes. The result is a delicious, pillowy cake good enough to derail the strictest Hollywood diets.”

I was eager to try this famous cake, but was unfortunately left underwhelmed. (Granted, I know the cake had been shipped, but I still had high hopes.)

My Review of the Doan’s White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

Okay, real talk – I taste tested the Doan’s cake on Instagram stories last week and had a hard time hiding my lack of excitement for this cake. Here’s why:

• The cake itself lacked coconut flavor. To me, it tasted more like a dense yellow cake.
• The description says the cake has white chocolate chunks, but I never tasted one.
• I did think the cake was fairly moist, which won it some points. (After reading the description, we can thank the sour cream for that.)
• The buttercream was super duper sweet and had a strong cream cheese flavor. I felt like it overpowered the cake.

After tasting the real deal, I wondered if I could make a more flavorful, more moist cake – one that resembles the original version, but takes it up a notch.

White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

It took me a few rounds of experiment to get the texture and flavor I wanted. In the first round, the cake was too fluffy and airy. In the second round, the cake was too dense. In the third round the texture was just right and the flavor was perfectly on point.

Here’s a look at what I did:

• For fat and flavor in the cake, I used half part coconut milk and half part buttermilk.
• I also added coconut emulsion to the cake to enhance the coconut flavor (feel free to substitute with coconut extract).
• Instead of chunks of white chocolate, I used melted chocolate, which gives the cake added richness.
• After pouring the batter into the pan, I topped the bottom of the cake with toasted coconut and then toffee pieces (instead of white chocolate chunks like the original – I liked the more caramelized flavor the toffee offers).
• In the buttercream, I used a mix of butter and cream cheese, but not too much cream cheese that it would overpower the other flavors.
• I also added coconut emulsion to the buttercream.

You can see how fluffy and smooth that cake batter is above, right? It’s so flavorful, so moist, and just so delicious! Just check out this close up below!

How Do I Store This Cake?

If you want to make this cake ahead of time, you’ll want to let the cake cool completely and then wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it. Before serving, let it thaw for about 4 hours and then frost with the buttercream.

How to Make the Tom Cruise Coconut Bundt Cake: Video Tutorial

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Copycat Tom Cruise White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

Moist and flavorful white chocolate coconut cake with a light and fluffy coconut cream cheese buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword Bundt Cake, Coconut, Coconut Bundt Cake, Coconut Buttercream, Coconut Cake, White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

Ingredients

FOR THE COCONUT CAKE

• 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
• ½ cup (125 g) canned coconut milk, mixed before measuring
• ½ cup (120 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (16 g) coconut emulsion or extract
• 1 ¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 ounces white chocolate, melted
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 egg whites, at room temperature

FOR THE COCONUT BUTTERCREAM

• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
• 1 teaspoon (5.3 g) coconut emulsion
• Pinch of salt

GARNISH

• 1 cup (95 g) sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup (95 g) toasted coconut, I buy mine pre-toasted from Orson Gygi
• 1 cup toffee baking bits

Instructions

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE COCONUT CAKE

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick spray. Dust with granulated sugar. Set aside.
• In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a small mixing bowl, stir together the coconut milk, buttermilk, and coconut emulsion. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light in color and fluffy in texture, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Stir in the melted white chocolate, followed by the eggs and egg whites, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl in between additions.
• Continue to beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until the mixture gets smooth in texture and slightly bigger in volume.
• With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 the coconut mixture, another 1/3 of the flour, the second 1/2 of the coconut mixture, and then the remaining flour mixture. Stir until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top of the cake (which turns into the bottom) with the toasted coconut and then cover with the toffee bits (the coconut flakes need to go first so you can cover them with the toffee to help prevent the flakes from browning too much). Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
• Remove from oven and place the bundt pan on a cooling rack to cool completely. Allow the cake to cool for about an hour, until it’s room temperature, before inverting the cake on a cake stand. Allowing the cake to cool completely in the pan helps the cake to release from the sides cleanly when it’s time to take the cake out.

FOR THE COCONUT BUTTERCREAM

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese for about 2 minutes, until lighter in color and fluffier in texture.
• With the mixer on low, gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing a little in between each addition.
• Stir in the coconut emulsion and salt.
• Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. The buttercream will become lighter in color and texture.

ASSEMBLY

• Spread or pipe the buttercream on top of the cake. Cover with shredded coconut.

The post Copycat Tom Cruise White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

Reinventing Carrot Cake

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t always been a fan of carrot cake. Growing up, I would eat (or not eat, in reality) the very traditional version: spiced carrot cake layers with raisins and nuts, covered in cream cheese frosting. I would always take one bite and push my plate away. Nuts, no thank you. Raisins, no thank you. Not in my cakes!

It wasn’t until a couple years ago that I decided to try out a couple of new carrot cake recipes from some of my favorite bakers, including Sweetapolita and Milk Bar’s Cristina Tosi. I was originally drawn to the Sweetapolita recipe because Rosie doesn’t use nuts or raisins in her cake. She also includes candied ginger and orange zest, and used a white chocolate buttercream. All of which I love and knew would taste amazing together in a cake.

Rosie’s cake didn’t disappoint in the least. It quickly changed my opinion of carrot cake and became my go-to Easter cake.

Then, last year, I decided to try out Milk Bar’s Carrot Cake. I have loved so many of the Milk Bar cakes and was eager to see how Cristina reinvented this traditional cake. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. The cake itself was pretty much a typical spice cake, and the cheesecake filling was a little overwhelming. I did love the graham cracker frosting and graham crust though! Just all together, the cake wasn’t my favorite.

My Take on the Classic: Carrot Apricot Cake with White Chocolate Pretzel Crunch Filling

As I was thinking about creating my own carrot cake recipe this year, I knew I wanted to do something with fruit. I racked my brain for something that I hadn’t seen used with carrot cake (i.e. no pineapples, no oranges, no strawberries) and something that would compliment the cake well. I landed on apricots and was so excited about it. But, if you caught my Instagram stories recently, you saw my excitement was squashed a bit when I realized I didn’t time my seasons right with this one! No fresh apricots in March. Duh! What was I thinking!

Well, that wasn’t going to stop me. I went with my backup plan and snagged some canned apricots to make my compote. It worked beautifully.

White Chocolate Pretzel Crunch Filling

The other element I wanted to add to this traditional cake was some kind of texture, and not in the form of nuts. While talking to my mom about some ideas, she suggested trying something with pretzels. I wasn’t sold on it right away, but the more I thought about the crunchy, salty pretzels in this cake, the more the idea grew on me. I just needed to add them the right way.

As I was thinking of how to create the right pretzel filling, I remembered Milk Bar has a recipe for Milk Crumbs, which is basically flour and milk powder baked in butter and covered in white chocolate. (Seriously heaven!). I played around with the recipe a little and subbed crushed pretzels for the flour and came up with the White Chocolate Pretzel Crunch Filling. You guys! This stuff is no joke! If I were you, I’d make double the recipe called for because you’ll not only want to add more to each slice of cake as you serve it, you’ll want to snack on this stuff all day long.

I then decided to go with a white chocolate buttercream like Rosie did in her cake. It’s a little less traditional and pairs perfectly with the apricot compote and white chocolate pretzel filling.

Of course, if you love the traditional cream cheese frosting on your carrot cake, go right ahead and whip up THIS frosting recipe instead. It’s amazing

Have I sold you on it yet? I really hope so because I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Enjoy and have a wonderful Easter weekend.

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Carrot Apricot Cake

Carrot cake layers with an apricot compote, a white chocolate pretzel filling, and white chocolate buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword carrot cake, white chocolate buttercream

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 5 cups (420 g) freshly grated carrots
• 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (315 g) all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp (12 g) baking powder
• 1 tsp (4 g) baking soda
• 1 tsp (6 g) salt
• 1 tsp (2.6 g) ground ginger
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla
• 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, at room temperature

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE PRETZEL FILLING (adapted from Milk Bar)

• 1/2 cup (62.5 g) milk powder
• 1/2 cup (60 g) crushed pretzels, I pulverized mine in my magic bullet
• 2 tablespoons (16.9 g) cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
• 5 tablespoons (70.6 g) butter, melted
• 1/4 cup (31.25 g) milk powder
• 3/4 cup (127.5 g) white chocolate, melted
• I suggest doubling the filling to snack on!

FOR THE APRICOT COMPOTE

• 2 cans apricots, drained or 2 cups fresh apricots, diced
• 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
• 2 teaspoons (16.8 g) cornstarch, sifted

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
• 5 ounces white chocolate, melted
• 5 1/2 cups (687.5 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoons (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping, you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray each of the three 8-inch or four 6-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
• Grate the carrots using a food processor. Measure out 5 cups.
• In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. Stir until blended. 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat on medium for about 3 minutes. 
• Beat in the eggs, followed by the vanilla. (Don’t worry if it seems curdled).
• With the mixer on low, gradually add about one third of the flour mixture. Beat until just mixed, followed by half the milk. Repeat additions, ending with the flour. Stir in the carrots.
• Divide batter between pans, about 16 to 17 ounces of batter in each 8-inch or 12 ounces in each 6-inch pan. Spread as evenly as possible to the side of the pans.
• Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it. 
• Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes in their pans before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.
• Can be decorated once cooled completely, or to store them for up to a week, wrap each layer in plastic wrap and freeze. Before frosting the frozen cake layers, take them out of the fridge about an hour beforehand so the layers aren’t too cold (which will harden your frosting as you start to decorate).

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE PRETZEL FILLING

• Heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium sized bowl, combine 1/2 cup milk powder, pretzel crumbs, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Toss with your hands to mix. Add the melted butter and toss, using a spatula or spoon, until the mixture starts to come together and form small clusters.
• Spread the clusters on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes. The crumbs should be sandy at that point. Cool the crumbs completely.
• Crumble any clusters that are larger than 1/2 inch in diameter, and put the crumbs back in the medium bowl. Add the 1/4 cup milk powder and toss together until it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
• Pour the white chocolate over the crumbs and toss until your clusters are covered. Then continue tossing them every five minutes until the white chocolate hardens and the clusters are no longer sticky. The crumbs will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month.

FOR THE APRICOT COMPOTE

• Combine the apricots and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir occasionally while the mixture comes to a boil. Once the mixture boils, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the sifted cornstarch and stir until well blended. 
• Pour the mixture into a blender and puree. 
• Let cool completely before using in the cake. 
• Best to make the compote a day or more ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cream and then pour it over the white chocolate to melt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and silky. If needed heat the mixture for another 20 to 30 seconds and stir until the chips are melted. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed for about two minutes.
• With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the sifted powdered sugar until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix for another minute.
• Slowly add the warm white chocolate while mixing on medium-low speed.
• Add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium-high and beat the frosting for five minutes, until light in color and texture. 
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a wooden spoon and mix by hand to stir out the air bubbles. emove the bowl from the mixer and use a wooden spoon and mix by hand to stir out the air bubbles.

ASSEMBLY

• Level each cake layer with a knife or cake leveler, if needed.
• Place your first cake layer, right-side up, on a cake plate or cake board. Cover the cake layer with a thin layer of frosting, allowing some of the frosting to go over the edge of the cake, and then pipe a rim around the cake to act as a barrier to the apricot compote.
• Pour and spread about 1/4 to 1/2 cup compote over the cake layer. Cover with the white chocolate pretzel crunch filling. 
• Repeat step 2 and 3 for the second layer, and then place the final cake layer on top, top side down. Frost the entire cake with a thin coat of frosting to lock in the crumbs. Freeze the crumb coat for 10 to 15 minutes. 
• After the crumb coat is chilled, continue frosting the cake.

The post Delicious Carrot Cake with Apricot Filling and White Chocolate Buttercream (no nuts, no raisins!) first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

Ice Cream Standards

BISCOFF CAKE

Tips for This Cake

• Make things ahead of time. The cake layers and filling can be done days in advance. When the cake layers are room temperature, wrap them well in plastic wrap and freeze them. Remove them from the freezer about 30 to 60 minutes before decorating. The filling can be stored at room temperature, covered, for a day or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
• When making the white chocolate frosting, you’ll want to add the white chocolate to the butter while the white chocolate is still a bit warm. If it’s too cool, the cold butter will harden it and you’ll get chunks of white chocolate in your frosting.
• This is my favorite brand of white chocolate. I use it for the frosting and the drip.

Video Tutorial

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Biscoff Cake

Tender Biscoff cake layers, filled with a creamy Biscoff cookie spread, Biscoff cookies, covered with a white chocolate frosting.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword Biscoff Cake, white chocolate buttercream

Servings 1 4-layer 6-inch or 3-layer 8-inch round cake

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 18 Biscoff or Speculoos Cookies
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (255 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon (4.5 g) salt
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (133 g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar, packed
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (480 g) buttermilk, at room temperature 

FOR THE FILLING

• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (250 g) Biscoff spread or other cookie butter
• 1 cup  (125 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• 2 cup (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
• 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.1 g) vanilla
• 6 ounces white chocolate
• 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy whipping cream 
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping, you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

FOR THE DRIP

• 1 cup (150 g) white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup (77 g) heavy whipping cream 

GARNISH

• 6 Biscoff Cookies

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch pans with non-stick cooking spray, line the bottoms with parchment and spray again. Set aside.
• Place the Biscoff cookies in a food processor or blender and pulse until the cookies are finely ground and resemble flour.
• In a medium-size bowl, combine the Biscoff crumbs, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until the ingredients are well-blended. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat for about two minutes, until the mixture looks lighter in color and fluffier in texture.
• With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Slowly add half of the buttermilk and mix until incorporated. Continue alternating the flour and buttermilk until it has all been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and slowly mix for another 20-30 seconds.
• Divide the batter evenly among your pans and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. 

FOR THE FILLING

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and Biscoff spread or cookie butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat for 2-3 minutes. 

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cream and then pour it over the white chocolate to melt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and silky. If needed heat the mixture for another 20 to 30 seconds and stir until the chips are melted. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed for about two minutes.
• Slowly add the white chocolate (which should still be warm) while mixing on medium-low speed. Using warm white chocolate will soften your butter but is important because it won't harden when it hits the cold butter like room temperature white chocolate will. If your buttercream feels soft after it's all mixed, just refrigerate the buttercream to harden it just a bit.
• With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the sifted powdered sugar until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix for another minute.
• Add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium-high and beat the frosting for five minutes, until light in color and texture. 

FOR THE DRIP

• Heat the cream in a microwave safe bowl for 60 seconds. Pour the cream over the white chocolate chips and let sit for five minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly.
• Best to use the drip on a chilled cake. 

ASSEMBLY

• Level each cake layer with a knife or cake leveler.
• Place the first cake layer on a cake board and top with 1/2 or 1/3 (depending on if it’s 8-inch or 6-inch cake layers) Cookie Butter Filling. Crumble two cookies into small pieces and press into the Cookie Butter Filling.
• Repeat step two with the remaining cake layers. Place the final cake layer top-side down.
• Apply a thin crumb coat around the cake and chill for 10 minutes in the freezer to set.
• Finish frosting the cake with the white chocolate frosting. Chill for another 10 minutes and apply the drip.

The post The Most Delicious Biscoff Cake with Biscoff Filling first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

My friend, Lisa, recently returned home from a trip to Amsterdam, where she visited the most incredible bakery. How do I know it’s incredible? I know because Lisa brought me home cookies from Van Stapele Koekmakerij, the bakery. (Talk about an amazing friend!).

This bakery is well-known for their cookie (singular)… this cookie is ALL they do.

Their famous cookie is a soft, bittersweet chocolate cookie with milk chocolate chips and a white chocolate center. It’s incredible! The moment I took a bite, I knew I needed to recreate the cookies and make a cake inspired by it.

I haven’t gotten to the cookies, but I made the cake the very next day.

Tuxedo Cake

My new cake, inspired by these decadent cookies, is my Tuxedo Cake.

What is a tuxedo cake?

There are a few variations of tuxedo cake: you’ll see some recipes with a white chocolate ganache between chocolate cake layers, some recipes use white chocolate and regular chocolate ganache, and some use mousse fillings.

For my cake, I knew immediately that I wanted to use a white chocolate mousse in between my dark chocolate cake layers with a chocolate buttercream. I could literally taste the cake in my mind as I thought about the textures and flavors together.

How to Make a Tuxedo Cake

To make a tuxedo cake from scratch, we’re going to start with my dark chocolate cake layers.

What makes the best chocolate cake?

Moisture: this cake is incredibly moist thanks to a combination of buttermilk, hot water (or you can use coffee), oil, and eggs.

Richness: we’re using a high fat, dark chocolate cocoa powder. It’s important to note that this recipe uses dark chocolate for a reason. Because we’re adding all the other ingredients to the cocoa powder, if we used a basic cocoa powder, the chocolate flavor would get diluted. Additionally, if the cocoa powder is low in fat (like most grocery store brands), you run the risk of drying out the cake. My go-to cocoa powder is Extra Brute Cacao Barry, or anything similar to richness and fat as this.

NOTE: the cake batter is thin. Don’t let that stress you out. It bakes beautifully.

In addition to the chocolate cake layers, you’re going to make a super simple white chocolate mousse and chocolate buttercream.

Easy White Chocolate Mousse

This white chocolate mousse recipe is incredibly easy. It only has three ingredients in it. Three! You’ll see some mousse recipes cook egg yolks over the stove and require a tempering process, but we’re going to simply make a ganache and fold in heavy whipping cream. So easy!

The Best Chocolate Buttercream

I’m making a lot of big claims today, I know. But friends, I stand by them! This is the most delicious chocolate cake and this is THE BEST chocolate buttercream. You’ll be using 10 ounces of dark chocolate, some heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar (sifted, of course), vanilla and salt. I have some tips below for making the best buttercream frosting, plus, you’ll want to click the Instagram icon below to see how I make it.

Dark Chocolate vs. Milk Chocolate

It’s important to note that this recipe uses dark chocolate for a reason. If you use milk chocolate chips or regular cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate, you’re going to lose a lot of the chocolate flavor. It will be too sweet. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love all things sweet, but it’s important to have balance. The dark chocolate in the layers and the buttercream help provide a balance to the sweetness because dark cocoa is bittersweet. However, the cake and buttercream frosting don’t taste bittersweet because we’ve added other ingredients to them (i.e. sugar!).

So trust me on this one. Use dark chocolate!

How to Make the Best Buttercream Frosting

To get this silky smooth buttercream, make sure you follow my tips: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM

• Sift your powdered sugar
• Use slightly cold butter
• Use heavy whipping cream
• Beat for 5 minutes
• Stir by hand

You’ll want to check out the post linked above for more details on each step to make sure you get the best buttercream frosting. And remember, these steps can be used for any buttercream recipe on my blog.

IMPORTANT For chocolate buttercream specifically, remember to heat the cream and chocolate together first. You’ll then stir the mixture until it becomes a smooth ganache. Once the ganache has cooled slightly, you’ll add the mixture to the butter and continue making the buttercream according to instructions.

More Cakes You’ll Love

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Tuxedo Cake

Tender and moist chocolate cake layers with white chocolate mousse filling and a silky, smooth chocolate buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword Black and White Cake, chocolate buttercream, Chocolate Cake, Intermediate, Tuxedo Cake, White Chocolate Mousse

Servings 1 2-layer, 8-inch cake

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups (88.5 g) dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons (8 g)  baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon (5.6 g) salt
• 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 cup (236.6 g) hot water 
• 1/2 cup (109 g)  vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• 1/3 cup (77 g) heavy whipping cream 
• 10 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
• 5 cups (625 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
• 1 tablespoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

For the White Chocolate Mousse

• 7 ounces good quality white chocolate chips
• 1 cup (240 g) heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla extract

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
• Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
• In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
• With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Divide the batter between the three pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumsb on it.
• Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use. 

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips and the cream for about one minute. Stir until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the ganache. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then mix on medium-high speed for about a minute, until the mixture is smooth.
• Gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, followed by the vanilla and salt.
• Buttercream can be store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week.
• When you’re ready to frost the cake, bring the frosting back to room temperature and mix by hand with a wooden spoon to push out all of the air pockets. 

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

• In a microwave safe bowl, or in a saucepan over medium heat, heat 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream to the start of a simmer. Do not boil.
• In a medium size bowl, pour the warm heavy whipping cream over the white chocolate chips and stir to melt the white chocolate chips. The mixture should be smooth like a ganache. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• In a stainless steel bowl, whip the remaining heavy whipping cream and vanilla until medium-stiff peaks form.
• Once the white chocolate has cooled to room temperature, gently fold in the heavy whipping cream.
• Mousse can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

ASSEMBLY

• Place the first cake layer, top side up, in the center of a cake board or cake stand.
• Evenly spread 1 cup of the white chocolate mousse over the cake layer.
• Place second cake layer, on top of the mousse, and spread another cup of the mousse over the cake. Place the final cake layer, top side down, on the mousse filling.
• Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Freeze the cake for 10 to 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
• Once the crumb coat is set, finish frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream.

The post Rich and Decadent Tuxedo Cake with White Chocolate Mousse first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

Holiday Cake Flavors

One of the many reasons I love the holidays is all the seasonal flavors I get to bake with! Pumpkin, apple, butternut squash, gingerbread, hazelnut, cranberry… there’s just so much to choose from! I’ve already shared a couple of these flavors with you (Pumpkin Pie Cake, Gingerbread Lemon Cake, and my White Chocolate Peppermint Cake – to name a few). And I just love them all!

White Chocolate Cranberry Cake

One of my favorites is an oldie but goodie. I came up with this recipe a few years ago. I think cranberries are the essence of Christmastime and an obvious but delightful choice for any cake. For this cake, I paired a tart cranberry compote with a sweet, white chocolate vanilla bean pound cake. This cake texture is a little different from my norm. It’s a much more dense cake than you’re probably used to. In fact, this cake actually reminds me of the Starbucks White Chocolate Cranberry Blondie Bar.

While the texture is a bit heavier than most cakes, I think it balances so well with the jelly-like compote and the silky white chocolate buttercream. The flavor and texture combination in this cake always gets a thumbs up from my taste testers. I have no doubt you’ll love it too!

Stacking Tips

For this cake, it’s important to note that you add some buttercream on the cake layer, as well as pipe some of the frosting around the cake layer before you add the compote. You want to make sure the compote doesn’t seep into the cake layers or come out the sides while you frost.

I then did a semi-naked coat of frosting on this cake. To achieve this look, I actually did a very thin crumb coat first, then froze the cake per usual for about 10 minutes.

After this initial crumb coat was frozen, I then did another thin layer of frosting – almost like another crumb coat. (You can find the video tutorial at the end of this post).

I’ve also included the recipe for the candied cranberries, which I think makes the look of the cake. Such a sophisticated, classy look, don’t you think?

Video Tutorial

Enjoy!

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White Chocolate Cranberry Cake

Vanilla bean pound cake with cranberry compote and white chocolate frosting.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword Cranberry Compote, white chocolate buttercream, white chocolate cake

Author Courtney Rich

Ingredients

FOR THE CANDIED CRANBERRIES

• 2 cups (200 g) fresh cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar, divided
• 1 cup (236.6 g) water

FOR THE COMPOTE

• 2 cups (200 g) fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup (118.3 g) water
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 tablespoon (8.12 g) cornstarch, sifted

FOR THE CAKE

• 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (10 g) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
• 1 1/2 cups (339 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups (400 g) sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean (split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla bean seeds)
• 1 cup (240 g) plain greek yogurt, room temperature
• 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, room temperature

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold and cut into cubes
• 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla
• 8 oz white chocolate, melted
• 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy whipping cream
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

Instructions

For the Candied Cranberries

• Bring the 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Pour the simple syrup into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
• Add cranberries and stir to coat.
• Refrigerate cranberries during the day or overnight, stirring occasionally to coat with syrup.
• Remove cranberries from syrup and roll in remaining 1/2 cup sugar. You’ll need to roll them a few times to get a couple of layers of sugar on them.
• Set cranberries aside to dry for an hour or so.

For the Cranberry Compote

• In a saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar and water over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and then cover to allow the cranberries to cook and soften.
• When the cranberries have softened and begin to pop, slowly add the sifted corn starch and stir until it is incorporated. (If you don’t sift the cornstarch, you’ll likely get white clumps in the compote that are hard to dissolve.)
• Allow the cranberries to simmer for another 5-10 minutes. The mixture will become thick and somewhat jelly-like. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and let cool to room temperature or store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 8-inch or four 6-inch cake pans with spray, parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Cream the butter and the sugar on medium speed in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for one minute. 
• Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the greek yogurt and mix until incorporated.
• With the mixer on low, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and finishing with the flour. Combine until incorporated.
• Stir in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean and mix for 30 seconds.
• Evenly distribute the batter among the three cake pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pans 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in your refrigerator overnight or freezer for longer.

For the Buttercream

• In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cream and then pour it over the white chocolate to melt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and silky. If needed heat the mixture for another 20 to 30 seconds and stir until the chips are melted. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed for about two minutes.
• With the mixer on medium speed, add the melted white chocolate and stir until well mixed and there are no clumps of butter or white chocolate left.
• With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the sifted powdered sugar until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix for another minute.
• Add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium-high and beat the frosting for five minutes. It should get lighter in texture and color.

Assembly

• Level cake layers if needed. Place the first cake layer, right-side up, on a cake board or plate.
• Spread about 3/4 cup frosting on the cake. Then, using a pastry bag, pipe a barrier around the edge of the cake. This is done to ensure the cranberry compote won’t ooze out the side of your cake as your stack.
• Spread about 1/2-3/4 cup cranberry compote around the open space.
• Place second cake layer on top of the compote and repeat step 2.
• Place third cake layer, bottom-side up, on top and give the cake an even crumb coat. Chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes and then continue frosting. (While cake is chilling, I like to cover my frosting with plastic wrap so it doesn’t have a chance to dry out).
• Top with sugared cranberries.

The post Delicious White Chocolate Cranberry Cake first appeared on Cake by Courtney.

Chai Cake

I’ve been wanting to make a chai flavored cake for a while now. I’ve always loved chai spices and live for winters full of homemade chai steamers. Have you ever made one? It’s so easy! Use some of the chai seasoning from this recipe and boil some milk. Add your seasonings, stir with a frother, and enjoy! The flavors are so warm and flavorful. What’s not to love?

For my chai cake layers, I started with my Eggnog Cake as a base for the layers. It has a similar spice cake flavor and texture that I wanted with my chai cake. I switched out the brown sugar for all white sugar to make it a little lighter in texture. I also added a few more seasonings to get the chai flavor. And obviously, I switched out the eggnog for buttermilk.

White Chocolate Buttercream

As I thought about a frosting pairing for the chai cake, I couldn’t stop thinking about white chocolate. It just sounded like a Starbucks drink to me – chai white chocolate latte… don’t you think? And if Starbucks would make the combination for one of their drinks, no doubt it will make a great cake combination.

I’ve used my white chocolate buttercream recipe for several years now, but there’s times where I (and I know some of you) have struggled to get the white chocolate incorporated into the buttercream without the chocolate hardening. As I was talking about this the other day on Instagram, my friend Annie had one of the best suggestions! She recommended heating the cream and the white chocolate to make a ganache (like we do with our drips), and then adding it to the buttercream. Genius! It worked like a charm and I’ll never make my white chocolate buttercream another way!

Tip: when you’re making the ganache for the buttercream, first heat your cream in a microwave safe bowl, without the white chocolate. You’ll then pour the cream over the white chocolate and stir to combine. If you try to heat your cream and the white chocolate at the same time, you’ll likely see that your chocolate seizes. White chocolate is super temperamental, so we have to be careful how we heat it.

I also think you’ll love the fresh raspberries as an added element of texture and flavor in the cake. And don’t you think the color is perfect for the holidays?

Tips:

• Remember to use room temperature ingredients in your cake batter. Room temperature wet ingredients are better absorbed by the dry ingredients, which helps your cake to rise more evenly.
• Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl before adding them to the wet ingredients. You want the seasonings and leavening agents well blended so you don’t have to try mixing them too much in the batter. Over mixing your batter will cause your cakes to sink in the oven and taste dense.
• Watch your bake time. If your cakes are coming out dry, you’re likely over baking them. All of our ovens are different and will bake differently. When you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, it should come out with a few moist crumbs on it.

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Chai White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Chai flavored cake layers with a silky smooth white chocolate buttercream and fresh raspberries

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Servings 12 people

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 3 cups (345 g) cake flour
• 1 tbsp (12 g) baking powder
• 1/2 tsp (2.8 g) salt
• 1/2 tsp (4 g) cardamon
• 1/2 tsp (1.5 g) ground cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp (4 g) ground ginger
• 1 tsp (2.64 g) cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp (2.8 g) all-spice
• 1/8 tsp (.6 g) black pepper
• 1/8 tsp (.6 g) nutmeg
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 3 egg yolks room temperature
• 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups (300 g) buttermilk room temperature

For the Buttercream

• 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter slightly cold
• 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar measured and then sifted
• 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy whipping cream
• 6 ounces (112.5 g) white chocolate chips I prefer Guittard White Cookie Drops
• 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping, you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

Filling and Garnish

• 2 cups (240 g) fresh raspberries

Instructions

For the Cake

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combined the cake flour, baking powder, salt and all of the seasonings. Whisk to combine the ingredients evenly. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again for another minute.
• With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time. Make sure to mix well between each addition. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
• With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Stir for about 20 seconds and then add 1/2 of the buttermilk. Repeat the additions with another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the second half of the buttermilk and then the final 1/3 of the flour mixture. It's important to alternate adding these ingredients so they mix evenly, which will help your cake to rise more evenly. Only mix until the ingredients are incorporated. Over mixing your batter will cause it to be dense and/or sink in the oven.
• Pour about 16 ounces of batter into each of the three 6-inch cake pans. Bake the cake layers on the middle rack in your oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Watch this cake closely at the end. Over baking your cakes will cause them to taste dry. When you insert a toothpick in the center of this cake, it should come out with a few moist crumbs on it.
• Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, before inverting them onto cooling racks to cool completely. Once cooled completely, you can level the cakes and then wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them until you're ready to stack and decorate the cake.

For the Buttercream

• Heat your cream in a microwave safe bowl for about 1 minute. Pour the cream over the white chocolate chips and stir until all of the chips are melted. Set aside.
• In the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for a couple minutes on its own. The butter will get lighter in color and texture.
• With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar until combined. Add the vanilla and salt.
• With the mixer on medium speed, slowly add the cream and white chocolate mixture. Once added, turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for about 3 minutes. The frosting should be silky smooth.

Assembly

• Place your first cake layer, top side up, on a cake board or cake plate. Cover the cake layer with about 3/4 cup buttercream and spread evenly, making sure to get eye level with the cake to ensure it's even.
• Place your raspberries on the buttercream and press into place with your fingers.
• Follow the above steps for the second cake layer, buttercream and raspberries.
• Place the final cake layer, top side down, on the raspberries and buttercream. Apply a thin coat of frosting around the entire cake to lock in the crumbs. Freeze your cake for about 10 to 15 minutes to set the crumb coat and lock in your crumbs.
• After the crumb coat is set, use the remaining frosting to decorate your cake. Garnish with the remaining fresh raspberries and serve the cake at room temperature.

The post Chai White Chocolate Raspberry Cake first appeared on Cake by Courtney.