This White Chocolate Cake is both decadent and delicious! White chocolate is incorporated into the cake layers, the frosting, and the drip for a stunning monochrome effect.
I may be just a little bit obsessed with how pretty and perfectly matchy the monochrome colors worked out here. It’s the ultimate White Chocolate Cake!
I’m going to let you in on a little secret though… I actually don’t like white chocolate. Not on its own, anyhow, and rarely as part of something else. Something about the flavor is just too sweet or artificial tasting, I don’t know. BUT, this White Chocolate Cake is all sorts of deliciousness.
Even though the white chocolate is incorporated into every element, it’s not overpowering. Each element on its own is completely delicious, and they all combine to make the perfect White Chocolate Cake.
What is White Chocolate?
White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, and milk solids. It doesn’t contain any cocoa solids, which are found in milk and dark chocolate varieties.
Cocoa butter is separated from the cocoa solids (cocoa nibs), which are used to make milk & dark chocolate. The remaining cocoa butter doesn’t have a ton of flavor on its own, so sugar and milk solids are added to transform it into white chocolate.
Is White Chocolate Chocolate?
There is some contention about this but, technically, no. In order to be classified as chocolate, there must be cocoa solids present. Even though it’s made from part of the cocoa bean (the cocoa butter), it’s not actually considered “true” chocolate.
Does it really matter though?? I didn’t think so.
How to make this White Chocolate Cake
I have made variations of this cake a couple times before, but I wanted to have a smaller pure white chocolate cake on the blog, as many people have asked for it. The recipe here will work perfectly for three 6″ pans or two 8″ pans. See the Tips section below for other modifications.
The cake layers of this White Chocolate Cake have white chocolate incorporated right into them. I melt down some white chocolate with the milk, and add that to the cake batter once it’s cooled. The flavor isn’t crazy strong, but it is quite noticeable, especially to anyone who loves white chocolate.
White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Despite not being a white chocolate fan myself, I LOVE this buttercream. There’s something about the subtle white chocolate flavor in it that makes it so delicious you’ll want to eat it with a spoon.
Adding chocolate to buttercream is very simple. You just need to melt the chocolate down, then cool it before adding it to the buttercream. It’s important that your buttercream isn’t too cold, as it could cause the chocolate to solidify into chunks when you’re adding it. I like to have both at room temperature, and add the chocolate to the buttercream while the mixer is running (on low). This helps ensure they are perfectly incorporated together.
White Chocolate Ganache Drip
White chocolate can be trickier to work with than dark. You need to adjust the chocolate:cream ratio for it not to be a complete runny mess.
For my dark chocolate ganache drip, I do a 1:1 ratio of chocolate to cream. For a white chocolate ganache drip, I recommend a 2.5:1 or even a 3:1 ratio. I used a 2.5:1 ratio here, and it worked well. I heated the chopped chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl at small intervals (5-10 seconds) until it was perfectly smooth and silky. Except it wasn’t actually, and I ended up straining the last bits of white chocolate out of there. Whatever, it worked fine!
The white chocolate I used for the drip was more on the yellow side, so I added a few drops of bright white color gel to it once I strained it. Just eyeball this until you get the color you’re looking for. It can vary depending on how white (or yellow) your white chocolate is.
Make sure your cake is well chilled before applying the ganache. And be sure to let the ganache cool completely and thicken a bit before using on the cake. I let my ganache sit out for over an hour. It was actually a bit too thick at this point, so I microwaved it a bit (again, in very small intervals – 3-5 seconds) until it was the right consistency.
It’s hard to describe the right consistency. Thick, but pourable. I always do a test drip first to see how it drips down the cake. If it’s too thick, I warm it up a bit. I find it’s easier to start with a ganache that’s too thick vs. too thin. Easier to warm up than cool down.
I chilled my cake for 30mins in the fridge to make sure the frosting was firm and cold, and then used a teaspoon to apply the ganache to the edges. I like to use a teaspoon because I can control it better and be heavier handed in some areas if I want. I prefer an uneven look to my drips. You can also use a squeeze bottle if you prefer. This is most common I think.
For the texture on the sides of the cake, I used a cake comb from this set. I’ve used a few combs from this set now, and they work great. I do think metal ones would be better overall, but this is a much more affordable option.
I did a thicker layer of frosting on the sides first, smoothed that out, and then ran the cake comb over it a few times. I cleaned up the top a bit. That area wasn’t perfect, but I knew I’d be dripping a ganache over it anyhow.
Final decorating touches are some Lindt White Chocolate Truffles and some white chocolate shavings that I made using a vegetable peeler and a block of white chocolate. I chilled the shavings before adding them to the cake so they would be less fragile.
If you’re a white chocolate fan you will LOVE this cake! If you don’t care for white chocolate, I hope you try it anyhow, because it’s nothing like eating it straight up and it’s perfectly delicious.
Looking for more drip cakes?
- Caramel Cake (Salted Caramel Cake)
- Nutella Cake
- Oreo Cake
- Chocolate Mocha Cake
- Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake
Tips for making this White Chocolate Cake
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
- I used a cake comb from this set for the texture on the sides of the cake.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my Flat Top Cakes post!
White Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
White Chocolate Cake:
- 5 oz white chocolate chopped (or white chocolate chips)
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 6 oz white chocolate chopped, melted, cooled
White Chocolate Ganache:
- 3.75 oz white chocolate finely chopped
- 1.5 oz heavy cream
- 5 drops bright white color gel
Assembly:
- 12 white chocolate Lindt truffles
- white chocolate shavings
Instructions
White Chocolate Cake:
- Heat milk and chocolate until melted and combined, cool to room temperature.*
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour (4 additions of flour and 3 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Bake for about 40mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.
White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.**
- Place bowl over a pot with 1-2" of simmering water and stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch or reads 160F on a candy thermometer (approx. 3mins)
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.***
- Add melted, cooled white chocolate and whip until smooth.
White Chocolate Ganache:
- Place chopped chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 5-10 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth and combined. Add a few drops of bright white color gel to get the desired color. Set aside to thicken and cool completely.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with 1 cup of buttercream and spread evenly. Repeat with remaining layers and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost and smooth the sides with the remaining frosting. Use a scalloped cake comb to create the textured effect on the sides. Smooth the top. Chill for 30mins until frosting is cold and firm.
- Using a small spoon, place dollops of ganache around the top edges of the chilled cake, allowing some to drip down. Fill in the top of the cake with more ganache and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Chill to set ganache (5 mins).
- Pipe dollops of buttercream on top using an Ateco or Wilton 1M tip, top each with a Lindt White Chocolate Truffle if desired. Sprinkle chocolate shavings along the bottom and to fill in the top.
Notes
** Wipe your mixer bowl and whisk down with lemon juice or vinegar to make sure it is completely grease free and make sure there is no trace of yolk in your whites or your meringue will not stiffen.
*** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth. If it looks soupy, place it in the fridge for 20mins and rewhip.
Jill says
Is this like a mud cake? And can I do 1 ecipe on a sheet pan?
Olivia says
Hi Jill! Yes, this is considered a mud cake. And it depends on the size of your pan. Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
Hayley says
Hi,
Can the cake be frozen once cooled to ice another day?
Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Hayley! For sure, I do this all the time. Just double wrap it in plastic wrap.
Cherie says
I made this cake but it didn’t taste like white chocolate at all. I’m wondering if I can substitute the white chocolate with caramilk chocolate?
Olivia says
Hi Cherie! I’m surprised it didn’t taste like white chocolate as it’s in each component and should come through quite strong. I’m not sure what you mean by caramlik chocolate. Do you mean the caramilk chocolate bar or caramelized white chocolate?
TOMINA says
Is the batter mix meant to be quite runny? What would you say the consistency should be?
Olivia says
Hi Tomina! It shouldn’t be too runny, no. Like regular cake batter. Slightly thinner than my vanilla cake recipe but not as thin as my chocolate cake recipes.
Yliana says
Omg! I made it! It’s absolutelly wonderfull!! Thank you!!! =)
The buttercream is so delicious, but I gues I did something wrong, the sugar wasn’t ready in my swiss merengue, so I can feel the little sugar grains in my mouth, anyway it’s tastes so great! I did a big bunch of buttercream! I was wondering if you know how can I fix it?
I tried to fix it with the paddle attachment, but it didn’t work, the grains are still there…
Please! Help!
Olivia says
Hi Yliana! So happy you loved it 🙂 Sadly, there is no way to get rid of the graininess from the buttercream once it’s finished. This has happened to me too when I didn’t dissolve the sugar enough. I assumed that since the egg mixture was hot it would dissolve the rest of the sugar while whipping. It did not. At least it still tastes delicious? 🙂
Yliana says
Yes! It’s delicious! 😉
Tks!!
Sophia says
How do I fix the consistency of that battery? It isn’t smooth.
Olivia says
Hi Sophia! Were all of your ingredients at room temperature? What does the batter look like?
Molly Wilsonhurst says
Hiya I want to make this it looks great however I’m from the UK and I was wondering do I use a fan assisted oven and what temperature would I use ? 350F is around 176C, but I’m not sure wether to use fan or conventional oven !! Thank you
Olivia says
Hi Molly! I use a conventional oven. For a fan oven, you should reduce the temperature by 25 degrees to 325F or about 163C. You may also need to reduce the baking time slightly.
Dee says
Hi! I am def going to try this recipe, but was wondering if I could substitute the egg whites for meringue powder? What do you think? Thanks for the recipe!
Olivia says
Hi Dee! I have no tried using meringue powder myself, I dont think the frosting would turn out well. For best results use the whites from whole eggs.
Alissa says
Hi! I know you addressed the white chocolate powder already. But I was thinking because the white chocolate powder I have is FULL of sugar (it’s used in coffee) could you substitute some of the sugar with the powder and still keep the white chocolate in as usual? Just to give it an extra punch of white chocolate.
Olivia says
Hi Alissa! I haven’t tried this myself so I can’t guarantee the results but you could give it a try. I wouldn’t do more than 1/4 cup.
Maru says
HI Liv,
Wanted to let you know Ive made this cake twice and it is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe.
I wanted to ask you if I wanted to make this same recipe but instead of making layer cakes can I use it to make cupcakes?
Do you have any idea of how long should I bake them?
thanks a lot.
Olivia says
Hi Maru! Yes, I mention this in the Tips section above the post 🙂 “To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.”
Angie says
Hi Liv, i was wondering if i can use white chocolate powder in addition to the choc chips for a more noticeable taste? If i can how much do you recommend adding? Thanks in advance
Olivia says
Hi Angie! I hadn’t heard of white chocolate powder until now. I would not add it to the cake as it will likely change the texture (make the cake more dense and it’s already on the denser side). But you could add it to the frosting. Just add it 1 Tbsp at a time until you reach the taste you like 🙂
Natalie says
Hi, how much butter should I use for the cake? It says 3/4 cup but I work in grams.. thanks
Olivia says
Hi Natalie! There is a metric converter below the list of ingredients.
Cassie says
Can you use this buttercream recipe to pipe decorations on the cake or will it drop or melt ?
I Usually do a thick American Buttercream recipe but looking for something a bit different 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Cassie! I often pipe with Swiss meringue buttercream and it works great.
Tammy says
I made this for my birthday it was delicious. I used my own white chocolate buttercream recipe though. The ganache was amazing and the cake was a hit.
Thank you,
Olivia says
Hi Tammy! So glad you loved it. Happy belated birthday!
Alison Cox says
Hi would i be able to make this lemon and white chocolate or might the lemon interfer with this recipe ? If so could you recomend s recipe pleaee thsnk you
Alison
Olivia says
Hi Alison! I think the combo of lemon and white chocolate would be delicious. You could add lemon zest to it or use a lemon curd filling.
Andrea says
Hi Liv, I have just made this cake today for my granddaughters 7th birthday this Thurs. I have crumb coated it once at the moment & it’s in the fridge. I was going to do a 2nd coat then a layer of the ganache.. Is that what you did? I am going to colour mine red as making this into a skittle gravity cake. I had been having trouble find out if I could use sugar flair or colour splash instead of colour mill… Still haven’t found out so worried sick it won’t work! Anyway the buttercream ohhhhh my is AMAZING!! WOW, thankyou for sharing again… I love your recipes xx
Olivia says
Hi Andrea! So happy you love it. I only used the ganache as a drip. I’ve only used Wilton and Americolor for coloring but they’ve both worked fine. Getting a red though is tricky. Are you coloring the ganache or the frosting? If the frosting, adding some powdered sugar will help the color “stick”.
Andrea says
Ohhh Olivia I’m so sorry I didn’t see your reply! It turned out fabulous. Although I’m about to make it again. I only need one tin in a size 10in & a 7in. I’m going crazy trying to work it all out! I used the page you said about measurements but I still don’t know. As I am only using 1 Tin of each size do I need to change it at all? Thankyou xx
Olivia says
Hi Andrea! Converting pan sizes can be tricky, especially with the sizes you’re looking to do. I do think you’ll need to increase it but I can’t say for sure how much. It might be safest to 1.5x or 2x the recipe and make cupcakes with any extra batter!
Christina says
Hi Olivia ,
I have two 9 inch pans. What do you suggest I double the recipe or 1.5x the recipe?
Olivia says
Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
Based on that I would 1.5x the recipe. You may need to adjust the baking time too.
David says
Hey! Just wanted to say that the cake is amazing. Definantly a cake worth going back to. Made it for a friend’s bday but there is a small problem I had with the swiss buttercream meringue icing. It didn’t come out as smooth and fine as it does in the pic. I am not sure what I must have done wrong. Probably a lot of things 😅 It is also my first time in making this particular icing too. Any help you could provide would be most golden
Olivia says
Hi David! I am so happy you loved the cake! Swiss merignue buttercream can be finicky for sure. Have you seen my detailed tutorial on it? https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/ It can act up at times but should be totally saveable. Have a read through my tips and troubleshooting 🙂 I hope you give it another try!
Christina says
Hi again:)
Also I plan to make a two layer cake -with 8/9inch round pans. Do I need to reduce the buttercream quantity (I mean half the buttercream recipe) since I don’t have a three layer cake surface to frost on?
Olivia says
The recipes as-is will work for a two layer 8″ cake. A 9″ cake would be too thin. The surface area will be similar so I wouldn’t reduce the buttercream.
Christina says
I saw your recipe and wanted to try it tomorrow. Had couple of questions-
1. The buttercream has way too much butter-2cups. Won’t that make it too buttery tasting and overpowering?
2. If I make and assemble the cake with frosting and ganache 1 day in advance , how can I store it?
Please reply asap.
Thanks !!
Olivia says
Hi Christina! The butter amount in this type of buttercream is pretty standard. It’s not too much and shouldn’t taste too buttery, if it does then either the meringue wasn’t whipped properly or the buttercream itself just needs more whipping. Please see my detailed tutorial here for tips: https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/ If you’re used to an American buttercream though it will definitely be more buttery than that.
I would refrigerate the finished cake and take it out 2-3 hours before serving.
Christina says
Thank you Olivia for your reply. I’ll let you know how it turned out.