This white chocolate mocha cake pairs tender white chocolate espresso cake layers with a whipped white chocolate ganache and silky espresso buttercream.
There will be a consistent theme with the holiday cakes coming your way this year — you will likely either love them or hate them. I hope it’s the former, because I’m already so excited to bake them all!
I’m not sure that a White Chocolate Mocha is considered a holiday drink, but I’m using it anyway to kick off my holiday baking. To me, most things white chocolate just seem wintery.
What is a White Chocolate Mocha?
It’s basically a mocha (chocolate & espresso), but made with white chocolate instead of the dark or milk chocolate used in a regular mocha. I’m pretty sure you can get them all year round at Starbucks. Calling it a White Chocolate Mocha Cake is a bit redundant since mocha contains chocolate, but White Mocha Cake didn’t seem descriptive enough.
How to make this White Chocolate Mocha Cake
In order to make the espresso and white chocolate both stand out, I used them in different ways in each component of this cake. The cake consists of:
- cake layers infused with white chocolate and espresso
- whipped white chocolate ganache filling
- espresso Swiss meringue buttercream
- white chocolate ganache drip
White Mocha Cake Layers
For the cake layers themselves, I used both white chocolate and espresso in them. I basically took my White Chocolate Cake and added espresso powder to it. The cake has the perfect texture — tender, moist, and just the right density.
The white chocolate flavour does not come through crazy strong because of the espresso powder, but I love the subtle flavour and the texture the white chocolate gives the cake. If you prefer, you can leave the espresso powder out.
Whipped White Chocolate Ganache
To make the white chocolate ganache, I used a 3:1 ratio (by weight) of chocolate:cream, and let it cool and thicken. I actually let it sit overnight (with plastic wrap placed directly on top), but you really only need to let it sit until it thickens (about 3 hours or so). I used a portion of the unwhipped ganache for the white chocolate drip.
The filling complements the cake layers and frosting so well, and the flavour of the white chocolate really stands out.
Espresso Swiss Meringue Buttercream
This is one of my all-time favourite buttercreams. I love coffee flavoured desserts, and this buttercream is so good you’ll be eating it with a spoon!
I used half a recipe of my Swiss meringue buttercream and added some espresso powder to it. I just add it right in, since my espresso powder is so fine that I find it blends in smoothly. If your instant espresso is not a super fine powder, I recommend dissolving it first in 1-2 tsp of hot water and cooling before adding to the frosting.
White Chocolate Ganache Drip
I used a portion of the 3:1 ganache I made for the filling for the drip. Since it had thickened a bit too much, I warmed it slightly in the microwave (very small increments – 3 seconds) until it was the right drip consistency. It helps to do a test drip on the “back” of the cake if you’re unsure, and always do drips on a very well chilled cake. It helps the ganache set quicker, and won’t drip all the way down to the bottom.
I finished the whole cake off with a rope border of espresso buttercream, some small and large white nonpareils, and some chocolate crispearls.
If you love coffee desserts as much as I do, be sure to also check out my Vanilla Latte Cake, Mocha Cake (my all time fave), and my Coffee & Baileys Cake.
Tips for making this White Mocha Cake recipe:
- 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.
- If your instant espresso is not a super fine powder, I recommend dissolving it first in 1-2 tsp of hot water and cooling before adding to the frosting.
- 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 Mocha Cake
Ingredients
White Chocolate Mocha Cake:
- 140 g white chocolate chopped (or white chocolate chips)
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 Tbsp espresso powder
- 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 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
Espresso Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 Tbsp instant espresso powder more or less to taste
White Chocolate Ganache:
- 450 g white chocolate finely chopped
- 150 g heavy cream
- bright white color gel
Assembly:
- coffee beans
- white nonpareils
- dark chocolate crispearls
Instructions
White Chocolate Mocha Cake:
- Heat milk and chocolate until melted and combined.* Add espresso powder and stir until dissolved. 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.
Espresso Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.**
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins). Or registers 160F on a candy thermometer.
- 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 espresso powder 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. Set aside to cool completely and thicken.
- Remove 2/3 cup of the thickened white chocolate ganache, set aside. Whip remaining ganache until light and fluffy.
White Chocolate Drip:
- If needed, microwave the the 2/3 cup ganache you set aside at very small increments (3 seconds) to thin out. Add a few drops of bright white color gel if desired.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with half of the whipped ganache, spread evenly. Repeat with remaining layers and crumb coat the cake with any remaining ganache. Chill for 20mins until ganache is set.
- Frost and smooth the sides with the espresso buttercream, reserving some for the rope border on top. Chill for 30mins until frosting is cold and firm.
- Using a small spoon, place dollops of white chocolate 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 a rope border on top using a Wilton 1M tip. Sprinkle small and large white nonpareils on top as well as some chocolate crispearls if desired. Roughly toss some small nonpareils onto the sides of the cake if desired. Place coffee beans along the bottom.
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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.
**** If your instant espresso is not a superfine powder, I recommend dissolving it first in 1-2 tsp hot water and cooling before adding to the frosting. The inspiration for this cake came from Summer over at Cake Paper Party.
Beth says
Hi I am planning to make this cake for the first time this weekend, but I am wondering if I should do anything differently if I want to make them into cupcakes rather than a full cake?
Olivia says
Hi Beth! All you have to do is reduce the baking time. Start checking at 15mins or so 🙂
Beth says
Thanks!
Big says
Good recipes. Best website.
Olivia says
Thanks!
Cheryl says
How many batches would I need to make 3 6” and 3 8”
Olivia says
Hi Cheryl! I would make one full recipe for the 3×6″ and then another 1.5x recipe for the 3×8″. I would recommend doing separate batches like this rather than scaling the recipe up that much.
Dakota says
This was a total Thanksgiving hit. Thematically, the white chocolate and espresso flavors come together to give sort of a maple-y toffee taste. My only tweak would be 1.5ing the swiss meringue buttercream recipe if you’re doing two 8 inch cakes 1. because it’s delicious and 2. it was tough to set aside frosting for piping while sufficiently covering the whole cake.
Olivia says
Hi Dakota! Thanks so much for your input re: the buttercream. I’m so happy to hear you loved it!
Sreekala says
Hi Olivia, baked this cake over the weekend it was delicious!!! The Swiss meringue frosting was amazingly delicious! However my cake turned out to be a little dense. I used 2 8 inch tins. Opened the oven door at 30mins, 35mins and 39mins. Do you think that could have caused the cake to be dense? I followed all the same proportions and instructions you have listed above. Please let me know what I could have done wrong for the cake to have turned out dense. Love you blog!!! Have shared it with many of my friends!
Olivia says
Hi Sreekala! This cake is more dense than my other cakes due to the white chocolate, but shouldn’t be overly dense. It’s more of a mud cake in texture, but if you found it dense and rubbery that could be due to overmixing the cake batter. When you opened the oven, did the cakes sink at all?
Sreekala says
Thank you for the update. The cake did not sink when I opened the over door. I probably over whipped the butter and sugar. Can I replace the butter with vegetable oil like in chocolate cakes? Will try again another time.
Olivia says
Overmixing really matters only after the flour starts getting incorporated. You can replace some of the butter with oil if you like, but I haven’t experimented with that myself. Let me know if you try it!
Dipali says
I like this cake mocha cake turns my mouth watery!!! I am a big fan of this cake…..
Olivia says
Thanks Dipali!
Beth Collins says
So excited to make this cake! Question: would you double the frosting recipe or make it in two batches? I want to make frosting pumpkins to decorate the bottom of the cake… Thanks, Liv!
Olivia says
Hi Beth! I would make it in two batches unless you have a very large mixer!
Tina says
This looks amazing! Would it be possible to do a tutorial on the rope border?
Olivia says
Hi Tina! Thank you! Are you on Instagram at all? I have a tutorial for it in my Baking Tips highlights (https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17911160518116999/) and I also have a video for it in my Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/livforcakebakers/
Ritika says
DELICIOUS! It looks so yummy 🙂 and mouth-watering. I am going to make this delicious white chocolate cake for the very first time on my mother’s birthday and will share my experience.
Thanks for sharing!
Olivia says
Hi Ritika! I hope you both love it. Please let me know!
Ina says
Amazingly delicious. Made it for my husband and he loved it. I never tried a cake with buttercream before and it worked perfectly. Your instructions are definitely fail safe. Thanks a lot for a great recipe!
Olivia says
Hi Ina! I’m so excited that you tried this recipe already! Happy to hear that you both loved it 🙂
Patrick Kinsey says
What is the adjustment for using 8″ pans instead of the 6″?
Going to make for the holidays!!
Olivia says
Hi Patrick! This is in the Tips section above the recipe card: The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe. I hope you love this one!
juliet says
I will definitely try it this holiday
Olivia says
Hi Juliet! I hope you love it 🙂
Patricia Cote says
Oh… this cake is simply beautiful and sounds so delicious. I’m definitely putting this on my holiday bake list. Thank you so much for sharing yet another one of your fabulous cake creations. I have great confidence in your recipes… you never disappoint!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Pat for the sweet comment! I hope you love this one <3
Tina Sheehan says
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful cake! You have such talent and I’m always excited when I see your latest creation in my email! Very much enjoy reading how you make them and appreciate all your helpful hints! Hope to give this a try with the upcoming holidays!
Olivia says
Thank you so much Tina! You just made my morning 🙂 So glad you find the tips helpful. I hope you love this one!
Lusy says
Hi olivia, in this recipe is that okay if i changes buttermilk instead of milk ?
Vegetable oil instead of butter ?
Olivia says
Hi Lucy! You can make both of those changes if you like but it will affect the texture. I don’t think it would be bad, just different 🙂 For best results use the recipe as listed.