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A photo of a blue ombre cake with a piece coming out.
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White Chocolate Cake

White chocolate buttercream, the best vanilla cake ever and ombré everything make this cake the perfect winter treat!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 290kcal
Author John Kanell

Ingredients

For the Buttercream

  • 1 pound unsalted butter 454g
  • 2 cups white chocolate chips 340g
  • 8 cups confectioners' sugar 880g
  • 1/2 cup cream 118mL

For the cake

  • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 205g
  • 1 cup sugar 200g
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda 1g
  • 1 tsp baking powder 4g
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom optionaI
  • 3/4 cup salted butter 170g, room temperature
  • 3 egg whites
  • 3 tsp vanilla extract 15mL
  • 1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt 120g
  • 1/2 cup milk 118mL

For the White Chocolate Ganache

  • 1 cup white chocolate chips 170g
  • 1/4 cup cream 60mL
  • 1 drop GEL food coloring regular food coloring will seize the chocolate

Instructions

For the Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three six inch cake pans. Sift the dry ingredients, including the sugar, together in a large bowl, whisk and set aside.
  • Mix the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl and whisk together.
  • Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Divide the mixture into the three 6″ cake pans that you buttered and floured. I also use wet cake strips for nice even baking. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch.

For the Buttercream

  • Melt the white chocolate and cream together at very low heat, set aside. I like to heat my cream up and pour onto the white chocolate. let sit a minute then whisk together.Beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the sugar a cup at a time and beat well. Add salt and vanilla.Drizzle in the white chocolate and beat until combined.Separate the buttercream into 4 equal batches and color three of the batches with blue food coloring in different shades for the ombré.

For the Optional Ganache

  • Melt the white chocolate and cream together on low heat. You can do a few 20 second bursts in the microwave at 50% power. stir in the food coloring and transfer to a piping bag

For the Assembly

  • Place a round of cardboard onto the bottom of a cake layer. Pipe the buttercream onto the first layer of the cooled cake. I like the inside to be an ombré as well but you can have any color(s) you'd like. Add second layer on and repeat step until cake is built up. Add a thin layer of buttercream onto the cake, smooth then chill to set.Pipe the final layer of buttercream onto the cake starting with darkest blue and moving to uncolored on top. Smooth and chill the cake once more.
  • Place parchment round on top of cake. Add a gradient of blue sanding sugars onto a clean surface then roll the chilled cake and transfer to a cake stand.
  • Pipe dollops onto a square of parchment paper using a large round tip. transfer to freezer and chill. Once set you can mount onto a toothpick and roll inn a small gradient of sanding sugar.
  • Place dollops onto cake sprinkle to with white sanding sugar.
  • If adding a ganache grip, just place the dollops on after the drip has set.

Video

Notes

  • Be careful when melting that white chocolate. It burns VERY easily so go slow with low heat.
  • If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
  • If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
  • You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
  • In a rush? Skip the ombre buttercream! The sanding sugar will do most of the work visually.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 133mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 37g | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.7mg