Last Updated: September 2, 2025

If you’re craving a dessert that actually lives up to its promise, something both luxurious and somewhat refreshing, not just pure sugar, this White Chocolate Raspberry Cake might be what you’ve been searching for. I keep coming back to it, though I can’t say if it’s the tender vanilla-and-white-chocolate sponge, the sharp raspberry compote, or the way the silky ganache brings everything together. What’s likely at play here is the combination: the cake feels elegant, especially for a dinner party, but it’s still something you can pull off in a home kitchen without too much fuss.

Now, I should be honest, this isn’t a throw-it-together-on-a-whim kind of cake. If you’re comfortable with a layer cake and a few bowls, you’re in the right place. But if you’ve only ever made muffins, you might want to read through a couple of times before starting. The recipe was tested in a basic countertop oven (no stand mixer, nothing fancy), and I’ll point out what to look for as you go. For example, melting white chocolate directly into butter once left me with a grainy disaster. Instead, warming it gently with cream creates a smooth ganache that actually behaves a little trick that may save you a batch, but you might still find yourself questioning your chocolate choice halfway through.

Why This Cake Works (Or Doesn’t, in Some Kitchens)

White chocolate brings more than just sweetness. It’s mostly cocoa butter, so it makes the crumb rich and tender, but it’s easy to overheat, and then everything seizes up. Blending it with warm cream first seems to keep things stable, something I’ve learned the hard way. As for buttermilk, the slight acidity helps the baking soda work its magic, giving the cake a gentle lift and stopping it from turning into a dry brick. But, if you’re out of buttermilk, adding a splash of vinegar to regular milk usually does the trick, though the texture might be just a hair different.

Raspberries are essential here. Without the tang, the whole thing veers into cloying territory, a real risk with white chocolate. The natural acidity cuts through, making each bite a little more interesting than the last. That said, I’ve tried strawberries and they’re almost too sweet; blackberries and passionfruit work, but you do lose a little of that classic contrast.

One tip I wish more recipes emphasized: cold eggs or cream are your enemy here. Sometimes I forget, and the batter splits or takes forever to bake through. Letting everything come to room temperature does make a noticeable difference in how the cake rises and how smooth the batter looks.

Ingredients (Because What’s In There Does Matter)

For an 8-inch, 3-layer cake (12–14 slices):

All-purpose flour (maida): 270 g (2 ¼ cups)
Baking powder: 2 tsp (8 g)
Baking soda: ¼ tsp (1 g)
Fine salt: ½ tsp (3 g)
Caster sugar: 220 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp)
Neutral oil (sunflower/canola): 100 g (½ cup) — for moisture
Unsalted butter, melted: 60 g (¼ cup) — for that buttery note
Large eggs: 3 (room temp, really)
Buttermilk: 240 g (1 cup)
Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
White chocolate, chopped: 100 g (3.5 oz), melted with cream

Raspberry Compote Filling:

Raspberries (fresh or frozen): 300 g (2 ½ cups)
Sugar: 60 g (¼ cup)
Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
Cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water): thickens the filling

White Chocolate Whipped Ganache Frosting:

White chocolate (good quality, not compound): 300 g (10.5 oz)
Heavy cream (35% fat): 480 g (2 cups) total (180 g hot to melt, 300 g cold to whip)
Pinch of salt: to cut the sweetness

Equipment: 2 or 3 round 8-inch pans, hand mixer or whisk, OTG oven (preheated to 175°C/350°F), digital scale, heatproof bowl, offset spatula (if you have it), parchment circles, thermometer (optional, but useful), sieve

Step-by-Step, With Lessons Learned

1. Prep (10 min): Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F, rack middle. Grease and line pans. Melt white chocolate with hot cream, let cool slightly. You want it to look like vanilla custard, not grainy. If it’s oily, you might have gone too hot.

2. Mix Wet Ingredients (5 min): Whisk eggs and sugar until pale and thickened. Add oil, melted butter, vanilla, whisk smooth. Stir in the cooled white chocolate mix. The batter should thicken just a bit—smooth, not lumpy.

3. Dry + Buttermilk Alternation (5–7 min): Sift dry ingredients. Add them to the wet in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, starting and ending with dry. Fold gently. Batter should ribbon off the whisk and disappear in 6–7 seconds. If it’s lumpy, mix a bit more. If it’s shiny and heavy, you’ve gone too far.

4. Bake (30–35 min): Divide batter, tap pans to release bubbles. Bake until golden, springs back, skewer comes out with moist crumbs (not wet), internal temp 96–98°C if you’re using a thermometer. Cool in pans 10 min, then transfer to rack.

5. Raspberry Compote (15 min): Cook raspberries and sugar until juicy, add cornstarch slurry, cook until thickened, stir in lemon juice, cool.

6. White Chocolate Ganache Frosting: Melt 180 g cream with white chocolate, whisk smooth, add 300 g cold cream, whisk in, chill at least 4 hours (better overnight), then whip to soft-medium peaks silky, not grainy.

7. Assemble: Level cakes if needed. Layer cake, ganache border, compote center. Crumb coat, chill 20 min, then frost, decorate with raspberries and chocolate curls.

Troubleshooting & Variations

Sometimes the cake sinks. If that happens, bake a bit longer and make sure your oven’s not running cold. Dry crumb? Weigh your flour and check your oven temp. Dense or gummy? You might have overmixed or let the chocolate go cold fold gently and keep everything fluid.

For egg-free, swap three eggs for 180 g yogurt + ¼ tsp baking soda. The cake will be moister but flatter, which is fine for a two-layer cake. Dairy-free? Try coconut cream and dairy-free white chocolate, but know the ganache might be looser. Gluten-free? Use a 1:1 GF mix and add ½ tsp xanthan gum.

Flavor swaps: strawberries, blackberries, or passionfruit instead of raspberries, or add orange zest to the cake for something new. Cupcakes work too 24 standard, 18–20 min at 175°C.

Make-Ahead & Serving

Room temp, covered: 1 day if it’s cool. Refrigerated: 3–4 days airtight, but bring to room temp before serving. Freeze the layers for up to 2 months, assemble fresh—frosted doesn’t freeze as well. Serve with raspberry coulis, espresso, or white chocolate shards.

A Few FAQs

Can I use milk instead of buttermilk? Sure, add 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk, let sit 5 min.
My ganache won’t whip. It needs more chill time—overnight. Still loose? Chill again and whip lightly.
Can I halve or double? Yes—halve for a 6-inch, double for 9-inch. Adjust bake time.
Air fryer? Yes for cupcakes, but not for layers.
Best white chocolate? Couverture—Callebaut, Lindt, or MiiXR India. Compound won’t whip.

Notes from My Testing

Batch 1: White chocolate melted into butter seized. Melting with cream = much smoother.
Batch 2: Oil-only cake stayed moist but lack buttery taste. Now use both oil and butter.
Batch 3: Over-whipped ganache turned grainy. Now stop at soft peaks.
Batch 4: Egg-free with yogurt: moist, flatter, works for a rustic cake.
Final version: Oil + butter, white chocolate with cream, compote for balance.

Nutrition (Estimate)

Per 1/12 of the cake: ~420 kcal, 22 g fat, 48 g carbs, 6 g protein
These are general numbers—your mileage may vary depending on brands and how you slice it.

Wrapping Up

There’s something deeply satisfying about a cake that looks as good as it tastes, and this White Chocolate Raspberry Cake seems to pull it off without being too finicky. It’s not the fastest recipe in your collection, and there are moments mid-process where you might wonder if it’s worth the mess and the dishes but that first slice, rich with white chocolate yet cut by raspberry, tends to quiet any doubts.

You don’t need professional equipment, but this cake does reward a bit of care: weighing ingredients, letting batters come to the right consistency, and not rushing the ganache. It’s the kind of dessert that suggests you planned ahead, even if you just wanted to use up some berries or chocolate. I’ve served it at family birthdays and casual get-togethers, and it seems to work equally well at both sometimes people even ask for the recipe, which I take as a decent sign.

It’s not flawless. If you’re after something truly quick or foolproof, this isn’t it. But for a special occasion, or if you just want to impress your own taste buds, this cake holds its own. Variations are possible, and the leftovers (if there are any) keep reasonably well, though I’d argue it’s best the day it’s made.

Bakery-Style White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Course: DessertCuisine: WesternDifficulty: Beginner, Intermediate

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

420

kcal

Total time

hours

Chill time: 4–12 hours (ganache)

Tender vanilla–white chocolate sponge layered with tangy raspberry compote and frosted with silky white chocolate whipped ganache. Balanced sweetness, bakery-style finish, written for home bakers.

Ingredients

Cake Layers (8-inch)

All-purpose flour (maida): 270 g (2 1/4 cups)
Baking powder: 8 g (2 tsp)
Baking soda: 1 g (1/4 tsp)
Fine salt: 3 g (1/2 tsp)
Caster sugar: 220 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp)
Neutral oil (sunflower/canola): 100 g (1/2 cup)
Unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled: 60 g (1/4 cup)
Eggs, large, room temp: 3 (about 150 g without shells)
Buttermilk, room temp: 240 g (1 cup)
Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
White chocolate, good quality, finely chopped: 100 g (3.5 oz)
Heavy cream (to melt chocolate): 60 g (1/4 cup), taken from pantry cream or separate
Raspberry Compote Filling
Raspberries, fresh or frozen: 300 g (2 1/2 cups)
Sugar: 60 g (1/4 cup)
Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
Cornstarch slurry: 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
White Chocolate Whipped Ganache (Frosting)
White chocolate (real cocoa butter, not compound): 300 g (10.5 oz)
Heavy cream 35% fat: 480 g (2 cups), divided:
Part A (hot): 180 g (3/4 cup)
Part B (cold): 300 g (1 1/4 cups)
Fine salt: tiny pinch

Directions

Prep (10 minutes)
Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F), rack in the middle.
Grease pans, line bottoms with parchment, lightly flour sides.
In a heatproof bowl, gently melt 100 g white chocolate with 60 g hot cream (do not boil). Stir until completely smooth and glossy. Let cool to lukewarm. Visual cue: looks like vanilla custard—no graininess or oil separation.
Wet mix (5 minutes)
In a large bowl, whisk eggs and caster sugar until pale and slightly thick, 2–3 minutes by hand or 1–2 minutes with a hand mixer on medium.
Whisk in oil, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth.
Whisk in the cooled white chocolate–cream mixture. Visual cue: batter slightly thickens, smooth and homogenous.
Dry + buttermilk alternation (5–7 minutes)
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk (start and end with dry), folding gently with a spatula.
Visual cue: batter should ribbon off the whisk/spatula and disappear into the surface in 6–7 seconds. Avoid overmixing (a shiny, elastic batter is a warning sign).
Bake (30–35 minutes)
Divide batter evenly among pans (use a scale for accuracy).
Tap pans lightly to release large air bubbles.
Bake at 175°C (350°F) for 30–35 minutes.
Doneness: tops golden and springy; a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs; internal temp 96–98°C/205–208°F.
Cool in pans 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Raspberry compote (15 minutes, cool fully)
Combine raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 5–6 minutes until juicy.
Stir in cornstarch slurry; cook 1 minute until thick and jammy.
Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Cool fully before assembly. Visual cue: should mound on a spoon and not run.
White chocolate whipped ganache (make ahead; chill 4–12 hours)
Heat Part A cream (180 g) to steaming, pour over 300 g white chocolate; rest 1 minute, then stir until smooth.
Whisk in Part B cold cream (300 g) and a pinch of salt until fully combined.
Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
Whip on low–medium just to soft–medium peaks. Visual cue: peaks stand with a gentle bend; texture silky, not curdled or grainy. Do not overwhip.
Assemble (20–30 minutes)
Level cake layers if needed.
Place first layer on board. Pipe or spread a ganache “dam” around the edge; spoon in a thin, even layer of raspberry compote. Repeat with the second layer. Top with final layer.
Apply a thin crumb coat of ganache; chill 15–20 minutes.
Frost the outside smoothly with remaining ganache. Decorate with fresh raspberries and white chocolate curls.

Notes

Notes, Tips & Troubleshooting
Cake sinks: underbaked or too much leavening. Bake to 96–98°C; if using very thin buttermilk, reduce baking soda slightly.
Dry crumb: too much flour or overbaking. Weigh flour, verify oven temperature.
Dense/gummy layer: overmixed batter or seized chocolate. Fold gently and ensure chocolate-cream is smooth and lukewarm.
Cracked domes: oven runs hot; bake at 170°C in strong OTGs.
Grainy ganache: overheated chocolate or overwhipped cream. Melt gently; whip just to soft peaks.
Pro tip: Combine oil for moisture with a little melted butter for aroma—best of both worlds.