White Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cakes are always moist and tender because of the cocoa butter contained in the chocolate. White cake recipes have a tendency to turn out dry, however. So I was intrigued when I read the recipe for "White Chocolate Whisper Cake" in "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I highly recommend this book, although it is older, so the recipes are made in 9-inch by 1 1/2-inch cake pans, which are now hard to find, as tastes have trended towards taller cakes. I have been able to follow the recipes fine, however, using 8-inch by 2-inch pans instead.

In any case, I wanted to try out the white chocolate cake, which contains cocoa butter for a moistening quality. You do have to be sure to buy real white chocolate for this - check the ingredients for cocoa butter and no other kind of oil or fat. 

The first test batch was a 1/4 recipe, made into 6 cupcakes. I frosted them with vanilla whipped American buttercream. They were incredibly light and tender, and very moist. Notably, they did not taste like white chocolate at all.

Having conducted a successful small test, I mixed up a full recipe and divided it among 4 six-inch by 2-inch cake pans. I made a seeded raspberry puree and then reduced it with just a bit of sugar, and then folded the reduction into French buttercream for the most delicious raspberry concoction I have ever tasted.

I torted the 4 cake layers into 8, and then assembled them into two mini cakes, for two of my friends who have their birthdays this week. I made some chocolate flowers to go on top. White chocolate raspberry bliss!