White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling and White Chocolate Ganache

White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling and White Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

Cake

1. 3 1/2 c. cake flour

2. 4 tsp baking powder.

3. 1 1/3 c. whole milk

4. 1 t. double-strength vanilla extract

5. 8 egg whites

6. 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

7. 1 c. granulated sugar

8. 1/2 c. sour cream

Raspberry Curd Filling

1. 1/2 c. unsalted butter

2. 1 pint fresh raspberries or 12oz package of frozen raspberries, thawed

3. 5 large egg yolks, slightly beaten

4. 3/4 c. granulated sugar

5. 2-3 tsp. fresh lemon juice

White Chocolate Ganache

1. 8oz white chocolate for baking

2. 2/3 c. heavy whipping cream

Frosting

1. 6oz white chocolate for baking, chopped

2. 8oz cream cheese, softened

3. 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

4. 1/2 t. double-strength vanilla extract

5. 2 c. powdered sugar

Directions

for the cake:

Preheat oven to 325˚F. Spray two 8" baking pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Combine flour and baking soda in small mixing bowl, whisk together and set aside. Combine milk and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup and set aside. In a large mixing bowl (stainless steel is best), beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl cream together the softened butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy; beat in sour cream until smooth. On medium speed, alternating with milk mixture add flour mixture in small amounts mixing until smooth. Whisk in one-third of egg whites, then fold in the rest. Divide batter evenly between baking pans. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted in center and comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove from pans. Cool completely before frosting.

for the ganache

Place chocolate and cream in a double broiler or heavy sauce pan. Cook on very low heat just until chocolate is melted, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight. Beat chilled ganache with an electric mixer and set aside until ready to use.  

for the raspberry curd

Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add raspberries, egg yolks, sugar and salt, mash berries as you cook. Stir frequently at first, then constantly at the end, until thickened. This will take approx. 10 minutes. Pour the mixture through a mesh strainer over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Let cool to room temperature, the mixture will thicken as it cools. Stir in lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

for the frosting

Melt chocolate in microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 sec until mostly melted. Let stand for 3 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine melted chocolate, cream cheese, butter and vanilla, beat on medium speed until well mixed. Gradually add powdered sugar, beat well until spreading consistency.

Assembly

place one layer cake on cake board, spoon the white chocolate ganache in the center of cake and spread to edges using an off set spatula creating an even layer. Spread the raspberry curd on top of the ganache layer. Place the second cake layer on top of fillings and cover entire cake with white chocolate frosting using off set spatula. Decorate as desired. Garnish with fresh raspberries, white chocolate truffles, or white chocolate curls. 

I made this cake for my little sister's 20th Birthday. It's full of some of her favorite things, raspberries and sunflowers. I hope she loves it!

Red, White, and Blue

Happy 4th of July everybody! These are my patriotic red, white and blue cupcakes. They are a white cake with red and blue sprinkles mixed in the batter for a "confetti" cake look. The flag design on top is made from small vanilla buttercream rosettes. Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday.

Confetti Cake

This particular cake was for my big sister, Stephanie. She is truly a super star! She loves confetti cake. I made this cake using a cake mix, you can find several different varieties of "confetti" cake mixes. My favorite one is rainbow chip by Betty Crocker. It's frosted with ready to use rainbow chip icing by Betty crocker. It is also very easy to make your own version, just add multi-colored sprinkles to white cake batter and vanilla icing.

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients:                                                        
2 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter
1 1/4c. sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 c. milk

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Grease
and flour muffin cups, or spray with baking spray and flour.

2.In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside

3. In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 c. at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl occasionally. Beat 2 minutes longer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture, about 1/3 of mixture at a time, and milk, about 1/2 at a time, beating just until blended.

4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans; place on cooling racks to cool. Frost with chocolate buttercream.
*Recipes for cupcakes and frosting from Betty Crocker's the Big Book of Cupcakes
Frosting Recipe:

Combine 3oz unsweetened baking chocolate melted and cooled and 1/2c. butter softened in large bowl. Stir in 3 cups powdered sugar. Beat in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 3 to 4 tablespoons of milk until smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, add more milk. Or, if frosting is too thin add more powdered sugar. Frosts 24 regular cupcakes.

All-Star Graduation...

I made these cookies for my sister's kindergarten students' graduation. They all loved them so much, they even made me thank you cards. How sweet!

These are just a simple sugar cookie with vanilla icing, decorated with large confetti sprinkles.

Click here for the cookie recipe
                               

                                             

Cupcake Bouquet For My Mamma

My mom is an outstanding baker. Let me tell you, she can make a pie like no one else. She started teaching me to bake when I was a little girl and her passion for cooking definitely got passed down to me. I love my mom. Since today is Mother's day, she deserves to get something special from me. This is a cupcake bouquet made with vanilla bean cupcakes. It's pretty simple to make one of these bouquets. You need a clay flower pot, a Styrofoam ball, toothpicks and of course cupcakes!

Step 1: Bake cupcakes, cool completely.
Step 2: Place Styrofoam ball in flower pot. I used a 6" Styrofoam ball.
Step 3: Insert 2 toothpicks into Styrofoam, then place cupcake on toothpicks, keep repeating until Styrofoam is no longer visible.
Step 4: Once all cupcakes are in place, then frost. I frosted these cupcakes with a rosette design using a piping bag with Wilton tip 1M.

Video Tutorial on How to make Bouquet. (Video is not in English, however it is pretty easy to follow what's going on).

Recipe for: Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
A cake mix can also be used, just add the seeds of 2 vanilla beans into the batter. A french vanilla or white cake mix works the best.

Lots of Lemon Cake

It was my Dad's Birthday this week and this is what I decided to make him:

Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttercream Icing.
It is decorated with a basketweave design on the sides which is actually much easier to do than it looks ;) And of course, for spring, daisies on top.
Lemon cake is pretty easy to make. I think everybody has a favorite basic yellow cake recipe or cake mix. Use that as a base, and just add 2 tablespoons of lemon zest. If you don't have a good yellow cake recipe here are links to a couple really good ones.



Betty Crocker recipe
Wilton cake recipe



As for the icing; it's just a basic buttercream.
2/3 c. butter softened
6 c. powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2t.  lemon zest
I also added some yellow food coloring.