I love spending time in the kitchen, especially during the holidays. Although we won’t be entertaining this Christmas, I wanted to make a cake that felt festive and gave me an excuse to play around a bit. This cake has a raspberry jam layer, a white chocolate buttercream layer in the center and is topped with fresh whipped cream, raspberries and white chocolate shavings. It is very easy to make and tastes so good! This cake is intended to be served right after making or the whipped cream topping can start to soften.

Raspberry White Chocolate Cake

For this recipe I was going to make a different cake, but decided to go with my all time favorite yellow cake to make sure I liked all of the flavors together. Find the yellow cake recipe here. It comes out perfect every time, but if you prefer box cake mix that works too!

I use a 9 x 13 baking sheet lined with parchment paper with a little overhang to make it easy to remove (and a light dusting of flour on top of the parchment). Once you have the batter, pour into the prepared baking sheet until a little more than half full. You want to allow room for the cake to rise while baking without spilling over the sides. Since this is thinner than a round cake, I like to bake for about 16-18 minutes but check occasionally by sticking a toothpick in (you don’t want to over bake or it could be dry)

For The Fillings

-Half a jar of Bonne Manman Raspberry Preserves or any jam you prefer
(The most important part is that the preserves are room temp. If it is too cold, it wont spread across the cake properly. I spoon half a jar of jam into a bowl and let is sit while I bake the cakes and make the other toppings)

White Chocolate Buttercream.
(you could do this on inside layer and on the outside if you don’t like whipped cream or prefer a more traditional cake)

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly ( I like to use these and I like to have an extra bar to create shavings for the top)
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

– Melt the white chocolate. Set aside to cool, but not harden. It is very important you don’t dump this in without cooling slightly or you will melt the butter and the frosting will be VERY runny.
-With an electric mixer (stand or handheld) beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Beat in the melted white chocolate. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar slowly and then the vanilla. Beat at low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Make sure everything is well combined and the consistency is light and fluffy.

Whipped Cream

• 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
• 4 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Beat with a hand or stand mixer (with the whisk attachment) until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Once the cake is done baking, set aside to cool completely. Once cool, level the top and then cut in half, creating two equal 4.5″ x 6.5″ layers. Spread the jam evenly on one side. Then neatly spread a heavy layer of the white chocolate buttercream on top of the jam with an icing spatula. Place your top layer of cake on and cover the whole cake with whipped cream. Top with fresh raspberries and white chocolate shavings! Serve shortly after or place in refrigerator to keep the whipped from softening. Try not to do this for too long or the cake can dry out!