So here is what I finally ended up with for my birthday cake. It was a white chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and white chocolate buttercream on the outside. My birthday was 1920s style party, at our house turned speakeasy -- aptly named "Vinings" after the grape vines we have growing in our yard.I hadn't really decided what I wanted the cake to look like. I had originally wanted something kind of art deco-ish but with time usually not running in my favor before a party, I didn't want to give myself something too complicated. I was inspired by the candle ring holder I used as a cake topper because it looked like a vine of flowers ready to bloom and thought it would fit in nicely with the theme. With time running out the day of the party, I slapped some vines onto the side that would coordinate with the topper and this is what I ended up with. Not exactly what I was looking for...but what do I expect considering I really don't have the steadiest hands. I did want them to be twisted and curly like grape vines...but still not exactly what I wanted. Also, I worked on this green for ages trying to get it the color I wanted before I gave up and realized how much will it really matter anyway? Its my cake, and at that point I really couldn't care what shade of green it was!
White Chocolate Cake posted on Allrecipes
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In small saucepan, melt 6 ounces white chocolate and hot water over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 1 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix in melted white chocolate and 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
- Pour batter into two 9 inch round cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
I made two batches of this cake and the 9 inch version came out great, but the 6 inch version did come out a bit greasy as some of the reviews said. Also, with the left over batter from the second batch (the 6inch) I made some cupcakes. While the actual cake was delicious and baked very evenly, the cupcakes failed to rise as I expected and I was left with some very flat cupcakes. The texture and taste of the cake was excellent and even the slightly more greasy smaller tier tasted great the next day. Overall, the cake was delicious but in my estimation far from the perfect cake.
I ended up with three different frosting on the cake--not purposely, but that's just the way it worked out. The chocolate buttercream I used in the Nightmare Before Christmas cake was once again used as the filler, with one slight modification: I added a bit of Meyer's dark rum. The rum really helps compliment the flavor of the chocolate and cuts into the sugar a bit to give a much smoother taste. I highly recommend this change!
I attempted to make a white chocolate mocha buttercream, with Ghiradelli's White Mocha, but because the hot beverage mix had granulated sugar in it, the texture of the frosting was still a bit grainy. Some time sitting in the fridge helped some of the grain sugar to dissipate, but not completely. I used this experimental frosting as the crumb coat on the cake since I didn't want it to go to waste and made a white chocolate buttercream with the same recipe for the chocolate above, just substituting white for dark chocolate. It was excellent and tasty.
I experimented with different frosting basically for my own edification. I really wanted to see how different things worked together and what kind of consistency they came out. Next time I make it though, I will use the white chocolate frosting that the recipe calls for and make it a true White Chocolate cake. Overall, I'm pleased with how this came out, but New Years is around the corner and another perfect time to experiment on my very willing friends.
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