This White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake features three layers of fluffy vanilla white cake filled with a light white chocolate mousse and fresh strawberries. Frosted in a white chocolate strawberry buttercream and topped with white chocolate covered strawberries, this is the perfect cake to make for Mother’s Day, Valentines Day or any special occasion!
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White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake
Remember these White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes and this Chocolate Covered Strawberry Layer Cake? Well allow me to introduce you to their love child — White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I sort of have a theme on the blog. I consider (dark or semisweet) chocolate covered desserts, Valentines Day desserts. And I consider white chocolate/fruit desserts, Mother’s Day desserts.
So with Mother’s Day just around the corner, I’ve brought you another recipe featuring rich white chocolate and fresh strawberries!
5 Parts to this Cake
There’s 5 different recipes you’ll be making before putting this cake together:
- White Cake: I’ve used this recipe time and time again. Most of the times I’ve used it as a base for my colourful cakes, like this rainbow cake. We’ll be using a mixture of sour cream and buttermilk for an extra fluffy crumb!
- White Chocolate Mousse: This easy 4-ingredient white chocolate mousse made its debut in my White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake. We’ll also be stuffing fresh diced strawberries into the mousse filling!
- White Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream: My strawberry buttercream recipe with melted white chocolate added to give it extra flavour and a creamier texture!
- White Chocolate Ganache: a simple 2-ingredient ganache to drip down the sides of the cake. However, since white chocolate is a bit yellow-ish, we add something extra to make it bright white.
- White Chocolate Covered Strawberries: grab the biggest, juiciest strawberries you can find and dip it in melted white chocolate! I also whitened this, but you can use bright white candy melts, if you like.
White Cake Layers
The white cake layers have a fluffy, sturdy and moist crumb thanks to the combination of sour cream and buttermilk. What else contributes to the cakes fluffy texture? Well, to start, creaming the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for at least 5 minutes is KEY to building a sturdy structure for this cake.
We then add 6 large egg whites which gives the cake its fluffy texture. However, as fluffy as egg whites can make a cake, they can also dry it out. To fix that, we’ll be adding a little bit of vegetable oil.
Tips for Mixing
It is super crucial that you mix the batter correctly! Here's some tips:
- Sift the dry ingredients in one bowl and whisk them together so they’re ready when you need them.
- Do NOT skimp on the creaming time for the butter and sugar. Beat it until it’s super pale and doubled in volume. This is where a stand mixer comes in handy, because you can just set a timer and leave it to do all the work.
- Add the egg whites one at a time, and wait until the egg white is almost completely mixed in before adding the next one.
- Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk. Start with ⅓ of the dry mixture, mix until flour is almost gone, then slowly pour in half of the buttermilk while the mixers running on low. Repeat this 3 more times with more of the dry, remaining buttermilk, and remaining dry. This helps keep the batter smooth all throughout, which keeps us from overmixing.
White Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry Filling
The light and airy mousse pairs perfectly with the white cake layers! There’s only 4 ingredients needed and 3 steps for making it.
- Make a ganache: white chocolate and heavy cream heated together and stirred until combined. Let this cool in the refrigerator, stirring every few minutes to loosen it back up.
- Make whipped cream: take the remaining whipped cream, powdered sugar and vanilla and whip that up in a cold bowl until stiff peaks form.
- Fold them together: slowly fold the whipped cream into the white chocolate ganache, ⅓ at a time.
That’s it! Now you’ve got a thick, fluffy and creamy white chocolate mousse. I recommend doing this part the night before and letting it set in the refrigerator overnight. That way, the day you decorate, the mousse will have already set up.
How to Properly Fill the Cake
As you can see, the filling is the same thickness as the cake layers. This is not just because I wanted to fill it with as much mousse as possible.
That’s only part of the reason.
The other reason is because, when filling a cake with a cake filling like a mousse or sauce, you can’t just spread it on and stack on the next layer. This is because the filling isn’t strong enough to support the cake layers on top, so when you go to frost it, the cake layers will slide off and the filling will leak out.
To avoid this, pipe a border of buttercream around the edges of the cake, this will hold your filling inside. For this cake, I spread some of the mousse in my buttercream dam, then sprinkled on a handful of chopped strawberries, then then spread a little more mousse on top.
White Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream
This frosting could be a dessert on its own! It’s so, so, so silky and creamy and the white chocolate and strawberry make such a wonderful flavour combo, I can’t get enough!
As I mentioned above, this is adapted from my strawberry buttercream recipe. However, instead of using my homemade strawberry sauce, I used puréed strawberries that I cooked down and cooled. I didn’t strain the purée because I wanted to have those beautiful strawberry seed specks throughout the frosting.
With the strawberry purée, we’ll also be adding melted pure white chocolate! No chocolate chips allowed, use a good-quality white chocolate bar and chop it up, melt it, let it cool, then mix it into the frosting!
My strawberry frosting’s never pink enough for me, so I always add a little drop of pink food colouring. This is optional, so if you like the original pale pink colour, leave it out.
White Chocolate Ganache Drip
This is the same ganache recipe we use for the mousse, so I won’t go into details. Since white chocolate looks pale yellow when melted, I added a few drops of icing whitener to give it a pure white colour.
To get that perfect drip, I used a spoon to drip the ganache over the edges, then poured the rest in the centre.
Baker’s Tip: Please allow the cake to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let that ganache set up.
It was getting late and the sun was setting, so I had to just go ahead and proceed with piping on the border and adding the strawberries. Obviously this was a bad idea, because the frosting swirls pushed the ganache down over the edges (messing up my perfect drip) and sliding off the cake.
That’s why there are no top view shots of the cake, the back was a complete mess because the swirls and strawberries refused to stay on. Speaking of, for the strawberry topping, melt down some chopped white chocolate with shortening to make dipping easier. Dip the strawberries and immediately sprinkle on some white nonpareils to make them extra fancy!
Can I turn this into Cupcakes?
Of course you can! If you’re making them for a huge crowd, keep the written recipe below. If not, make my White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes and fill it with the white chocolate mousse! Exquisitely divine dessert that’ll surely impress mommy dearest!
Happy Mother’s Day Baking!
More Mother’s Day Desserts
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White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake
This White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake features three layers of fluffy vanilla white cake filled with a light white chocolate mousse and fresh strawberries. Frosted in a white chocolate strawberry buttercream and topped with white chocolate covered strawberries, this is the perfect cake to make for Mother’s Day, Valentines Day or any special occasion!
Ingredients
Reduced Strawberry Purée:
- 1 and ½ cups (12 oz) fresh or frozen strawberries, stems removed
White Cake Layers:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large egg whites, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups buttermilk, room temperature
White Chocolate Mousse Filling:
- 6 oz. white chocolate, chopped
- 1 and ½ cups heavy cream, divided
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (16 oz) fresh strawberries, stems removed and diced
White Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream:
- 2 and ¼ cups Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 9 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- ½ cup Strawberry purée, cooled completely (recipe above)
- 5 oz. chopped white chocolate, melted and cooled
- Pink gel food colouring (optional)
White Chocolate Ganache Drip:
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 6 oz. white chocolate, chopped
- Few drops of white gel food colouring (like Wilton icing whitener)
White Chocolate Covered Strawberries:
- 15 strawberries, rinsed and pat dry
- 8 oz. white chocolate, chopped
- ½ tablespoon vegetable shortening
- 1 jar of White nonpareils (optional)
Instructions
For the Reduced Strawberry Purée:
- Purée strawberries in a blender until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat.
- Cook the purée over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for about 20-25 minutes, or until purée has reduced to ½ cup or a little more.
- Allow reduced purée to cool to room temperature, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely. You can let it cool overnight.
For the White Cake Layers:
- Preheat oven to 350° F (177°C). Prepare 2-3, 8-inch round cake pans with parchment rounds, and grease the sides. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add egg whites one at a time, mixing after each addition until just combined.
- Add sour cream, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix until completely combined.
- Alternately add ⅓ of the dry ingredients, mix until just combined, then add ½ of the buttermilk while the mixer is running on low. Repeat steps, adding ½ of the remaining dry ingredients, remaining buttermilk, then remaining dry ingredients. Remember to mix after each addition and beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide batter between each cake pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and cake springs back when lightly touched.
- Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.
For the White Chocolate Mousse:
- Put the chopped white chocolate and ¼ cup of heavy cream into a small bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each until fully melted and smooth. Set aside to cool completely.
- In a medium chilled stainless steal bowl, using a handheld mixer, whip the remaining 1 and ¼ cup of heavy cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla until it reaches stiff peaks.
- Scoop the cooled white chocolate ganache into a large bowl. Slowly fold in the mousse, ⅓ at a time until it’s all incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours, or overnight.
For the White Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and salt until super pale and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add half of the powdered sugar, one cup at a time and beat on low speed after each cup until combined.
- Once combined add reduced strawberry purée and cooled melted white chocolate and continue to beat until combined and smooth.
- Add remaining powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low speed until it’s all combined.
- Tint with pink gel food colouring if you want a more vibrant colour.
- Increase speed to medium-high and beat for about 5-7 minutes, or until frosting is light and fluffy. Set aside.
For the White Chocolate Ganache Drip:
- In a heat safe bowl, microwave the heavy whipping cream and chopped white chocolate together in 30 second intervals, until the cream is steaming hot. This takes me about 1 minute.
- Stir until the mixture comes together to form a thick ganache. Stir in a few drops of icing whitener to make the ganache whiter. Set aside.
For the White Chocolate Covered Strawberries:
- Wash the strawberries and dry them completely. Set aside.
- Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat or wax paper. Set aside.
- Melt white chocolate and ½ tablespoon of shortening in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until fully melted and smooth.
- Using a toothpick or holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the strawberries in the white chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle with white nonpareil sprinkles.
- Transfer to the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes to set.
Assembly of the White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake:
- Use an offset spatula to place a dollop of frosting onto a cake board or serving platter that’s on a turntable. Place one cake layer on top.
- Scoop some frosting into a disposable piping bag and snip off the end. Pipe a double rim of frosting around the edges of the cake and spoon in some of the white chocolate mousse and spread into a thin layer.
- Spread on 1 cup of diced strawberries. Spread on a little more mousse to cover the strawberries.
- Repeat with the next layer, then place the final layer upside down.
- Frost the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Chill the cake for 30 minutes.
- Remove cake from refrigerator and frost the entire cake with a thick layer of frosting. Chill cake in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes or in the freezer for 10-20 minutes.
- Pour white chocolate ganache into a disposable piping bag or a ziploc bag and snip off the tip. Drip the ganache off the edge of the cake and fill the center.
- Use an offset spatula to to spread the ganache over the top. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes to set the ganache. This is important so the frosting swirls and strawberries don’t slide off!
- Transfer remaining frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (I used Wilton 8B). Remove cake from the refrigerator and pipe swirls over the top. Top each swirl with a white chocolate covered strawberry. Slice and serve!
Notes
- Make ahead: (1) White Cake layers can be made ahead of time and double-wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. (2) White Chocolate Ganache can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator covered. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir until smooth. (3) White Chocolate Strawberry Frosting can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for several months. Before using — allow frosting to come to room temperature, then re-whip in a stand mixer until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
- White Chocolate Covered Strawberries: I don’t recommend making the chocolate covered strawberries ahead of time because the moisture from the strawberries would leak and the chocolate would get grainy.
- Reduced Strawberry Purée: you can use thawed frozen strawberries instead of fresh strawberries, though the cooking time may be longer since there will be more liquid.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
-
Wilton 603-1236 Liquid Color, 2-Ounce, White
-
Wilton Decorating Tip, No.8B Star Open Stock (402-8800)
-
Ateco Plastic Coated Decorating Bag, 18-Inch
-
Wilton Icing Spatula Set for Baking, 3-Piece - 13 and 9-Inch Angled and 11-Inch Straight Spatulas
-
Wilton Aluminum 8-Inch Round Cake Pan Set, Multipack of 2
-
Ateco 612 Revolving Cake Decorating Stand, 12" Round, Cast Iron Base with ⅛" Aluminum Top
BON APPÉTIT!
Love, Dedra
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Tricia Hardie
Hello, I cannot wait to try and make your cake recipie. However I have a question I am from the UK and I am unsure how to convert your Cup measurements in Grams or Ounces? I am hoping you could help me before I attempt to make and possibly get the measurements wrong haha
Dedra | QueensleeAppetit
Hi, apologies for the lack of weight measurements right now, the folks who made the recipe card should be adding that feature soon. for now, theres plenty of conversion charts or sites online that you can use!