This past Christmas I convinced one of my sisters to forgo taking the time and effort to make a dessert for our family Christmas feast. Instead of cooking, I convinced her that the biggest impression would be made if she ordered a cake from Nothing Bundt Cake. Having experienced their yummy deliciousness at several bridal and baby showers recently, I was seriously yearning for a super moist and sweet treat from there.
Being a good sister she came thru after standing in line with all the others who did not pre-order their selection and showed up with a White Chocolate Raspberry cake that was “to die for, after selling my first grandchild”. I am not sure if anyone else got any cake but I swear that I totally indulged in it.
A couple of days later while daydreaming of that same cake, I decided that I could surely replicate and recreate that cake experience in my kitchen. In the past I have had some degree of success after searching the internet for all sorts of useable hacks for other products. So I set out to find the perfect recipe to replicate that yummy deliciousness in my mouth again (incorporating lazy steps, of course).
In my first ever post I promised to share both my epic fails and successes. My first attempt at hacking the Nothing Bundt Cake experience was an epic failure. My final recipe looked pretty straightforward and prominently featured a box cake mix as a lazy alternative for me. I could avoid all the measuring of flour, sugar, leavening, etc. and only add six easy to assemble ingredients.
Being overly confident, I decided to double the recipe; making one for testing, two smaller ones to freeze for later consumption. Not sure what I did wrong; doubling the recipe resulted in a river of cake batter overflowing from all three cakes in the oven. I was so glad I had the forethought to place a long jelly roll pan under the cakes just in case. Having set the timer for the recommended time, I was shocked and disappointed to realize that my cakes were not set after the time called for and required additional time in the oven.
They came out of the oven finally and impatience overtook me. I couldn’t wait for the cakes to cool long enough before turning them out on a sheet of parchment. Bits and pieces were still stuck on the inside of the pan (sad face Emoji here). They still looked great though and once finally cooled, I gathered my test tasters for the big reveal as I cut into one of the cakes.
The outside surfaces of the cake cooked perfectly but the inside looked like a purple gummy tube running thru the center of the cake. The texture was super moist, too moist as a matter of fact. Maybe it was a mistake to substitute butter for oil in the recipe. The taste was right on with the white chocolate and raspberry flavors coming thru. Being lazy but not a quitter, I decided to continue on my search and compare the various recipes to replicate both the taste and texture of the original cake.
My twist of that cake replaces the cream cheese frosting with a raspberry cream cheese frosting to further reinforce the raspberry flavor.
White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Cake
This produces a beautifully moist white chocolate cake swirled with raspberry jam and topped with thick raspberry cream cheese frosting. A recipe worthy of mastering, makes quite an impression
1 Box White Cake Mix
1 Box Instant Pudding Mix, White Chocolate Vanilla Bean flavor
4 Large Eggs, bring to room temperature before incorporating into cake mix
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Water for cake mix
1/2 Cup Oil
1 1/2 Cup White Chocolate Chips, finely chopped
1 Cup Seedless Raspberry Jam mixed with 2 Teaspoons water
Frosting
2 Packages of Cream Cheese 8 Ounces each
1/2 Cup Butter Softened
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste
1/3 to 1/2 Cup Raspberry Jam (depending on your taste)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour a large Bundt cake pan. Remove excess flour from pan and place pan in refrigerator until ready to fill. Use the large pan to prevent your batter from running over the pan while cooking. Put cake mix and pudding in mixer bowl and stir with fork to combine. Add sour cream to dry mixture and stir together on lowest speed of mixer to combine. Place eggs, water and oil in a cup or container and add liquids to dry cake mixture 1/3 at a time until well combined, stir in the chopped white chocolate chips.
Remove Bundt pan from refrigerator and pour 1/3 of the cake batter into your pan. Top batter with 1/2 the raspberry jam mixture randomly around the cake. I use a teaspoon to form a ‘well’ in the batter to hold the jam mixture. Swirl the jam mixture through the batter with a chopstick of wooden skewer. Circle the perimeter twice to swirl. Any further circles will probably create a marble pattern rather than a swirl pattern. Repeat with another 1/3 of the batter and the last 1/2 of the filling (be sure to swirl it through and then finish with the last 1/3 of the batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 55 to 60 minutes. (at 55 minutes… pull it out and test it with a toothpick or skewer. ) It is cooked throughout when the toothpick comes out dry.
Remove the cake from oven and allow it to cool completely before inverting onto a parchment covered surface. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a couple of hours. This step will help keep your frosting in place when you pipe it onto the cake.
For the frosting; place room temperature cream cheese and butter into mixer bowl and cream together until they’re smooth ( you can use a hand or stand mixer). Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl at intervals. Add raspberry jam and beat until it is incorporated and color is uniform. Slowly add all 4 cups of powdered sugar to creamed mixture. I like to place a clean towel over the top of my bowl when incorporating powdered sugar and flour to a mixture. Once sugar is mixed in, add 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste and whip it all together until it’s fluffy.
At this point I spoon mine into a ziplock bag or piping bag and let it chill in the refrigerator for about an hour before piping it onto my cake.
This cake freezes well if well wrapped in a couple of layers of plastic wrap. I do not frost the cake if I am going to freeze it.
Enjoy your cake and remember to Be Happy and keep on crafting.