Raspberry and White Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Sauce
Fresh raspberries cut through a buttery white chocolate crumb, while warm white chocolate sauce gives each slice a smooth finish at the table.
- Total
- 1 hr 20 min
- Prep
- 25 min
- Bake
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
- Serves
- 10
- Tin
- 20 cm springform
Soured cream gives the crumb enough moisture to carry the white chocolate without turning heavy, while fresh raspberries leave sharp, soft pockets through each slice.
The cake is deep, so keep the oven at a steady 170C and judge the centre rather than the colour at the edge. The top should spring back before it comes out.
Ingredients
For one 20 cm springform, serves 10
For the cake
For the white chocolate sauce
You will need
- 20 cm round springform tin
- baking paper
- large mixing bowl
- balloon whisk
- flexible spatula
- small saucepan
- wire rack
- skewer
Oven
170°C fan 150°C 340°F
Method
Oven 170°C · fan 150°C · 340°F
Whisk the eggs and sugar
Heat the oven to 170C, 150C fan. Line the base and sides of the springform tin. Whisk the 3 eggs with the 185 g caster sugar until the mixture is pale, thick and falls from the whisk in a ribbon that sits on the surface for a moment.
Fold the batter together
Pour in the 135 g melted butter and the 155 g soured cream, then whisk until the mixture looks glossy and even. Fold in the 195 g self-raising flour and the 1 tsp baking powder with a flexible spatula, then fold in the 150 g white chocolate and the 100 g raspberries. Stop as soon as no dry flour remains. The batter should be thick and creamy, with red berries and small pale pieces of chocolate spread through it.
Fill the tin
Scrape the batter into the lined tin and level the surface without pressing it down. It should sit thickly in the tin, with a few raspberry patches and white chocolate pieces still visible at the top.
Bake the cake
Bake for 52 to 58 minutes, until a skewer pushed into the middle comes out with a few damp crumbs, and the top springs back. The cake should be risen and golden at the edge, with a lightly domed top. Leave it for 20 minutes in the tin.
Release and cool
Run a thin knife around the edge if any fruit has caught, then unclasp the ring and lift it away. Transfer the whole cake to a wire rack. It should feel firm around the sides but still slightly soft through the centre as it cools.
Make the white chocolate sauce
While the cake cools, warm the 150 ml double cream in a small saucepan until it is steaming and small bubbles appear around the edge. Take it off the heat, add the 120 g white chocolate and stir until the sauce is smooth, pale and falls from the spoon in a steady ribbon.
Cut the cake
Once the cake feels cool through the centre, move it to a serving plate and cut a wedge with a sharp knife. The crumb should be pale and tender, with raspberry pockets and soft white chocolate pieces rather than a wet line through the middle.
Serve with the sauce
Pour the warm white chocolate sauce over each slice at the table. It should run slowly over the cut face and pool lightly on the plate rather than sit in a thick mound.
Baker's notes
- Fresh raspberries are less likely to stain the whole batter than thawed frozen fruit, which can release more juice while folding.
- Use a white chocolate you like eating on its own. Very sweet baking chips can make both the crumb and sauce taste flatter.
- The cake cuts more cleanly once fully cool, because the white chocolate firms slightly inside the crumb.
- Allergens: contains dairy, egg and gluten. There are no nuts or alcohol in the recipe.
Keeping it Keep the unsauced cake covered at cool room temperature for up to two days, or refrigerate it if the room is warm. Keep the sauce covered in the fridge and warm it gently before serving so it becomes pourable again.
Questions, answered
Can I use frozen raspberries?
Yes. Use them straight from the freezer and fold them in at the end so they do not bleed heavily into the batter.
Can I make the cake a day ahead?
Yes. Bake and cool the cake, then keep it covered overnight. Make the sauce ahead too if needed, chill it separately and warm it gently before serving.
Can I use milk chocolate for the sauce?
You can, but the flavour will be quite different and the colour will be tan rather than ivory. The cake itself is balanced around white chocolate.
Why use soured cream in the batter?
It adds moisture and a mild tang, which keeps the sweet white chocolate from dominating the crumb.
If it goes wrong
- It sank in the middleSeven causes, told apart by the shape of the crater.
- It came out raw in the centreBrown outside, wet inside, and how to rescue the one you are holding.
- The caramel seizedIt is almost always fixable. The lump re-melts.
