White Chocolate Berry Bundt Cake

An easy, absolutely DELICIOUS recipe for tender white chocolate cake with a berry swirl based on Nothing Bundt Cakes famous White Chocolate Raspberry cake.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. JUMP TO THE RECIPE
2. WHY CAKES MIXES ARE SO MOIST
3. THE WHITE CHOCOLATE WINNER

For Angel Baby’s 18th birthday this year, I bought a tiered cake from the Nothing Bundt Cakes bakery chain here in town. I’d never had one of their cakes but people rave about them so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Not knowing which flavor was best, I chose chocolate for the bottom tier (because you can’t go wrong with chocolate… am I right or am I right??). Thinking it would pair well with the chocolate, I chose their White Chocolate Raspberry cake for the top tier. 

Her birthday came and I (as well as everyone else) chose the chocolate cake (because… chocolate). The next day, the White Chocolate Raspberry cake was sitting on the counter looking neglected so I thought, Oh OK, I’ll give you a taste too.

Y’all. Y’ALL!!That thing was good! I couldn’t get over it! It was so moist and slam packed with flavor! 

I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And, no, I didn’t tell a soul in my house how good it was because I wanted to keep that sucker all for myself. 

I hopped online to see if I could find a copycat recipe and the internet did not disappoint. There are dozens of versions of this recipe online. I made myself a big cup of coffee and started reading.

There are homemade versions and cake mix versions but I knew I wanted to make this from a cake mix. For one, it’s easy. But mostly because cake mix manufacturers use ingredients that everyday cooks just don’t have access to and they have perfected the light, springy, super moist cake which is what I wanted my cake to be.

WHY ARE CAKE MIXES MORE MOIST AND TENDER THAN HOMEMADE CAKE?

EMULSIFIERS – cake mixes use emulsifiers that bond fats and liquids on a molecular level. We can whip oil and water together to emulsify it but it will eventually separate. Egg yolks can help (because of the lecithin) but they won’t do what the cake mix emulsifiers do.

SHORTENING – cake mixes bond the flour with the shortening (don’t ask me how) so the air and moisture in the shortening stays in the cake and makes for a much more tender crumb.

FLOUR – the flour in cake mixes is chlorine-treated (sounds scary but it’s not) which oxidizes the starch and changes how the flour absorbs water. The treated flour holds onto the water in the batter and doesn't let much evaporate.

So, here’s the thing… I love a good homemade pound cake and my chocolate sheet cake is my go-to for chocolate cake (it’s my all-time favorite) but certain cake recipes – and this is one of them – just need that moist, tender (but still sturdy) body you can only get from a mix.

A FEW NOTES ABOUT THE RASPBERRY SWIRL

The raspberry layer in the recipes I saw online seemed overly complicated to me and/or just didn’t look like quite enough flavor for my taste.

I went the easy way and just bought raspberry pie filling. You’ll notice I titled this recipe “berry” and not “raspberry” and that’s because I couldn’t always find the raspberry variety and bought strawberry instead (I like them equally). You can use whichever berry pie filling you like best! Lemon curd is probably delicious too!

Don’t use the whole can of pie filling, though. I did in one of my test cakes and it was just too much. Use between 1 and 1.5 cups of the filling. If you want your cake to be most like Nothing Bundt Cakes’ version, use 1 cup. If you want it like the cake pictured here, use 1.5 cups.

WHAT FORM OF WHITE CHOCOLATE IS BEST IN WHITE CHOCOLATE BERRY BUNDT CAKE?

WHOLE WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS? – this was a NO for me.  The chips were too bulky and chunky and became almost crunchy like nuts the next day. It was tasty but nothing at all like the Nothing Bundt Cakes version which is what we’re after here.

MELTED WHITE CHOCOLATE? – also a NO for me.  I melted white chocolate, let it cool a little, tempered it with a little batter, then poured it into the cake batter. And after doing all that, I could not taste it in the cake. For me, this was too much effort for so-so results. 

CHOPPED WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS? – this was a clear YES!  I simply ran the chips/morsels through my nut chopper. This broke the chips into smaller bits which distributed evenly throughout the batter without being chunky and crunchy. I imagine any nut chopper would work (I have the kind with the little hand crank on the side). If you don’t have a nut chopper, just rough chop them with a knife.

RECIPE NOTES FOR WHITE CHOCOLATE BERRY BUNDT CAKE

You MUST grease and flour the pan very well or use a cake pan release (Wilton’s or homemade). To make your own cake pan release, whisk together 1/2 cup each: vegetable oil, melted shortening and all-purpose flour then refrigerate for 30 minutes or until thickened. Refrigerate to store in an air-tight container up to 6 months. Brush onto pan with a pastry brush.

I always use sugar free instant pudding in this cake and no one has ever noticed. 

If you can’t find white chocolate instant pudding, use vanilla or cheesecake flavor.

Use raspberry, blueberry or strawberry pie filling. If using strawberry, you will want to mash up any whole berries (I use my pastry cutter to rough them up a bit).

I use Neufchatel in this instead of regular cream cheese because it yields a softer frosting and has an elasticity that works best in it. 

Be sure the white chocolate chips are not too warm when you chop them. It’s winter now so my house is chilly but if making this in 70 degrees or higher room temperature, refrigerate the chips for at least 30 minutes before chopping.

I haven’t made this with low fat sour cream because I really don’t like the starchy consistency but I have made it with vanilla Greek yogurt. The cake isn’t quite as moist as when made with full-fat sour cream but it’s still pretty dang good.

Recipe for White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake

White Chocolate Berry Bundt Cake

Yield: 12 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

An easy, absolutely DELICIOUS recipe for tender white chocolate cake with a berry swirl based on Nothing Bundt Cakes famous White Chocolate Raspberry cake.

Ingredients

Bundt Cake

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 small box instant white chocolate pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups chopped white chocolate chips (divided)
• 1 1/2 cups berry pie filling

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 packs Neufchatel cheese (lower fat cream cheese)
• 1/4 cup (half stick) real butter
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar (approximately)

Instructions

Bundt Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan (or coat pan with cake pan release – see notes). Set the Neufchatel cheese and butter (for frosting) out to come to room temp.
2. Mix eggs, water, oil and sour cream with an electric mixer until completely smooth.
3. Add cake mix and pudding mix (do not prepare either – just dump in the dry mixes) then mix for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in 1 1/4 cups chopped white chocolate (saving 3/4 cup to garnish cake with later).
5. Pour two-thirds of the batter into prepared bundt pan. Using the back of a spoon, create a shallow indentation through the center of the batter to make little moat for the pie filling.
6. Spoon half of the pie filling into the shallow ring in the batter. Do not let the pie filling touch the pan.
7. Repeat Steps 5 and 6, using the remaining cake batter and pie filling.
8. Using a rubber spatula or tablespoon, taking care not to touch the sides or bottom of the pan, gently swirl through the pie filling, circling the pan twice.
9. Bake in the center of the oven at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until cake is cooked through.
10. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes only then invert onto a serving plate. Cool cake completely (room temp or refrigerated is fine) then proceed to frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat Neufchatel cheese, butter, salt and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until completely smooth.
2. Add 2 cups powdered sugar then continue mixing until smooth.
3. Continue adding powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until frosting is soft enough to pipe but firm enough to hold its shape. TIP: when you think it’s ready, scoop up a big spoon full then thwack it on the inside of the bowl. If it comes off the spoon easily but doesn’t run all the way down the side of the bowl, you’re there! You want it somewhat thinner than traditional buttercream but thick enough not to run off the sides of the cake.
4. Spoon frosting into a quart-sized zip-top bag then cut off about 1/2-inch of one corner. Pipe stripes of frosting over the cake as pictured above. Garnish with reserved chopped white chocolate.
5. Refrigerate to store in an air-tight container. I keep my house a brisk 65 degrees in the winter and this cake keeps just fine on the counter.

Notes

• You MUST grease and flour the pan very well or use a cake pan release (Wilton’s or homemade). To make your own cake pan release, whisk together 1/2 cup each: vegetable oil, melted shortening and all-purpose flour then refrigerate for 30 minutes or until thickened. Refrigerate to store in an air-tight container up to 6 months. Brush onto pan with a pastry brush.
• I’ve tried this using whole white chocolate chips (didn’t like it – the chips were crunchy like nuts) and I’ve melted the white chocolate and mixed it into the batter (couldn’t taste it – not worth the effort). For me, the best way to incorporate the white chocolate is to “chop” the morsels in a nut grinder like I’m chopping pecans. Or you could simply omit the white chocolate chips (I’ve left them out and liked the cake just as much).
• Be sure the white chocolate chips are not too warm when you chop them. It’s winter now so my house is chilly but if making this in 70 degrees or higher room temperature, refrigerate the chips for at least 30 minutes before chopping.
• I always use sugar free instant pudding in this cake and no one has ever noticed. 
• If you can’t find white chocolate instant pudding, use vanilla or cheesecake flavor.
• Use raspberry, blueberry or strawberry pie filling. If using strawberry, you will want to mash up any whole berries (I use my pastry cutter to rough them up a bit).
• I use Neufchatel in this instead of regular cream cheese because it yields a softer frosting and has an elasticity that works best in it. 

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2023/02/white-chocolate-berry-bundt-cake.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2023

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