This soft and tender White Chocolate Mud Cake is perfect for your next party or celebration. Two layers of white chocolate mud cake covered in creamy white chocolate buttercream.
I’m on a mud cake bender.
My latest obsession? This White Chocolate Mud Cake 👇🏻 Two layers of buttery mud cake covered in luscious white chocolate buttercream and topped with clouds of chocolate frosting.
Big, buttery and oh-so-irresistible.
First there was my Chocolate Mud Cake. Then my Caramel Mud Cake. And now my favourite White Chocolate Mud Cake.
All I know is when you put chocolate in your cake batter, it transforms into one rich, buttery cake with a truly enviable texture. And when you add White Chocolate Frosting that’s also made with real chocolate, well then you are in chocolate heaven.
While I’m usually partial to one layer cakes, some celebrations call for something special. And that’s when a layer cake like this White Chocolate Mud Cake is just perfect.
Two layers of cake covered in white chocolate buttercream with clouds of chocolate frosting piped on top, with squares of chocolate in between.
This White Chocolate Mud Cake recipe is so easy to make, in fact, you don’t even need an electric mixer. It can be baking away in the oven within 30 minutes.
All you need to do is mix together butter, white chocolate, sugar and milk on the stove until smooth and creamy. Then it’s time to add the remaining ingredients. A quick stir and then it’s time to bake.
What you’ll end up with is a soft and tender cake. One that’s moist and buttery and tastes like deliciously smooth white chocolate. But what sends the cake over the top is the frosting.
Just like my Caramel Mud Cake, I used white chocolate buttercream. I’ve long been a fan of adding real chocolate to my buttercream, but I only recently tried adding white chocolate. And let’s just say, I’ve been putting it on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g ever since.
It’s also the perfect frosting for decorating a layer cake – smooth and creamy and really easy to work with. You could stop there, but for a little something extra, whip up a small batch of chocolate buttercream.
Then add your favourite chocolates on top. What you’ll end up with is a buttery mud cake made with real white chocolate, a creamy frosting also made with white chocolate and a little real chocolate buttercream sitting alongside pieces of your favourite chocolate.
ALL. THE. CHOCOLATE. THINGS.
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Let’s Bake
White Chocolate Mud Cake
A delicious two layer White Chocolate Cake covered in white chocolate buttercream.
Ingredients
White chocolate mud cake
- 230 grams (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, roughly chopped
- 300 grams (2 cups) good quality white chocolate
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 240 ml (1 cup) full fat or whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 350 grams (2 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
White chocolate buttercream
- 230 grams (1 cup / 2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 150 grams (1 cup) good quality white chocolate, broken into pieces
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 435 grams (3 and 1/2 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole or full fat milk
Chocolate buttercream
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, room temperature
- 100 grams (2/3 cups) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
- 250 grams (2 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons full fat or whole milk, room temperature
- Cadbury Topdeck Chocolates, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with baking or parchment paper.
- In a medium saucepan, add butter, white chocolate, sugar and milk. Place on medium heat, stirring until smooth and sugar has dissolved. Set aside for a few minutes to cool slightly.
- Add eggs and vanilla to cooled white chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir until combined – don’t worry if the batter is a little lumpy.
- Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans and place in the oven for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the white chocolate frosting, place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a microwave, stirring in between 20 second bursts, until just melted and set aside.
- Add vanilla, half the sugar and one tablespoon of milk to the butter and beat until combined. Add the remaining sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add melted chocolate, ensuring the chocolate is still smooth and melted but is not warm. Beat until the chocolate is completely mixed through. If frosting is too thick, add an extra tablespoon of milk.
- Place one cake layer onto a cake board or stand. Cover the top with white chocolate buttercream. Place second cake layer on top (upside down for a nice flat top). Frost the top and sides of cake. Smooth sides using a cake scraper.
- To make the chocolate frosting, place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a microwave, stirring in between 20 second bursts, until just melted and set aside.
- Add half the sugar and one tablespoon of milk to the butter and beat until combined. Add remaining sugar and beat until smooth. Add melted chocolate and beat to combine. Add an extra tablespoon of milk if needed.
- Add chocolate frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe frosting around the edge of the cake. Decorate with chocolate pieces.
Danielle says
Hi! I loved this recipe, but in my buttercream I had lots of hardened pieces of white chocolate which made it really hard to create a smooth coating over the cake once assembling. I did melt the white chocolate fully and then let it cool slightly, but it seemed to solidify into small chunks once being added to the butter mixture, even though I had used butter at room temperature 🙁 do you have any advice as to how to ensure the frosting remains smooth with no white chocolate chunks? And also any advice on how to smoothen it over the cake with no streaks with the smooth frosting? Thank you so much!! Love your recipes 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Danielle, so glad you enjoyed the recipe! The chunks of white chocolate will be from the temperature change. Make sure you use a good quality block of chocolate rather than melts or chips as they will harden quickly. Try heating the chocolate only until it is just melted – stopping to stir regularly. It shouldn’t be very hot. And then use straight away as long as it’s not hot to the touch. It’s ok if it’s warm. Then make sure your butter is softened and beaten well before adding. I hope that helps a little.
Ashley says
This cake is delicious! It’s so easy to make and easy to customise, I mix frozen berries in to it which is amazing. Do you know how well it will freeze and defrost? I’m planning on making this as my wedding cake but want to make it a few weeks in advance and then freeze it.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you like it Ashley! It actually freezes really well, so should be perfect to make it ahead of time.
Heidi Burns says
Is it possible to substitute the plain flour for gluten free plain flour? Do you need to add xantham gum
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Heidi, I haven’t tried this recipe with a gluten free flour so I’m not sure.
Dianne cunningham says
I made this cake for mothers day loved the white choc butter cream. Maybe over cooked it a little as it was as moist as l wanted it as l am making it for for grandsons 1st birthday decorated any ideas how to make and keep super moist. Loved it thou and so did the family members who tried it but needed to be more moist
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Dianne, so glad you enjoyed the buttercream! Over cooking the cake can definitely make it more dry, so perhaps keep an eye on that next time, as can over mixing. You might even want to try a different type or brand of chocolate. I a good quality block of white chocolate works best over melts or chips.
Miriam says
Hi i had a question if im triying to do like half a sheet cake for a letter cake what measurements would i use i read that you dont reccomend doibling on the recipe
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Miriam, this cake recipe will make enough for one 9×13 quarter sheet pan.
Sarah Campbell says
Hi! I used your recipe to make a number cake in a very large cake pan. The flavor was amazing but the cake got very hard after chilling it before I could cut it into my shape. Did I do something wrong? Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sarah, did you make any changes to the ingredients or method? Cakes do typically firm up a little as they cool and even more so if they are put in the fridge. I would recommend keeping the cake at room temperature. If you’d like to troubleshoot further or send me a photo, you can email jessica@sweetestmenu.com
Rebecca says
I have read a lot about mud cakes and look forward to trying one day. I read before that with mud cakes you need to let sit for a few days before serving?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Rebecca, mud cakes are typically very moist and taste great the next day. But I think they taste lovely fresh too!
Dianne says
Hi jessica,
Thanks for the reply l used Cadbury white cooking chocolate
Should l use a different brand. Do you think the butter cream will hold sprinkles and fondant shapes.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Dianne, Cadbury block of white chocolate should be fine. And yes definitely!
Pam says
Hi. I really want to make this cakes for my husbands birthday but he can’t have eggs. Is it possible to make this eggless?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Pam, I haven’t tested this recipe without eggs, but why don’t you make my Egg Free Chocolate Cake and then just decorate it using this frosting? It’ll be delicious!
Puja says
Can I use normal castor sugar instead of icing sugar in the recipe?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Puja, no you need to use icing sugar for the frosting, regular caster sugar won’t dissolve. I hope that helps!
raquel says
just made a test cake to see if if I like this recipe for my daughters birthdays next month i was worried about the look of the batter but it turn out great it was moist fluffy and even though i didn`t wait for the cake to get cold before cutting in to it it hold its shape didnt fall apart its not that sweet as other cakes i maybe would add 1/2 cup more of sugar but i dont think i will it was so light fluffy and delicious
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Raquel!
Louise says
Thanks for sharing your recipe, I’m looking forward to making it for my twins first birthday. Does it keep fresh enough if I make the day before? Is it firm enough to hold fondant figures?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Louise! Yes it’s a lovely moist cake. It also freezes well. And yes I do think it would be firm enough. Hope you enjoy it!
Odeza says
Hello, noticed that there is no salt in the recipe, just want to ask if it’s purposeful. Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Odessa, no please add salt if you’d like!
Carol says
Hey, wanting to use this recipe (which is delicious btw!!) for a 10inch or 12inch cake in the future to serve more people.
Would you recommend multiplying the ingredients by 1.5 for the 10inch and 2.25 for the 12inch (to take into account the extra area), or 2 for the 10inch and 3.3 for the 12inch (to increase the volume as well as the area). Or other numbers, because you know baking better than me, haha
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Carol, that’s a tricky question. I don’t usually recommend doubling or increasing cake ratios as the results are not usually the same. It can be too easy to over mix and some ingredients don’t necessarily need to be doubled – for example, eggs. If it were me, I would make the cake twice. A pain I know, but it will likely produce the best results. Alternatively, here’s a cake pan conversion guide that might be useful.
Carol says
Thank you so much!!
Millie Daum-Sterling says
Loved this recipe!
Suhaina says
Hi. I am looking forward to make this cake. Can I use compound white chocolate in this recipe or should I use only couverture white chocolate? Does it make a difference?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Suhaina, I recommend using couverture chocolate if you can!
Tyler says
Does this cake not rise much? I’ve never made a mud cake, but based on the photos I expected this to rise like a normal cake. My layers came out super thin. They’re cooling now so I have no idea if they turned out taste wise.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Tyler, the cake rises but produces a fairly flat cake – perfect for layering as per the photos. If your cake didn’t rise at all, perhaps your baking powder was expired? Or did you use a large cake tin?
Tyler says
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I used regular 8 inch round cake tins and the batter wasn’t enough to fill them up very far. I weighted everything exactly as indicated, to the gram.
The cake did rise, just not as much as I would have expected of a regular cake. The baked cake was still well below the top of the pan after baking. As a result, I did slightly overbake my cakes since they were so thin.
This is my first time making a mud cake, I just wanted to confirm if this was normal or if something went wrong.
Aside from being slightly overbaked, the cake tasted fine.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Tyler, so glad it tasted good! Did the cakes look like similar in height to my photos? If you have a photo you want to send me, you can email jessica@sweetestmenu.com
Millie Daum-Sterling says
I used baking soda and baking powder. I also used two beaten egg whites; which I folded into the cake batter. My cake turned out light and very moist.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh awesome! Thanks for your feedback Millie!
Millie Daum-Sterling says
I made the white chocolate buttercream frosting. I used liquid coffee creamer instead of milk. Yummy!