White Chocolate Mud Cake
This White Chocolate Mud Cake is a delicious treat with it’s light and moist sponge, layered with creamy white chocolate ganache buttercream. Both the cake and frosting are bursting with white chocolate flavor, creating a delightful melt-in-your-mouth experience that’s perfect for white chocolate lovers!
Hey everyone! Coming in today with the latest version of my White Chocolate Mud Cake. It’s buttery, light, and moist and the buttercream is even smoother and simpler to make! After testing 9 different version of this cake, I’ve perfected the texture to achieve the perfect balance of stickiness and sweetness while still being light and creamy.
This cake is a dream for white chocolate lovers or if you’re just looking for a luscious celebration cake. The frosting is made of my signature white chocolate ganache, which is transformed into a velvety buttercream that’s rich and indulgent without being overly sweet.
Why You’ll Love This White chocolate mud cake
I originally posted this White Chocolate Mud Cake recipe back in 2021. I came back to it in 2024 with the goal of improving the texture to be more like a mud cake and to find a way to dial down the sweetness.
After 9 rounds of testing I nailed it! Here’s why you’ll love my new and improved White Chocolate Mud Cake recipe!
- Bursting with white chocolate flavor both in the cake and frosting
- Not overly sweet.
- The texture is sticky yet light. Just like a true mud cake!
- Perfect weekend baking project or as a celebration cake for that special someone.
- A breeze to make! No fancy equipment needed, we’re going for rustic and inviting.
- BONUS: those white chocolate curls are super simple to make. More on that later.
How to make the chocolate curls
Making the chocolate curls that surround this cake is a really easy process. In fact, this is the exact same way I made my chocolate curls for my Black Forest Cake. They make the cake look even more decadent, giving it that added bit of white chocolate flavor and texture around the sides.
You’ll need a bar of white cooking chocolate which can be found in the baking isle of your supermarket. I used the Nestle Plaistowe White Chocolate Baking Block. Microwave it on a plate for 10 seconds at a time. 2-3 goes should do it. We’re not aiming to melt the chocolate, but ever so slightly soften it which will make shaving it into spiral curls a much easier process.
Use a vegetable peeler to shave along the longest side. Go slow, no need to rush here. And try to hold the chocolate gently so it doesn’t snap. Continue shaving the chocolate to make the curls. I like doing this over a baking tray to catch all the white chocolate as you shave it. I like popping my curls in the fridge to chill before using to make them less brittle when they go on the cake.
How to Make the cake
- This cake uses a method called the ‘hot milk’ method where you melt the butter, milk and white chocolate together before whisking with the eggs, coil, vanilla and sour cream. The sour cream helps make this cake ultra-moist!
- Next, you whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick and foamy. Add the dry ingredients and fold through.
- Then you add the hot milk (which has gone warm by this stage) and mix through. It’s a really thin batter. So don’t be alarmed if you think it’s really watery!
- Bake the cakes, let them cool and then trim each cake in half. You’ll end up with four layers of cake.
Making the White Chocolate Frosting
This frosting is a dream! It’s silky smooth, not overly sweet and has a delicious white chocolate flavor. It starts off with a white chocolate ganache and then is whipped with butter which helps lighten it and make it ultra-delicious!
- I have a great white chocolate ganache recipe on the site that is easy to make. You can make it in the microwave or on a double boiler. For this recipe, you can use the ganache on its own to frost this cake but it can be pretty dense and overly sweet on its own.
- That’s why I whipped butter into this using my stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
How to soften your ganache – Soften your ganache before whipping with the softened butter. To soften your ganache, microwave for 10 seconds and use a spatula to smoothen out until it reaches a spreading consistency.
How to layer and finish the cake
- Add a little dab of frosting on your serving plate
- Layer the cake by adding frosting, spreading around until you get to the final layer.
- Frost the outside of the cake. No need to make it look perfect!
- Add the chocolate curls on the outside to finish. Slice and serve!
How to easily frost your cake – using a cake turn table to frost your cake makes things easier. They can be purchased online or in cake supply and home ware stores.
Tips and Tricks For Recipe Success!
- Measure out using kitchen scales – measuring ingredients out by weight and not cups is the best way to get consistent results every time! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!
- Make the ganache ahead of time to give it time to cool down before using!
- To soften your ganache, microwave for 10 seconds and then mix using a spatula until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
- Set your ganache at room temperature. Not in the fridge otherwise it will become too difficult to work with.
- Once you’ve made the chocolate curls, pop them in the fridge to chill so that when you put them on the cake, the heat from your hands doesn’t melt them or crush them.
- Use a cake lever to trim each cake layer in half for even cake layers!
How to store this White Chocolate Mud Cake
Store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. If it’s warm, pop it in the fridge.
Can I use a different frosting?
Yes! You can use just white chocolate ganache. Just keep in mind it can be a little sweet and whipping it with butter will not only make it lighter in texture but less sweet.
Why is this recipe is in grams and not cups?
The short answer is accuracy! It is far easier, more accurate and you get more consistent results when you measure ingredients by weight, especially in dessert and bread baking! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!
Gave this a go? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok for more great recipes!
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White Chocolate Mud Cake
Serves 11
Ingredients
White Chocolate Ganache Buttercream
- 840 g white cooking chocolate, see notes
- 60 g unsalted butter
- 60 g glucose syrup, corn syrup
- 250 g heavy cream, whipping cream
- 400 g unsalted butter, softened
White Chocolate Mud Cake
- 275 g milk, full fat
- 400 g white cooking chocolate, see notes
- 80 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 145 g sour cream, mix to loosen before using
- 22 g vegetable oil, can use canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g all-purpose flour, plain flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs, 55g each
- 195 g caster sugar / superfine sugar
White Chocolate Curls
- 1 block white cooking chocolate, see notes
Instructions
White Chocolate Ganache Buttercream
- Microwave method – Add the white chocolate, cream, butter and glucose syrup (corn syrup) into a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds at a time, mixing each time until completely melted and smooth.
- Double boiler method – Fill a medium sized pot 1/3 of the way with water. Bring to a boil. Place a heat-proof bowl on top and turn the heat to low. Add all the ingredients into the bowl. Gently mix until mixture is completely melted and smooth.
- To set – Directly cover the ganache with plastic wrap so that it doesn’t form a skin and set aside to set at room temperature. It will be firm to touch but slightly soft when fully set.
- Softening the ganache (to do right before frosting) – Once the ganache has set, soften it by placing back in the microwave for 10 seconds, and mix with a spatula until it reaches a soft, spreading consistency. You can also do this by placing it on a double boiler and warming very slightly until you reach a spreadable consistency.
- Finish buttercream – Add the softened butter to the bowl with softened ganache and use a handheld electric beater or stand mixer with a paddle attachment to whip together on medium high speed for 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl using a spatula. Beat again on medium high speed for a couple more minutes until evenly mixed. Then turn the mixer down to medium low speed and beat for 5 minutes. This low speed will give you ultra soft frosting.
White Chocolate Mud Cake
- Preheat a fan-forced oven to 150C / 300F (170C / 340F for no fan). Spray two 20cm / 8-inch cake tins with oil or brush with melted butter and line the bottoms with baking paper.
- Heat the chocolate, milk and butter – Add the milk, white chocolate and butter to a heat proof jug and microwave for 2 minutes. Use a whisk or spoon to mix until chocolate and butter are fully melted. You can also do this in a heat proof bowl over a double boiler.
- Add remaining wet ingredients – add the sour cream, vegetable oil and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients – Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a small mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine.
- Beat the eggs – Add the eggs to a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until frothy. This can also be done in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. While the mixer is on high speed begin slowly adding the sugar. This should take about a minute. Once it’s all in there, continue beating on high speed for about 6 minutes until it’s pale and thick and tripled in size.
- Add dry ingredients to egg mixture – Add the dry ingredients to the eggs and use a spatula to fold through until no dry ingredients are showing taking care to scrape from the bottom where the dry ingredients like to hide.
- Add chocolate mixture – Add 1/2 of the chocolate mixture. Use the spatula or whisk to gently fold through. Add the remaining chocolate mixture and fold through until the mixture is well combined and even in texture. It will be thin, with a little volume and fall out of the bowl into the cake pans in a thin ribbon.
- To finish the batter – Add 1/2 of the white chocolate mixture and all of the oil and vanilla extract. Use the spatula or whisk to gently fold through. Add the remaining white chocolate mixture and fold through until the mixture is well combined and even in texture. This batter is very thin but still has a little volume and will fall out of the bowl into the cake pans in a thin ribbon.
- Bake – Split the batter between the two baking tins and bake both cakes in the middle rack for 40 minutes. Once baked, allow to cool in the cake tin until warm, then gently run a knife around the inside edge of the cake to loosen. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
White Chocolate Curls
- Soften the chocolate – place the chocolate bar on a heatproof plate and microwave for 10 seconds. You don’t want to melt the chocolate; you just want to slightly soften it.
- Shave – use a vegetable peeler to peel away curls of white chocolate over a baking tray. Pop them in the fridge to chill them for about 20 minutes. This will make them easier to handle when putting them on the sides of the frosted cake.
To Decorate
- Trim the cakes – Use a large, serrated knife or cake leveler to trim each cake in half, giving you 4 cake layers. If the top of your cake baked in a dome shape, trim some of it away to level it so it’s flat before trimming the cake in half.
- To layer the cake – Add some frosting to your serving plate and use an offset spatula to spread around. Add your first layer of cake and then add about 1/2 cup of frosting. Spread the frosting around evenly before adding the next layer of cake until all layers are on.
- To cover the cake – Frost the outside of your cake using the rest of the frosting. No need for it to look perfect. We want luscious waves of frosting. Finish by adding the chocolate curls on the sides. This is a messy process so having a baking tray underneath the cake to catch the chocolate curls can make things easier.
Notes
Nutrition
33 comments
Heya! Just baked this today, just letting you know the “salt” isn’t in the ingredients list and the eggs had no place in the method so may have been lost if not paying attention or not watched the video 🙂
Hi Anne! Sorry about that and thanks so much for letting me know. Have gone ahead and updated the recipe! N x
Can I add fresh/ frozen raspberries to this cake?
Sorry, I wasn’t totally clear lol. Can I add raspberries in the cake batter? Will that mess the recipe up? I am looking for a white chocolate raspberry cake
Hmm, I haven’t tried it with fruit in the batter but I don’t see why not! N x
Bonjour j’aimerais beaucoup essayé votre recette. Auriez-vous la recette en grammes svp?
Salut Jeannine ! Oui! Si vous descendez sur la carte de recette, vous trouverez un petit bouton indiquant métrique. Il passera tout en grammes 🙂
Can you make this into a 6 inch cake by halving the recipe? (Like you do in the conversions for your chocolate cake and vanilla cake)
Thanks!
Hi Ashley! Yep, that should be fine! Half the recipe will make a double layer 6″ cake. Hope that helps! N x
Hi Nick, this maybe a really stupid question however I thought I’ll ask as baking can be full of surprises.
If I was to use the recipe for a chocolate mud cake, do I just replace the white choc with dark choc or would there be a difference with the 2 different types of choc?
Hi Cheth! I have a chocolate mud cake coming out in the next month! Hope you get to give it a go! N x
Hi, do you have a chocolate mud cake recipe?
ot yet, but would you like to see that? N x
For the frosting you want to make sure that you don’t get any egg whites in the whites when separating the eggs and make sure the bowl you use is clean otherwise the meringue will not whip up properly.
Shouldn’t it be For the frosting you want to make sure that you don’t get any egg yolks in the whites when separating the eggs and make sure the bowl you use is clean otherwise the meringue will not whip up properly.
Excellent spot Hayley! I must’ve typed that out half asleep! Have updated the sentence N x
This cake is so yummy. Everyone loved it. We decorated with cookies and strawberries. The frosting and mud cake pair so well. Would recommend this recipe for anyone wanting a really yummy cake. Thank you nick for this awesome recipe, much appreciated. Will make this again another time.
Aww, thanks so much Hayley! Glad you liked this recipe! N x
Hi Nick!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I am going to try it for my mom’s birthday cake. After microwaving the milk and white chocolate, did you allow it to come to room temperature before adding it to the cake batter or the milk/white chocolate mixture was still warm?
Thanks
Hi Joy! How exciting! Yep, let it cool slightly before adding to the cake. About 5 minutes. It can still be slightly warm N x
Hi Nick! I am wanting to bake a mud cake to create a number cake. I am needing a recipe that will bake in a 25x35cm pan, would this recipe work?
Hi Makela! Unfortunately I’m not sure as I haven’t tried that. If I was guessing, I would say yes. If you do try it, please let me know. I’d love to know how it went! N x
Love this cake. I did strawberry mango ombré buttercream and put chopped mango between layers.
Thanks Suz! Glad you like it! N x
I followed this recipe but I found the cake was a little bit dry, would I need to reduce the cooking time a little as well as the oven temperature ? Most mud cake recipes say to cook at 150 low and slow but this recipe cooks at 175
Hi Sam, sorry to hear you didn’t like the recipe. I guess each person has their preferences. I would look at your ovens temp, it may be running a little higher and that’s why yours came out dry. I’ve made this several times and it’s always deliciously moist! N x
Hi Nick, this has to be the best white choc mud recipe I’ve made, and now my go to. Do you know if it works as cupcakes? I’m not keen on trying another recipe if this one will work. Thanks M
Hi M’leigh! Glad you love it! Hmm, I’ve never tried it as cupcakes but I don’t see why not. N x
Hi Nick,
I was wondering if you could substitute Caramilk chocolate for the white chocolate directly or whether the amount or other ingredients need adjusting as well?
Hi Lea, I think that would be delicious. I haven’t tested it with caramilk or baked with caramilk so I’m unsure how it would work. But I assume if you’re using the caramilk from the baking isle it would work exactly the same.
Love this recipe! Have you updated it? I’m sure it didn’t have sour cream last time?
Hi Jo! Yes! I recently updated this recipe to make it closer in texture to a mud cake. 🙂 Glad you love the recipe! N x
Hello! I made this cake today and it was really delicious but I was a bit confused about a couple of the steps – steps 2 and 3 make it sound like I should combine all the wet ingredients into one bowl, but steps 7 and 8 talk about a “chocolate mixture” and a “milk mixture” like they are two separate items.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it’s so nice to find a mud cake that isn’t dense or super sweet. My family loved it!
Hi Elizabeth! Thank you for trying out the recipe and for your kind words! I apologize for the confusion in the instructions. The ‘chocolate mixture’ and ‘milk mixture’ actually refer to the same combination of ingredients from steps 2 and 3. I’ll update the recipe to clarify this. I’m glad your family enjoyed the cake! N x