This Winter Wonderland Cake has ombréd EVERYTHING!!! It’s covered in this amazing white chocolate buttercream and then rolled colored sanding sugar to complete the effect. I’ve made this cake a few times and you can add an icy, blue-white chocolate ganache for some extra contrast if desired!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Add White Chocolate Chips to the Cake Mix?
You can add 1/3-1/2 a cup of mini chocolate chips or roughly chopped regular chocolate chips.
HOW DO I ADJUST THIS RECIPE FOR 8 OR 9 INCH PANS?
Double the recipe for 3 eight inch pans and triple the recipe for 3 nine inch pans.
HOW CAN YOU STORE This CAKE?
You can store this cake overnight at room temperature in a covered container. If you’re making it further in advance go ahead and refrigerate. Just make sure it comes to room temperature before serving as butter-based cakes get hard at cold temperatures. You can make the layers in advance and freeze them as long as they are wrapped VERY well. The sanding sugar will loose it’s sparkle so add that on at the last moment if possible.
How did you Roll the cake in sugar?
Chill the cake so it’s completely firm. Add a round of parchment paper on top and either a cardboard round or extra sheet or parchment paper on the bottom.No you can roll the cake in sugar without any worries. When finished just peel the paper off the top and complete decorating.
How do you make a buttercream ombré?
Making an ombre is super-easy. Just mix in different amounts of the same color of food coloring to get the gradient. I like to mix a slightly larger batch of my most saturated color then mix a few spoonfuls of that colored batter into the uncolored batter. This way you get different saturations of the same color and a perfect ombré.
How to Make Winter Wonderland Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three six inch cake pans. Sift the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cardamom together in a large bowl, whisk and set aside.
2. Mix the milk, sour cream, egg whites, vanilla, and butter together in a medium bowl and whisk together. This is easier if you melt the butter but room temperature works well too, don’t worry if you have some lumps, everything will work out in the bake.
3. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined.
4. Divide the mixture into the three prepared 6″ cake pans. I use wet cake strips for nice even baking. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch. Invert onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
5. Melt the white chocolate and cream together at very low heat, set aside. I like to heat my cream up and pour onto the white chocolate. let sit a minute then whisk together.
6. Beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the sugar a cup at a time and beat well. Add salt and vanilla. Drizzle in the white chocolate and beat until combined.
7. Separate the buttercream into 4 equal batches and color three of the batches with blue food coloring in different shades for the ombré.
8. Place a round of cardboard onto the bottom of a cake layer. Pipe the buttercream onto the first layer of the cooled cake. I like the inside to be an ombré as well but you can have any color(s) you’d like. Add second layer on and repeat step until cake is built up.
9. Add a thin layer of buttercream onto the cake, smooth then chill to set.
10. Pipe the final layer of buttercream onto the cake starting with darkest blue and moving to uncolored on top. Smooth and chill the cake once more.
11. Place parchment round on top of cake. Add a gradient of blue sanding sugars onto a clean surface then roll the chilled cake and transfer to a cake stand.
12. Pipe dollops onto a square of parchment paper using a large round tip. transfer to freezer and chill. Once set you can mount onto a toothpick and roll inn a small gradient of sanding sugar. Place dollops onto cake sprinkle to with white sanding sugar.
Always remember to have fun with your decorations! I made this cake a few times with each looking a little different. Here’s a version with an ice-blue ganache drizzle and dollops piped with an 869 tip. Which do you like better??
Pro Tips and Pointers
- Be careful when melting that white chocolate. It burns VERY easily so go slow with low heat.
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- In a rush? Skip the ombre buttercream! The sanding sugar will do most of the work visually.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on theshop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a wholeblog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this cake then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
White Chocolate Cake
Video
Ingredients
For the Buttercream
- 1 pound unsalted butter 454g
- 2 cups white chocolate chips 340g
- 8 cups confectioners' sugar 880g
- 1/2 cup cream 118mL
For the cake
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 205g
- 1 cup sugar 200g
- 1/4 tsp baking soda 1g
- 1 tsp baking powder 4g
- 1/4 tsp cardamom optionaI
- 3/4 cup salted butter 170g, room temperature
- 3 egg whites
- 3 tsp vanilla extract 15mL
- 1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt 120g
- 1/2 cup milk 118mL
For the White Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup white chocolate chips 170g
- 1/4 cup cream 60mL
- 1 drop GEL food coloring regular food coloring will seize the chocolate
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three six inch cake pans. Sift the dry ingredients, including the sugar, together in a large bowl, whisk and set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl and whisk together.
- Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Divide the mixture into the three 6″ cake pans that you buttered and floured. I also use wet cake strips for nice even baking. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch.
For the Buttercream
- Melt the white chocolate and cream together at very low heat, set aside. I like to heat my cream up and pour onto the white chocolate. let sit a minute then whisk together.Beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the sugar a cup at a time and beat well. Add salt and vanilla.Drizzle in the white chocolate and beat until combined.Separate the buttercream into 4 equal batches and color three of the batches with blue food coloring in different shades for the ombré.
For the Optional Ganache
- Melt the white chocolate and cream together on low heat. You can do a few 20 second bursts in the microwave at 50% power. stir in the food coloring and transfer to a piping bag
For the Assembly
- Place a round of cardboard onto the bottom of a cake layer. Pipe the buttercream onto the first layer of the cooled cake. I like the inside to be an ombré as well but you can have any color(s) you'd like. Add second layer on and repeat step until cake is built up. Add a thin layer of buttercream onto the cake, smooth then chill to set.Pipe the final layer of buttercream onto the cake starting with darkest blue and moving to uncolored on top. Smooth and chill the cake once more.
- Place parchment round on top of cake. Add a gradient of blue sanding sugars onto a clean surface then roll the chilled cake and transfer to a cake stand.
- Pipe dollops onto a square of parchment paper using a large round tip. transfer to freezer and chill. Once set you can mount onto a toothpick and roll inn a small gradient of sanding sugar.
- Place dollops onto cake sprinkle to with white sanding sugar.
- If adding a ganache grip, just place the dollops on after the drip has set.
Notes
- Be careful when melting that white chocolate. It burns VERY easily so go slow with low heat.
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- In a rush? Skip the ombre buttercream! The sanding sugar will do most of the work visually.
Soniya says
Hi John,
I tried this cake for my daughter’s birthday but the cake didn’t rise and was super dense although very tasty..
Did I overmix my batter as I had to mix quite a bit to get a smooth batter like yours?
I used cake strips so they were pretty flat but didn’t rise at all..
Kathy says
Beautiful! I’d like to try this for my daughter’s 10th birthday cake. Would you please recommend your favorite brand of sanding sugar and where you purchase it? It’s so gorgeous. Many thanks!
jkanell says
I like CK Products sanding sugar, which I buy on amazon.
Suzanne says
I made the cake this weekend although it is not as pretty as yours it turned out nice.
Wish I could share the picture.
Gopitha says
Hi John
Is it possible to make the buttercream ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for a few days?
jkanell says
Yes, just allow to come to room temp then whip once more.
Kem says
Hi!
I made this cake. It was my first and I most definitely need more practice. I had printed the recipe from this site and I noticed when I was watching the video that the amounts were different for the ingredients. I followed the recipe from the video, I weighed everything, but my frosting was just miserable to work with. It flopped over, I think there was significantly less powdered sugar in the video than the printed recipe. I did let it get to room temp, and also left plenty of chill time.
I loved the addition of cardamom and peppermint. I was worried about the peppermint taking over but that was not the case, it was very subtle. I live in Finland and we love cardamom so that also was lovely.
I am making this cake again, I will probably make the frosting as written to try. And of course my technique will improve with practice.
Great tastes and very pretty!!
Thanks for the recipes and videos. You make it look easy so I want to try for myself. I appreciate the inspiration!
Denise says
Hi John!
Can you tell me how many people a 4 layer 6 inch and a 4 layer 8 inch cake will serve?
Thank you so much!
KC says
Can I use plain Greek yogurt instead of the whole milk yogurt? I need one of your moist vanilla cakes for hubby’s birthday cake that I’m going to fill with a raspberry curd/filling and cover with a Italian meringue buttercream. Thanks for all your inspiration John!!!??
jkanell says
Yes! Love using yogurt in the cakes. Thanks so much for the kind words.
Liv says
WOW!!
K. says
Pretty.