We all have heard of and probably had a black forest cake (of course, we have! It’s a classic childhood birthday cake). But how many of us have heard of a white forest cake?!
Yes, with changing times comes new flavors. The cake is a modern take on black forest cake with a twist of white chocolate.
So, what exactly do you get in a white forest cake?
It’s a celebration cake with a soft vanilla sponge, layered with delicious white chocolate mousse, and the classic cherry compote is used as a filling.
Taste and Texture Of The Cake
The sponge made for white forest cake is usually a white/vanilla chiffon sponge. However, we have made the eggless version of the cake. The sponge we have used has curd and buttermilk in the recipe. This gives the cake an extremely soft and light texture.
Coming to the icing used for the cake- it’s a simple yet elegant white chocolate mousse. First, a ganache is made using fresh cream and white chocolate. Then this ganache is folded into the soft, beaten, whipped cream. For someone who likes the sweetness of white chocolate, this icing is best suited for them.
And how can we forget about that tanginess from the cherry compote? Each layer has dollops of sour cherry compote added to compliment the sweetness of the icing.
Easy to Make Eggless White Forest Cake Recipe Video Tutorial
Why You’ll Love The Recipe
Apart from being unbelievably delicious, there are few reasons why you will fall in love with this cake.
- Something New: Black Forest Cake has been in the market for so long, and we all know what it tastes like. Making a unique new flavor is always a plus point and makes everyone curious to taste it.
- Soft Sponge: The recipe for the sponge is made numerous times to give you the best and most soft eggless sponge. Homemade bases are a bit heavy when compared to market cakes. this is because all bakeries use pre-mixes to make cake sponge which have multiple preservatives and chemicals to make them softer. As a baker, I try to make the cakes as soft as possible without using any preservatives.
- Detailed Instructions: Right from getting the ingredients to the last bit of garnishing, the recipe has been written in extreme detail so that it is much easier for you all to make the cake. The video tutorial also helps to understand each step better.
Important Ingredients Used For The Recipe
Certain ingredients play a unique and major role in making the product what it is. Let’s briefly talk about those important ingredients used in this recipe.
- Curd: the acidity from the curd basically reacts with a leavening agent like baking soda in the cake batter. This, in turn, helps to incorporate aeration into the batter, making the cake soft and fluffy.
- Milk: Milk not only adds moisture to the batter but it also helps in adding flavor and some color to the baked cake.
- Apple cider vinegar: – when using vinegar for any baking recipe, apple cider vinegar is recommended as it’s natural and less pungent than white vinegar. ACV, when added to milk, will make an instant buttermilk.
- Buttermilk: It is used in many cake recipes, whether egg or eggless as buttermilk helps weaken the gluten strands in cakes just enough to make them soft and fluffy.
- White chocolate: being a white forest cake, definitely white chocolate is the major ingredient used for its flavor! We have added white couverture chocolate in the icing for the flavor and used white compound chocolate for garnishes. However, if you are a big fan of white chocolate, you can also add some chocolate chips in between the layers.
How To Make Eggless White Forest Cake
- Preparation: Gather all the ingredients required for the recipe. Preheat your oven to 180C (OTG Mode: upper rod + lower rod + fan). Line an 8-inch round aluminum tin with oil and butter paper.
- Sponge Batter: First, prepare buttermilk by mixing milk and vinegar. Now, cream butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Add curd and vanilla essence to this and mix. In a different bowl, sift dry ingredients i.e., flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Alternatively, add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Combine to make a smooth batter.
- Bake the Sponge: Once the batter is ready, pour it into the lined tin and bake it at 180C (OTG Mode: lower rod only) for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
- Chocolate Mousse: Beat non-dairy whipping cream until soft peaks are achieved. Separately, prepare white chocolate ganache by mixing melted white chocolate and warm cream. Fold slightly warm ganache into the whipped cream until the mousse is ready.
- Chocolate Garnish: Place a piece of butter paper on the work surface to make chocolate strokes. Melt white chocolate and pour dollops of chocolate on the sheet. Using a paintbrush, give it a stroke to create the design. Refrigerate them to set.
- Assembly: Cut the sponge into three equal layers. Prepare a simple soaking syrup by mixing 150ml of water with 1 tsp vanilla essence. Place the cake board on a turn table and put some mousse in the center. Place the first sponge layer on the board. Now soak it well with soaking syrup. Put some white chocolate mousse and spread it evenly using a palate knife. Now add dollops of cherry compote (150g). Place the second sponge layer and repeat the same above steps for layering. Finally, put the last sponge layer and secure the crumbs by crumb-coating the cake. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Now, take out the cake and frost the cake with a final coat of the mousse.
- Decoration: Transfer the leftover mousse in a piping bag fitted with 1M nozzle. Decorate the top edge by making roseate. Place piece of cherry from the compote in the center of each roseate. Place white chocolate shards prepared all around the side edge of the cake. Complete the look by adding some chocolate shaving on top.
Chef’s Tips For The Recipe
Batter Mixing
One of the crucial step is the folding of dry ingredients and buttermilk into the batter. If you overmix (or mix too vigorously) the batter will collapse, and the cake won’t be as airy as required. If it’s under mixed, then the batter will be left with flour pockets or lumps and cake would be dense. Mix the batter just enough to mix all ingredients.
Tip For White Chocolate
Working with white chocolate can be tricky as it can get burnt easily. Melt the chocolate in microwave with 15- 20 seconds blasts stirring the chocolate in between.
While making the mousse, you can also use white chocolate compound in place of couverture chocolate.
How To Store Eggless White Forest Cake
Store the assembled cake in the refrigerator in an airtight box for 3 days.
To store only cake sponge, cling-wrap it and refrigerate for 10 days or store in freezer for 1 month.
Chocolate mousse can be stored in an airtight box in refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Frequently Asked Questions about White Chocolate Cake
As discussed in the beginning, white forest cake is made of soft vanilla sponge with white chocolate flavored icing and cherry filling.
While black forest cake has a chocolate sponge with simply whipped cream frosting and cherry filling, white forest cake has a vanilla(white) sponge with white chocolate flavored frosting and cherry filling.
This is something very subjective, as it will depend on your flavor preference. However, both cakes have light and fluffy sponges along with cherry filling.
It’s three layers of vanilla sponge sandwiched with white chocolate frosting and sour cherry compote. In short, it’s just another name for white forest cake.
The white cake uses only egg whites (primarily as meringue), which gives bright white color to the sponge. In comparison, vanilla sponge uses egg whites and yolks, giving it a more off-white color.
The general rule we bakers follow to price any product is that first, you find out the cost of ingredients used in the recipe. Once you calculate that, you can multiply it by 3. This will give a close idea of the selling price of the product. Keeping in mind that this cake is made of white chocolate and is kind of unique, the price of it would be a bit higher than a regular black forest cake, making it a premium category cake.
To add more white chocolate in the cake, you can put chocolate chips/chunks in the layers while assembling. You can also drizzle some extra ganache in between the layers and on top.
2 thoughts on “Eggless White Forest Cake Recipe”
amazing recipe. thank you so much!
Baked this last week for my daughter’s birthday, came out so good!