white chocolate Archives - Page 2 of 2

Pistachio Honey Bars

We have been running these past few weeks. I mean, r-u-n-n-i-n-g. Life has full of so many fun opportunities lately that we have found ourselves flying across the country, out of town, and by the seat of our pants more often than not. It feels like we pack and drive and drink and laugh before throwing a handful of dirty undies into the laundry and start all over again a few days later. I’m not complaining, but to be frank, we need to catch our breath. We need a few minutes to Netflix and chill, maybe even nibble on treats like these pistachio honey bars.

You Can’t Pin Me Down

When Brett and I got married, I vowed to seek out adventure. I saw myself as this carefree little pigeon that he had somehow managed to catch, and I determined to not let him pin my wings down. This little bird would not be tamed; I was going to fly.

Fast forward several months later. That ultra-cool, ahead-of-her-time pigeon (yes, this analogy is really getting out of hand) gets knocked up, and all of a sudden, someone’s gotta be mama bird. Someone has to plant their stretch-marked hind parts on some eggs and tend to the nest.

Parenthood has a way of dismantling everything you thought you knew about yourself. It’s a wind tunnel of exhaustion and work that forces even the strongest set of wings to the ground. Traveling, free time, and life outside of the nest seems all but impossible in the debris of nap schedules and diapers that swirls around you. For the past three years, we have hoofed it, working hard to escape regularly for days alone. That time away, while exhilarating and broadening, has been taxing, and we now find ourselves picking through the evenings and minutes remaining in between trips, wishing we had more. More time with our children. More time in our own bed. More time at home.

Home vs. Away

So that begs the questions: how do you fit a love of traveling into a life that’s running over with the needs of your children? Is there a healthy balance between quality time with your people and seeking out adventures? How do we say “Yes!” to the opportunities we meet in life without saying “No!” to the more important things that beg for our time and affections?

In a few weeks, Brett and I plan to travel to Charleston, South Carolina for the Saveur Blog Awards. For the first time, we are trading our fancy hotel reservation for a larger Airbnb that can fit our crew. It may end in sleeplessness and disaster, but we are determined to make this beautiful, crazy busy, here and there life of ours work. We need a balance.

I’m soon going to share some photos from our recent trip to Portland, but for now, let’s settle in at home. Let’s grab a book and some yoga pants and cozy up with this week’s easy, comfy, weeknight dessert: pistachio honey bars.

Honey Pistachio Bars

These bars started off as a spin on baklava. I adore the sweet and flaky Middle Eastern dessert and wanted to make it more accessible for the home baker. These pistachio honey bars certainly aren’t baklava, but the flavors are there. Pistachios and walnuts, stirred with a gooey brown sugar and honey sauce, are baked together on a zesty crust of lemon shortbread. The bars are spiced with cinnamon and cardamom and drizzled with white chocolate for an extra measure of sweet. Lucky for you, the ingredients are few and quick to assemble, so you’ll spend less time baking and more time sharing these decadent treats. Let’s talk about how to make them.

Making the Bars

The recipe for these pistachio honey bars comes from my favorite derby pie bar recipe. The shortbread crust is simple, just some sugar, butter, flour, and cornstarch scented with a sprinkle of lemon zest. First, work the dry ingredients with the butter, pressing it into the bottom of a foil-lined pan. Afterwards, bake the crust in the oven until firm while you prepare the filling.

In the meantime, chop the nuts and add to a pan of melted butter, honey, and sugar. Cook the mixture until bubbly and slightly thickened. Next, add to it some spices and a bit of cream and spoon the mixture on top of the baked shortbread crust. Finally, the whole thing baked for an additional few minutes before allowing it to cool.

The Topping

Once the pistachio honey bars have set up completely, remove them from the pan and drizzle with the melted white chocolate. This step is completely optional (even though you and I both know that it’s actually not). Load up on that white chocolate and garnish with additional chopped pistachios, if desired. Cut into small bars (these guys are RICH!) and share with your lovies as quickly as possible. They will absolutely adore you. You are the dessert king/queen, okay?

All in all, these pistachio honey bars are a sweet and simple way to celebrate being at home. They’re simple, yet deliciously decadent- the perfect way to ring in this new week. Give them a try and let me know what you think! I’d also love to hear how you and your family travel. Seriously, DOES IT GET EASIER!?!?! (Please say yes.) Finally, if you’re interested in traveling with children and reading about how one family made a worldwide journey their story for a whole year, check out the book “At Home in the World” by Tsh Oxenreider. I’ve just finished it, thus the sudden impulse to bring my children everywhere. Love y’all and happy Monday!

If you love these pistachio honey bars, you should try:

Brown Butter Blondies, Two Ways

Pecan Toffee Bars

Blueberry Lemon Bars

Derby Pie Bars

Honey Mascarpone Tart

Honey Nut Ice Cream

Pistachio Honey Bars

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

With a lemon shortbread crust and a sweet and spiced honey nut filling, these pistachio honey bars are like baklava in cookie form!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 12

Ingredients

For the crust:

¾ cup (90 gm) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (35 gm) corn starch
½ cup (55 gm) confectioner’s sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, cold and cut into teaspoon sized pieces

For the filling:

½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter
½ cup (100 gm) packed brown sugar
¼ cup (85 gm) honey
1 cup (120 gm) finely chopped walnuts
1 cup (100 gm) finely chopped pistachios
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon cardamom
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

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Instructions

To prepare the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” square baking pan with aluminum foil with enough overhang on each side to easily remove the bars from the pan once baked. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, corn starch, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Using a pastry cutter or the backs of two forks, cut the diced butter into the dry ingredients until it becomes a coarse meal consistency with pea-sized clumps. Bake in the preheat oven for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is set and then edges have just started to turn golden. Do not overbake. Set aside the cooked crust while you prepare the filling.

To prepare the filling:

Combine the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the butter and sugar have dissolved. Once melted and no graininess from the sugar exists any longer, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, boiling for 3 minutes. After three minutes have passed, remove the pan from the heat. Add the chopped walnuts, pistachios, heavy cream, and spices to a medium sized bowl and stir in the butter mixture until evenly combined.
Spread the warm filling over the crust and smooth out. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the edges and parts of the center are bubbling and the bars have turned caramel in color. Allow the bars to cool completely prior to removing from the pan (you can speed this process up in the fridge). Remove from pan by pulling out the foil liner. Gently melt the white chocolate chips on a double boiler sitting over LOW heat. Be careful to not melt at too high of heat or your white chocolate may seize. Drizzle over the top of the bars. Cut into 16 bars and serve at room temp.

Brown Butter Blondies : Two Ways

16 Comments / Cookies and Bars

Brown Butter Blondies by The Wood and Spoon Blog by Kate Wood. This is a recipe for how to make brown butter blondies with a few different variations. First, a fluffy blondie filled with white chocolate chunks / chips and shredded sweetened coconut. Second, a snickerdoodle type blondie filled with cinnamon and sugar- rich, buttery, and delicious. These blondies can be whipped up in one bowl and serve a crowd. Perfect for tailgating, parties, or to make with kids. You can substitute your favorite toppings- nuts, chocolate chips, or toffee! Find the recipe and the how to on thewoodandspoon.com

Happy Thursday from sweet home Alabama! This time of year, at least in these parts, means that college football season is near. Yes, in just a few short days I will kiss my husband goodbye and re-familiarize myself with that far-off gaze that only a football game and a plate of buffalo hot wings can render. So to start this season off on the right foot, I’m sharing TWO super easy, crowd-pleasing, one-bowl recipes that you can show off at the tailgate nearest you. Yes, these brown butter blondies will make even the least interested college football fan (guilty) show up at your party tent ready to rumble.

Go Sports!

Growing up, I was not what you would call a football fan. At the time, I had a healthy interest in professional and college basketball (GO CATS!), but football really wasn’t on my radar. It wasn’t until I moved to Birmingham, Alabama for college that I learned of the vicious football rivalries that existed in my new state. “So who do you pull for? Auburn or Alabama?” I heard that question a time or two and I’m pretty sure I laughed every time. I could have written a dissertation on the birthplace of jorts (thats “jean shorts” for those of you not from North Florida) with more interest than I could have aligned myself to one of two schools that I knew or cared nothing about. BYE FELECIA.

My Own Sports Career

By junior year, I had dated one (okay, one and a half) players from our school’s football team, so my knowledge in the sport had increased by at least 250%. I joined my sorority’s C-list flag football team, bought some knee socks and a fresh pair of Sophies, and determined I was ready to go pro.

Our team was, to say the least, bad. Okay, we were terrible. AWFUL. In one particular game, a girl on our team lost her shorts (and panties) to a flag pull gone wrong. Later, we executed our best play dubbed “The Eagle” where we all stopped running and began dancing on the field as some sort of means of distraction; it was not successful. The single time I touched the ball that evening was on a punt return where I caught the ball and ran towards the wrong end zone. I realized my mistake at the 15 yard line, immediatlely panicked, and hurled the ball at an unassuming teammate. (Spoiler alert: she didn’t catch the ball. We lost the game. I’m told that everything I did was wrong.)

If you, like me, aren’t a savvy football fan or wouldn’t know a tailgate if it sat on your face, let me help you. Learn from the mistakes of the diehards and wannabes that have gone before you. Here are a few football fan fun facts that will keep you on the invite list for games to come.

How To Not Be A Loser At A Football Game:

DO know which teams are playing in the game. People will laugh if you show up sporting your Keyshawn Johnson jersey and you don’t even know what team the Bucs are playing for the ring. Not like I know from experience or anything.
DO try to sit with people you know. You’ll regret that single scalped ticket if you wind up in the opposing team’s section next to a bunch of potty mouths.
DON’T show up to a tailgate empty-handed! Cookies, a dip, or Chex mix are always appropriate.
DO wear your team colors, but avoid silks, rayon, and form-fitting clothes that will most certainly show off your pit stains and swamp butt. That is not winning.
DON’T drink too much in first quarter of the game. The bleachers are no place to sleep one off.
DO avoid the concession stand at halftime. No amount of chili dogs are worth those lines.
DON’T sit next to the shirtless guys with the body paint unless you’re totally okay with the potential of this happening.
DON’T leave a game early. It only takes one second to miss something.
DO remember that tailgating is a marathon, not a sprint. Those Frito’s and sausage balls might go down smooth, but you don’t want to lug that with you to the upper bowl.
DO make all the brown butter blondies, all the time. FACT: people who bring blondies have more fun.

Brown Butter Blondies

These brown butter blondies are tailgating staples. This recipe make a huge pan of treats, perfect for sharing, toting across the quad, and shoving in your pockets to get through game day security. Even better, this same batter can be prepared two ways, so with the same handful of ingredients you can have a variety of chewy goodies to share with the world. Ya welcome.

Making the Blondies

To make these brown butter blondies, we start by browning some butter. Lucky for you, you’re a pro at browning butter, so you whip that up quickly and let the golden fat cool. From there, it’s a one bowl and done kind of recipe. Stir some brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla into your butter and then fold in the dry ingredients. That’s it! The batter is done.

Choose Your Own Adventure!

Next comes the fun part. Will it be white chocolate chips and coconut or cinnamon sugar snickerdoodle brown butter blondies? The world is your oyster here, so you take the pick. Hey, you could even go with dark chocolate and pistachios, toffee and pecans, whatever you darn well please. These brown butter blondies would taste good after sitting in a paper bag on the roof of your car for three days, but please, don’t ask me how I know that.

After baking, these brown butter blondies are chewy and oh-so flavorful. The white chocolate chip and coconut babies are a bit thicker and a little fluffier, while the snickerdoodle brown butter blondies are dense, intensely buttery, and perfectly spiced. The batter is the same for both variations, save for the toppings and the salt, and I think you’ll find both to be equally satisfying.

Don’t be a loser at this year’s football games. Don’t be like me. Just make these brown butter blondies and thank the heavens that someone (*raises hand*) has figured out the hard stuff for you. Get your game on this weekend and think of me when you sink your teeth into these bad boys.

Also, there’s only ONE MORE WEEK to vote for your favorite bloggers in the Saveur Blog Awards. You’ll find me in the best baking and sweets category. Click here to vote today and as often as you’d like!

If you like these brown butter blondies, be sure to check out:

Pecan Toffee Blondies

Derby Pie Bars

Pretzel Shortbread Peanut Butter Brownie

Blueberry Lemon Bars

Trail Mix Cookies

Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Blondies

Print Recipe

Brown Butter Blondies made in two different ways- a cinnamon sugar snickerdoodle or a coconut white chocolate chip. Make your own variation with this adaptable recipe!

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 24

Ingredients

1 cup (230 gm) unsalted butter, cubed into equals sized pieces
1–3/4 cups (360 gm) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (260 gm) all-purpose flour
1–3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2–1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
1–1/2 tablespoons sugar

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 9”x13” pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
Add the butter to a light-bottomed pan over medium heat. Melt the butter, stirring regularly. Once the butter is melted and has stopped sizzling as frequently, begin to whisk constantly until the butter has browned to a medium-dark hue. (See notes for help.) Remove the butter to a separate large bowl. Allow to cool briefly, about 5 minutes.
Once slightly cooled, add the brown sugar to the butter and whisk to combine. Add the eggs and the vanilla to the brown butter mixture and whisk to combine. Stir the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon in a separate small bowl and then add it to the brown butter mixture, folding to just barely combine.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Combine the remaining cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over top of the blondie batter. Bake in the preheated oven, about 23-25 minutes or until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted to the center just barely comes out clean.

Notes

See my previous post on browning butter if you need a little help in this area.

Coconut White Chocolate Chip Brown Butter Blondies

Print Recipe

Brown Butter Blondies made in two different ways- a cinnamon sugar snickerdoodle or a coconut white chocolate chip. Make your own variation with this adaptable recipe!

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 24

Ingredients

1 cup (230 gm) unsalted butter, cubed into equals sized pieces
1–3/4 cups (360 gm) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (260 gm) all-purpose flour
1–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1–1/2 cups (115 gm) sweetened shredded coconut
1–1/4 cups (200 gm) white chocolate chips

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9”x13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
Add the butter to a light-bottomed pan over medium heat. Melt the butter, stirring regularly. Once the butter is melted and has stopped sizzling as frequently, begin to whisk constantly until the butter has browned to a medium-dark hue. (See notes for help.) Remove the butter to a separate large bowl. Allow to cool briefly, about 5 minutes.
Once slightly cooled, whisk the brown sugar into the brown butter. Add the eggs and the vanilla and whisk well to combine. In a seprate small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the brown butter mixture and fold to combine. Add the coconut and white chocolate chips and fold just until combined.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and then bake in the preheated oven, about 25-30 minutes or until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted to the center just barely comes out clean.

Notes

See my previous post on browning butter if you need a little help in this area.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

19 Comments / Cookies and Bars

I want to tell you all about these super simple, super sweet, super everything triple chocolate cookies, but first, I need to tell you about the super hilarious absurdity that is my life. About one of those moments where you’re uncertain, embarrassed, and possibly even peeing your pants with terror. I need to tell you about skiing.

Big Sky

This past week, we made the trek to Big Sky, Montana for a weekend of skiing with our friends. All and all, it was a great trip, complete with lots of laughter, a few new jokes, and (bonus!) no major injuries. While I had a terrific time, there’s no denying that I experienced a bit of anxiety. You see, this was only my second ski trip ever, my first being about two years ago when we visited Park City, Utah. Ohh, that first trip was a doozie.

I got to Park City determined to dominate the sport, and the first morning of ski school went by with flying colors. Strap on boots- check. Snap on skis- check. Walk with skis on, learn the pizza wedge, figure out how to get on the magic carpet- check, check, check. I was a natural. In my mind, I had graduated from the bunny slopes and was totally prepared for anything. We went down a few dinky runs (one was called “The Turtle” if that gives you any indication of the speed I was moving), and after a few successful runs, I was cocky enough to George Jefferson myself to the big leagues.

Triple Chocolate Cookies — Forgive the iPhone photos… no one needed for me to attempt to bring my SLR up the mountain.

A Dose of Humility

Let’s sidebar for a few words of wisdom: a little humility goes a long way. I highly recommend participating in a few activities each year that you utterly suck at, because it’s not cool to be good at everything. Nobody likes the guy or gal who makes everything look effortless. Sometimes you need a little snow shoved in your face to remember that you aren’t the king of the world. Sometimes you need to look like an obese marshmallow sliding recklessly down a snowy abyss to keep your head out of the clouds.

To be clear, I was not ready for the big leagues. I wasn’t even ready to leave The Turtle. I got up to the top of that mountain (read: barely halfway up the side of a slightly more challenging, baby-sized green run), and the wheels fell off. Fear completely took over and I forgot everything I had learned in my morning of ski school. I felt like I was flying down the mountain, and not in a cool, sporty, Lindsey Vonn kind of way. It was more of like a car-on-fire-driving-through-an-oil-spill, bear-running-with-his-head-stuck-in-a-beehive, Mario-skidding-out-of-control-on-Donkey-Kong’s-banana-peel kind of way. I was like a bat out of hell with zero control and it. was. terrifying.

Falls Down Mental and Physical Mountains

After falling, I don’t know, maybe 30 times, it was game over. My chest got tight and I could feel my eyes burning with tears, and I knew there was no way I could make it down in one piece. Absurdly, I had probably only gone 20 yards total so far- there was a long way to go.

Although I made a pact after that trip to never ski again, I got suckered into the trip that happened this past weekend. I’m proud to say that I made some improvements, and am actually looking forward to another ski trip in the future. Although I’m still pretty amateur hour and there’s still a bit of anxiety, I skied, I didn’t cry, and darnit, that’s just about all I need to convince myself that there’s hope. The moral of the story is this: be brave enough to try new things. Don’t let anyone (including yourself) tell you you can’t do something. If you fall off the horse (or the mountain), get back on again. And finally, if you’re skiing for the first time and have previously birthed 2 children, adult diapers are your friend. (TMI? Check yes or no.)

Triple Chocolate Cookies

These triple chocolate cookies have absolutely nothing to do with skiing. Nothing. But they’re kinda perfect cookies, and lest you think I’m some kind of magical genie who does everything in life as well as I baked these treats, you now have embarrassing evidence of that time I wet my pants and cried my way down a tiny snow-covered hill. Remember, humility is good, right?

The Ingredients

A dark chocolate cookie dough, chewy and soft-baked, with semisweet and white chocolate chips, these triple chocolate cookies are every chocolate lover’s dream. The dough is relatively simple and almost pitch-black thanks to the addition of dark cocoa powder. Once a few of the regulars are added (eggs, vanilla, flour, etc.), we toss in the chocolate chips. You can use any of your favorites, but since the dough is dark and slightly salty, I like the sweetness of semi and white chocolate. If you like extra salty cookies, you can add a sprinkling of sea salt at the end like I did. It makes these cookies look extra fancy and balances out the sweet chocolate chips.

A friend who tried these triple chocolate cookies told me that they tasted like the Domino cookies at Subway, and somehow, that is in no way disappointing. I love the familiarity of this cookie, and respect it for its crowd-pleasing abilities. Triple chocolate cookies sound decadent and special, yet somehow are approved by the masses- anyone can enjoy this treat. Unless they don’t like chocolate, in which case, their vote doesn’t count.

I’d love to hear about your skiing tips or recommendations- does anyone have a favorite place to vacay? Brett and I are planning to take another trip next winter so that I can improve my skills before our kiddos are old enough to hit the slopes. If we happen to see each other on the mountain, my advice to you is this: stay out of my way. Newbie over here, remember? Give these triple chocolate cookies a try and let me know what you think! Cheers and happy Wednesday!

You Might Also Like:

Candied Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coconut Almond Chocolate Cookies

Espresso Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Crumble Cake

Chocolate Cake

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

A dark chocolate cookie dough filled with semisweet and white chocolate chips, these triple chocolate cookies and rich, dark, sweet and salty.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 17

Ingredients

3/4 cup (1–1/2 sticks/ 170 gm) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 gm) packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 gm) sugar
1 egg (50 gm out of shell)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (130 gm) flour
3/4 cup (70 gm) dutch process/ dark cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (8 gm) cornstarch
1 cup (180 gm) white chocolate chips
1 cup (180 gm) semisweet chocolate chips
Fleur de Sel or Sea Salt, if desired

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch, beating just until almost combined. Add the chocolate chips and continue beating until ingredients are well incorporated.
Scoop 3 tablespoon sized scoops (I use a large cookie scoop) of cookie dough out 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with sea salt, if you desire a saltier cookie. If the dough has gotten too soft, chill briefly in the fridge for about 5 minutes. Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges of the cookie are set. The center of the cookie may still seem slightly underdone. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet or on a cooling rack.

Notes

If you use a smaller mound of dough, your baking time will alter. Bake until the edges are set and the center looks nearly done.
If your first pan of cookies doesn’t spread enough, your dough may be too cold! If it spreads too much, you can firm up the dough in the fridge for the next batch.

White Chocolate Cake

64 Comments / Cakes

Someone light the candles. Grab the champagne, pop the cork, maybe even grab a slice (or two!) of this white chocolate cake. Spare no piece of confetti or pinch of glitter, because today, ladies and gentlemen, we are celebrating.

IT’S MY ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY!

Yes, today this little blog is one year old. Every ounce of butter in my belly is thrilled to have spent 365 days bantering recklessly with you. We’ve talked about baking and organizing and sharing gratitude. We had a baby together, went on trips together, and even rang in the new year. We shared about sisters that are cooler than us and the struggle of getting older, and I may overdone it on the amount of time I spent discussing my breasts (sorry about that.) This year has moved quickly, bringing bits of change, lots of love, and a whole bunch of cookies. I’m honored that you were apart of it all.

I started this blog one year ago because I was tired of sitting on the sidelines. Countless people around me were taking chances and stepping into new adventures. I read along with other bloggers, tried their recipes, chuckled at their words, and thought more than a dozen times, “Maybe I could do that.”

Life on the Sidelines

Fear kept me on the bench for a long time. The desire to create and write consumed my heart, but fear told me that I couldn’t do it. That I didn’t have time. That I didn’t have a voice that was worth listening to.

If you’re reading these words today from the sidelines of your own world, I want to urge you to jump in. Make a list of your dreams, strategize, and go for it! Take your doubt and fear and any other person or thing holding you back and tell them to buzz off. You never known what kind of joy you’ll find when you finally step into something that you’re passionate about. You can’t predict how much your story might change when you decide to be the one who writes it.

The pages of this blog are humble and have a lot of room for improvement. But after 29 years, I finally have a space to do something that fulfills a part of me that was otherwise unsettled; I’m so proud of that victory. So if you ever find yourself thinking, “Maybe I could do that,” I want to be the voice that tells you, “Yes! Yes, you can… You can and you should.”

White Chocolate Cake

Much like the blog, this white chocolate cake is a labor of love. It’s appropriate for today because it’s maybe my favorite cake ever. If you’re not a huge fan of white chocolate, this cake might surprise you. On the other hand, if you are a huge fan of white chocolate, this cake is bound to make your heart explode. Here, the moist, buttery cake offers a tangy cream cheese frosting. This confection is memorable and unique, but still all together crowd pleasing.

Admittedly, white chocolate is not always easy to work with. Melt it down at too high of a temperature and it will seize up; add it in to ingredients that are too cold and it will leave little little shards of cooled chocolate in your mixture. But if you give attention and love to the process, the result is an elegantly flavored cake that you won’t find in any average cake recipe. I encourage you to use a high quality baking white chocolate- one that you wouldn’t mind eating straight small bites of. The flavor of your chocolate bar makes a huge impact on the overall final outcome of the cake, so choose accordingly.

Making the Cake

I chose a cream cheese frosting for this white chocolate cake. I think it needed a tang to offset an otherwise sweet frosting. It’s not a super thick or stable frosting, so I wouldn’t recommend it for enormous layer cakes. If you require a thicker frosting, say for piping or decorating, I would recommend experimenting with substituting butter in for some of the cream cheese and adding in a bit more powdered sugar. Alternatively, you can refrigerate your frosting prior to use to keep it a bit thicker. If you’ve ever had a cream cheese frosting fall apart and become loose and viscous while you were making it, it’s possible you overworked your cream cheese. Follow the instructions of the frosting recipe carefully to ensure you don’t overbeat your mixture, and I think you’ll be more than satisfied with the results.

Friends, I am so thrilled to share this white chocolate cake with you. Where will this next year will take us? I absolutely love hearing from you; please continue to comment and send me messages regarding recipes you want to see more of. March is forecast to be super tasty in these parts, so once we wrap up this #monthofchocolate, you will be in for a treat. Consider this white chocolate cake next time you’re looking for an exceptional way to celebrate. In the meantime, please know that I am praying you get more than your fair share of them this year. Cheers to you and thank you for making this little corner of the internet a home for me.

White Chocolate Cake

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

This is a white chocolate cake with two layers coated in a cream cheese buttercream. Perfect for a celebration, birthday, or party!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 60
Cook Time: 60
Total Time: 2 hours
Category: Cakes

Ingredients

For the cake:

6 ounces high quality white chocolate, chopped
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk, room temperature
1–1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups cake flour
1–1/4 cups sugar
1–1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature

For the buttercream:

12 ounces regular cream cheese, cut into large chunks
8 ounces high quality white chocolate, chopped
24 tablespoons (12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar

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Instructions

To prepare the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2-8” round cake pans by lining the bottom with a round of parchment paper and greasing the sides lightly with cooking spray.
In a double boiler over low heat, melt the chocolate. Do not let the pan of water or the double boiler bowl get too hot because the white chocolate can scorch and seize up. Instead, allow the chocolate to melt gently. Once nearly melted, remove from the stove and allow it to continue melting. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, ¼ cup of the milk, and the vanilla, whisking gently to barely combine. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, stirring on low heat until well combined. Add the softened butter and the remaining ¾ cup of the milk, stirring on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, and then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1-1/2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the egg mixture in two batches, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl again and fold in any unincorporated ingredients that may have stuck to the sides of the bowl. Add the melted whie chocolate and beat on low just until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and fold in any unincorporated batter. Spread the batter evenly in the two pans, smoothing out the top, and bake in the oven for about 25-35 minutes. The cakes will be done when a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Allow the pans to cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes and then remove the cakes from the pan. Allow to cool to room temp before frosting.

To prepare the buttercream:

In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the cream cheese until it is warmed, about 20-30 seconds. Add the chopped white chocolate and microwave for 20 seconds. Stir the cream cheese and chocolate and microwave for an additional 20 seconds. Stir again. If the white chocolate is not melted all the way, you can microwave for additional 15 second intervals, stirring often. Once melted and combined, all the mixture to cool slightly, either in the fridge or on the counter.
In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until lightly and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the sizes of the bowl and add the cooled white chocolate and cream cheese mixture, beating just until combined. Do not over beat and do not add the cream cheese until it is no longer warm. Scrape the sizes of the bowl to ensure all of the ingredients are adequately incorporated and then set aside while you prepare to frost your cake. If the frosting is too soft, allow to cool and firm up I the fridge for 30 minutes.

To assemble the cake:

Spread a small amount of frosting on the bottom of an 8” cardboard cake round and place the first cake layer on top. Spread about 1 cup of frosting on top of the cake and spread evenly, pushing the frosting out to the edges of the cake and smoothing the top. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat the frosting process. Frost the cake with the remaining frosting to decorate as preferred.

Notes

White chocolate is extremely finicky. I cannot emphasize enough to be sure to not let it get too hot while melting it throughout this recipe. It will seize up. I typically let the water in my double boiler get hot, but not boiling, and take the pan on and off the heat while the chocolate melts. It seems like a lot of work but it is worth it to be delicate with it!
To make a cake like the one photographed in this blog post, bake your batter in 4-6” cake pans. If you have 6” cake pans with 3” or taller sides, you can bake the batter in three pans, but if not, the batter will overflow.
Before frosting cakes, I like to cut off any domed top that may have formed on the cake. Use a serrated knife to cut any rounded piece off the top. This will help you to have a neatly frosted cake.
I like to freeze my cake layers briefly before frosting. It helps to keep the crumbs from the cake getting mixed in the frosting.
While preparing the frosting, take care to not overbeat the cream cheese. Cream cheese that get overbeat will become loose and soupy. Once this happens, there is no fixing it.
If you frosting gets too warm, it will be difficult to work with. I recommend chilling it as needed while frosting the cake to make sure it stays cool enough.

Recipe adapted from: The Baking Bible

Adapted from: Rose Levy Beranbaum

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