This White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake features three layers of tender vanilla white cake filled with a light white chocolate mousse and fresh strawberries. It’s finished with a white chocolate strawberry buttercream and topped with white chocolate covered strawberries — perfect for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or any special occasion.
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White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake
If you love the flavor pairing of white chocolate and strawberries, this layered cake combines all the best elements: a sturdy yet fluffy white cake, a silky white chocolate mousse studded with fresh diced strawberries, and a strawberry-scented white chocolate buttercream. The finished cake is elegant, light, and ideal for celebrations that call for something both pretty and delicious.
Five Components
This cake is built from five parts that come together to create a balanced dessert:
- White Cake: A reliable white cake made tender by a combination of sour cream and buttermilk for a moist, fluffy crumb.
- White Chocolate Mousse: A simple four-ingredient mousse that adds creaminess without weighing the cake down. Diced fresh strawberries are folded into the mousse for texture and flavor.
- White Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream: A silky buttercream flavored with reduced strawberry purée and melted white chocolate for extra richness and stability.
- White Chocolate Ganache: A two-ingredient ganache used as a drip, whitened slightly for a brighter finish.
- White Chocolate Covered Strawberries: Large, ripe strawberries dipped in melted white chocolate and decorated with nonpareils for the final touch.
White Cake Layers
The cake layers are fluffy, moist, and sturdy enough to support the mousse filling. Key techniques include thorough creaming of butter and sugar (about 5 minutes) to incorporate air, using multiple egg whites for lift, and adding a bit of vegetable oil to retain moisture. The combination of sour cream and buttermilk helps produce a tender crumb.
Tips for Mixing
- Sift and whisk dry ingredients together in one bowl to make them easy to add.
- Do not skimp on creaming the butter and sugar — beat until very pale and doubled in volume.
- Add egg whites one at a time, mixing until almost incorporated before adding the next.
- Alternate the dry ingredients and buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Add them in stages to avoid overmixing and to keep the batter smooth.
White Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry Filling
The mousse is light and airy and requires just a few steps:
- Make a white chocolate ganache by heating white chocolate with a small portion of heavy cream, then chilling until set.
- Whip the remaining heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cooled white chocolate ganache in thirds until smooth and airy.
Make the mousse ahead of time if possible — chilling it overnight helps it set and makes assembly easier.
How to Fill the Cake Properly
Because mousse is softer than a buttercream filling, build a buttercream dam around the edge of each layer before adding mousse. This prevents the filling from sliding out when the cake is stacked and frosted. Inside the buttercream border, spread a layer of mousse, add diced strawberries, then top with a bit more mousse before adding the next cake layer.
White Chocolate Strawberry Buttercream
This buttercream is silky and rich. It starts with a classic strawberry buttercream base, to which reduced strawberry purée and melted white chocolate are added. For texture and visual appeal, leaving the purée unstrained preserves tiny strawberry seed flecks in the frosting. Use a good-quality white chocolate bar — chop, melt, cool, then fold into the frosting for the best flavor and texture. A touch of pink gel coloring is optional if you prefer a more vivid hue.
White Chocolate Ganache Drip
Use the same basic ganache recipe as for the mousse: heated heavy cream poured over chopped white chocolate, stirred until smooth. A few drops of icing whitener will brighten the color if the melted white chocolate appears yellowish. For controlled drips, use a spoon or a piping bag to apply ganache to the edges, then fill the center and smooth with an offset spatula. Chill the cake to let the ganache set before continuing with decorations.
Baker’s Tip: Chill the cake for at least 30 minutes after adding the ganache so the top decorations won’t slide.
For the white chocolate covered strawberries, melt chopped white chocolate with a little shortening for a smoother dip. Dip each berry, let excess chocolate drip off, then place on parchment and sprinkle with nonpareils immediately if desired.
Can I Turn This Into Cupcakes?
Yes — the cake recipe can be adapted to make cupcakes. Fill each cupcake with the white chocolate mousse and top with a dollop of the strawberry white chocolate buttercream for a delightful single-serve version that keeps the same flavor profile.
Happy baking and Happy Mother’s Day!
Ingredients (Summary)
- Fresh strawberries for purée and diced filling
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- Unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and large egg whites
- Sour cream, vegetable oil, vanilla, and buttermilk
- White chocolate (several portions for mousse, frosting, ganache, and dipped strawberries)
- Heavy cream, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt
- Optional: pink gel food coloring and white nonpareil sprinkles
Basic Assembly Steps
- Make and reduce the strawberry purée; cool completely.
- Prepare and bake the white cake layers; cool completely.
- Make the white chocolate ganache and chill; whip the cream and fold into the ganache to form the mousse; chill.
- Make the white chocolate strawberry buttercream by combining softened butter, powdered sugar, reduced purée, and melted white chocolate; whip until light and fluffy.
- Pipe a buttercream dam on each layer, add mousse and diced strawberries, then stack.
- Crumb coat the cake, chill, then finish with a thicker layer of frosting.
- Apply the white chocolate ganache drip, chill to set, then pipe swirls and top with dipped strawberries.
Notes
- Make ahead: cake layers, ganache, and frosting can be prepared in advance and stored. Bring frostings to room temperature and re-whip before using if refrigerated.
- White chocolate covered strawberries are best made the day of serving to avoid moisture causing the chocolate to seize or become grainy.
- Frozen strawberries may be used for the purée, but allow extra time for the liquid to reduce.
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