A moist, dense white chocolate mud cake with delicate white chocolate and vanilla flavours. Suitable for covering in fondant, tiered cakes, lightly carved cakes, and decorating using the three-day timeline.
2teaspoonsbaking powdercheck that it is gluten free
1teaspoonXanthan gum
350mlmilk
350gbuttercut into cubes
180gwhite chocolatechopped
400gcaster sugar
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
4eggs
Instructions
Heat the oven to 160°C (350°F). Line the base and sides of a 7” round (at least 3” high) cake pan and make a baking strip and foil lid.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and xanthan gum. Whisk to combine well.
In a large, heavy-based saucepan, heat the milk and butter over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally with a wire whisk until the butter melts.
Add in the white chocolate, and stir over low heat until the chocolate has melted.
Whisk in the sugar until it has dissolved (this could take several minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
The liquid mixture now needs to cool until you can comfortably hold your finger in it. You can either transfer the mixture to a large heatproof bowl to cool it faster, or you can leave it in the pot and wait a bit longer for it to cool.
When cool, add the dry ingredients in three additions. Mix with the whisk, but use a folding rather than whipping motion to avoid air bubbles.
Whisk the eggs together with a fork and add to the batter, mixing again with the whisk.Leave the batter to sit for a minute to allow bubbles to come to the surface. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bang it on the bench to remove any large air bubbles.
Place the foil lid over the top and bake for 2.5 – 3 hours. To test if the cake is done, use a thin skewer. When the skewer comes out clean, insert a thin-bladed knife into the middle of the cake. When that comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached, the cake is done. If you have an instant-read probe thermometer, the centre of the cake should be at least 99°C.
Remove the foil lid and allow the cake to cool in the cake pan for half an hour or so, then cover the top with foil (either unfold the edges of the foil lid and use that, or use a fresh piece of foil), securing around the edge of the pan. Leave the cake overnight to cool completely before removing from the pan.
Notes
Gluten free flour - I use my Gluten Free Flour Blend for Baking in this recipe, but you can use your own favourite gluten free flour blend. Keep in mind that if you use different flours than I have, your results may vary from mine. Check out my gluten free cake post for more information. If using a pre-made gluten-free flour blend that contains a gum ingredient, omit the Xanthan gum from the recipe.Chocolate ganache - To fill and cover a cake this size with white chocolate ganache (four layers of cake/three layers of ganache filling) you will need approximately 1.6kgs of ganache (1.2kg white chocolate to 400g cream.)