White Christmas Cake

This cake is a decadent, delicious dessert for the holidays or any occasion, not just Christmas.

I posted on Instagram that the recipe for this cake was coming “soon.” Well, with Christmas and all the holidays, “soon” has become a very loosely defined word…but at long last, here it is.

I made this cake for dessert at Thanksgiving dinner this year. I figured we should maybe have a White Christmas Cake on Thanksgiving so we could maybe have an actual white Christmas on Christmas. Couldn’t hurt, anyways, right? That’s what I figured, but alas, no white Christmas. There were a few flakes here, but not enough to call it a white Christmas.

I love this cake. There’s so many things to love about it. The pecans, the coconut, the white chocolate, the butter….Oh man, this cake is decadent. And it’s sooo gooood.

When I go to cut the slightest bit off the top of the cake to make it level, there are people surrounding me, circling like sharks, waiting to go for the scraps.

Let me know if you tried this delicious cake in the comment section below. I think you’ll love it! Enjoy!

White Christmas Cake

2015-01-20 14:40:28

A decadent, rich cake made with white chocolate, pecans, coconut, and lots of butter.

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For the cake

1 1/2 cups butter
3/4 cup water
4 oz. white baking bar, chopped or 4 oz. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon rum extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup, toasted, finely chopped pecans
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the Icing

4 oz. white baking bar, chopped
1 stick butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted or whisked
Cream or Milk, to thin out the icing if too stiff

Instructions

For the cake: Grease and flour, or generously spray with baking spray, three 9 inch cake pans; set aside.
Bring butter and water to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Add the baking bar/chips; stir until melted.
Stir in buttermilk, eggs, rum extract; set aside.
Combine 1/2 cup of the flour and the chopped pecans; set aside.
In an extra large mixing bowl, combine the remaining flour, the sugar, the cup of coconut, baking soda, and baking powder.
Stir in the butter mixture. Then, fold in the flour-pecan mixture.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes; then remove the cakes from the pans and cool completely on racks.
For the Icing: Melt 4 oz. chopped white baking bar. Cool it for 10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and cream cheese together until combined
Beat in melted baking bar and vanilla.
Gradually add the 6 cups of sifted/whisked powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
If the icing is too stiff, thin it out with a little bit of cream or milk, not too much. You'll want it to be pretty stiff.
To assemble: place a cake layer on a platter. Spread top with about a 1/2 cup frosting. Repeat with another cake layer and about a 1/2 cup of frosting. Top with the remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting. IF you like a little extra decadence, you can decorate the cake by garnishing with toasted coconut and pecans.

Notes

If you have only 2 baking pans, like me, (only use 2/3 of the batter for the first 2 layers) just cook the first 2 layers of cake, clean one pan and respray it, then put the rest of the batter (the last 1/3) in that pan and bake the last layer.
When you combine the nuts with flour it keeps them from all sinking to the bottom of the pan.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book

Beck Bakes (And Cooks!) https://beckbakes.com/

Here’s the step by step:

First, get your 9 inch baking pans and spray them with baking spray or grease and flour them. I like to use this spray. Get ’em really good and greased up, so they won’t stick.

Next, bring the butter and 3/4 cup of water to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the baking bar or chips and stir until melted.

After the baking bar is all melted, stir in the buttermilk, eggs, and rum extract and then set it aside. You just need a little bit of rum extract, 1/4 teaspoon. I had just barely enough in this little bottle. Combine 1/2 cup of the flour with the pecans, and stir them around to coat them in the flour. This will keep all your pecans from sinking to the bottom of your pan.

In an extra-large mixing bowl combine the remaining flour, the sugar, the coconut, the baking soda, and the baking powder.

Now, stir in the butter mixture.

Now, fold in the flour-pecan mixture.

After you get everything mixed together, here’s what you’ll have. A great, big bowl of deliciousness. I may have taste tested it.

You’ll have enough for three cake pans. I only have two cake pans, so I use 2/3 of the batter in these two pans and bake it in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out cleanly. Then, when these two cakes get done, let them cool for 10 minutes then turn them out on a rack to cool. Then I take and wash one of the pans, re-spray it, and add the batter that is left to that pan and bake again.

Cool the cakes completely on the racks. (Here’s a shot of my cakes.)

While the cakes are cooling, it would be a good time to make the icing.

Melt the 4 oz. of the baking bar and let it cool for 10 minutes. While that’s cooling, beat together the softened butter and cream cheese, until combined. Beat in the baking bar and vanilla extract. Gradually add the 6 cups of sifted powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

If the icing is too dry or stiff, you can thin it out with a little milk or cream. When I say a little, I mean a little. If you want to thin it out, start with a teaspoon and go from there till you get the consistency you want. Just know, this icing will need to be pretty stiff so it will stick to and stay on the sides of the cake, so be warned, don’t thin it too much.