White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

This post was supposed to be about the carrot cake, but it occurred to me that the white chocolate cream cheese frosting is far more interesting. Not that the carrot cake isn't good, it's just pretty basic.  It's also the one I use most often these days because it's generally reliable and I make it for potluck type events.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting aka White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream is actually an old recipe from The Cake Bible. Its texture is velvety smooth and buttery and it's not quite as sweet as typical cream cheese frosting. In fact, there is no added sugar and all of the sweetness comes from the white chocolate. The book recommends Tobler Narcisse, but it is no longer on the market so you'll have to pick a different brand. I plan on trying Green & Black's next, but for the first batch I used Baker's Premium White Chocolate Baking Bar and was happy with the results. The color is more of a white than ivory and the flavor is basically cream cheese and lemon. So Baker's works and Ghirardelli may work, but I wouldn't recommend white chips.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

More Potluck Cake Suggestions

• Potluck German Chocolate Cake
• Potluck Caramel Cake in a 9x13 Inch Pan
• Potluck Pineapple Cake
• Potluck Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
• Lemon Tart

Recipe

Potluck Carrot Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

Anna

This is an easy serve-from-the-pan carrot cake frosted with a white chocolate sweetened cream cheese frosting.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16

Ingredients

 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 9.8 oz
• ¾ teaspoon of kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup canola oil or any neutral vegetable oil
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups shredded carrots, shred then chop (12 oz)
• ⅔ cup flaked coconut regular sweetened type is fine
• 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup finely chopped and toasted walnuts or pecans
• ½ cup raisins

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 ounces white chocolate baking bar chopped
• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened and at room temperature
• ½ cup unsalted butter softened, cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or 1 teaspoon of vanilla or 2 teaspoons lemon juice plus ¼ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan or just use a 9x13 inch foil pan if making for a potluck.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon and salt.
• In a second mixing bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until mixed. Stir in the carrots, coconut, pineapple (if using), nuts and raisins.
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until cake appears set. It will most likely have a flat (as opposed to domed) top. Let the cake cool completely, then frost with cream cheese frosting.
• To make the frosting, melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Allow it to cool to room temperature. Alternatively, you can melt it in the microwave using 50% power and stirring every 30 seconds.
• With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Gradually stir the melted white chocolate into the cream cheese. With the mixer going, add soft butter 1 chunk at a time, beating and scraping bowl. Beat in the lemon juice.
• Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

This cake freezes very well, so I usually bake it ahead of time, cool, wrap tightly and freeze. You can frost the cake before your freeze it, or freeze the cake and frost on the day you plan to serve it. At times I've used ¾ cup oil and ½ cup applesauce in place of the 1 cup oil, but the cake gets more compliments when made with the 1 cup oil. In addition, I've tried using a mixture of brown and granulated sugar. It looks good on paper, but in reality the 2 cups of white sugar is just as good since the cake gets so much flavor from the cinnamon, vanilla and other add-ins.

Keyword Carrot Cake

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!