Recreate your favorite bakery’s white chocolate raspberry bundt cake at home with this from scratch copycat recipe for moist white chocolate pound cake, raspberry swirl and cream cheese glaze.
You don’t have to go to that ‘certain bakery’ to eat this cake. I even think it’s better made at home and from scratch.
From the buttery cake, sweet white chocolate and tart raspberry swirl, this cake has everything and will quickly become a favorite to everyone who tastes it.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
This raspberry and white chocolate swirl cake looks like the Nothing Bundt Cake version, but is actually made from scratch, is surprisingly easy to make, and looks really impressive.
This cake is a pound cake, but don’t let that fool you because it’s super moist with lots of flavor and it’s even got that yummy cream cheese glaze on top. It’s really one of the best cakes I’ve had and is right at the top of my favorite list.
I have always loved the bakery version of this, but now it’s possible for me to make and enjoy this at home.
Ingredient notes:
Now let’s talk a little about some of the ingredients in this white chocolate raspberry pound cake. (The printable list of all ingredients are in the recipe card below.)
Ingredients for the cake:
All-purpose flour: You don’t need any special cake flour for this cake. You’ll just use plain all-purpose flour, which makes it more convenient.
Baking powder and salt: You’ll need the baking powder to make the cake rise and the salt just enhances the flavor.
White chocolate pudding mix: This will give a lot of flavor and moisture to the cake. You definitely don’t want to skip it.
Sour cream: This just makes cakes super moist and adds a nice flavor.
Milk and oil: These will help turn up the moist factor in this bundt cake.
Vanilla extract: This is a flavor enhancer and is almost always a must in baked goods. It just adds so much good flavor.
Butter: This cake is buttery rich and you’ll definitely want to use real butter, not margarine.
Sugar: Sugar doesn’t just add sweetness, it also helps to make cakes moist.
Eggs: This recipe calls for 4 eggs, which is a little more than regular layer cake recipes, but that’s to help give this cake a more pound cake-like texture.
Seedless raspberry filling: This will be the raspberry filling for the cake and it’s what make that nice swirl.
Ingredients for the glaze:
Butter and cream cheese: To make that bakery cream cheese glaze you’ll use both cream cheese and butter. Always get good quality cream cheese as sometimes the store brands just don’t cut it.
Confectioner’s sugar: This is what makes the glaze sweet and is what thickens it.
Vanilla and milk: The vanilla will add a nice flavor to the glaze and the milk will help thin it out a bit so that it drips over the cake.
(Make sure to check out the FAQ section below in this post for ingredient and substitution questions.)
How to make this cake:
Let’s talk about how to make this raspberry swirl cake. (The printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Steps to make the cake:
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and grease and flour a large bundt pan very well.
Step 2:
Now, add the flour, baking powder, salt and dry pudding mix to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk well, then set aside.
Step 3:
Next, add the sour cream, milk, oil and vanilla extract to another bowl, whisk well and set aside.
Step 4:
Now take a large mixing bowl and add the room temperature butter and mix until smooth, then add the sugar and mix on medium-high until light and fluffy.
Step 5:
Next, add the eggs one at a time and mix after each, but only on medium speed and try not to mix very long.
Step 6:
Now, alternately add in the flour mixture and the liquid mixture, mixing on medium speed, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
Step 7:
Add the chopped white chocolate and stir in by hand. At this point, the batter will be thick.
Step 8:
Now add about ½ the cake batter to the prepared pan, then spoon on about ½ the raspberry filling or jam on top of the batter.
Swirl it only a couple of times with a knife, but don’t touch the bottom of the pan.
Step 9:
Next, add almost all of the rest of the batter (saving some for the top) and then spoon on the rest of the raspberry filling or jam and swirl again.
Step 10:
Add the last of the cake batter and smooth over the top.
Step 11:
Bake the cake at 325 degrees F, on the middle rack, for approximately 1 hour and 5-15 minutes. This cake will take a long while to bake since the batter is thick and there’s a lot of it.
Step 12:
Once baked, set it onto a cooling rack to cool, in the pan, for about 30 minutes.
Step 13:
After 30 minutes, remove the cake from the pan and set on the rack to cool completely.
Steps to make the glaze:
Step 14:
To make the glaze, add the butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl and mix well with an electric mixer on medium to medium-high speed until smooth.
Step 15:
Next, add the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of milk and mix on medium-high until well mixed.
Step 16:
Check the consistency and adjust if needed.
Step 17:
Add the glaze to the cooled cake.
(Remember that the instructions will also be in the recipe card below.)
Tips & FAQs:
Make sure that the cold ingredients have set out long enough to warm closer to room temperature. This is so that the batter can mix well and so it doesn’t clump up.
No, just add the pudding mix dry.
Yes, it’s needed to add flavor and moisture.
Yes, you could probably use vanilla pudding mix.
Sour cream is best in this recipe as it helps make a very moist cake and gives the cake some flavor. If you don’t have access to it, you can use plain yogurt instead. Make sure to use full-fat yogurt instead of the low-fat or fat-free type.
Unsalted is best because you can estimate the proper amount of salt that will be added plus salted butter has a different water content than unsalted. If you don’t have access to unsalted butter, salted butter will be okay, but omit the additional salt that each recipe calls for.
That’s really not a good idea as the sugar not only makes the cake sweet, but it also provides moisture. Lowering the sugar could potentially mess with the cake’s texture and may even make the cake dry.
Yes, but you’ll still need to chop up the chips a bit so that they don’t sink to the bottom of the cake.:
Yes, feel free to do that.
Make sure the grease and flour the bundt pan very well as this cake can easily stick and baking spray probably won’t be enough. It’s also best to grease the pan with vegetable shortening instead of butter as butter tends to brown too much.
You don’t want to mix a scratch cake too long or at too high of a speed once the liquid ingredients are incorporated. Be very careful to only mix until the ingredients are well combined. Mixing for minutes at a time is way too long and will cause a dense, rubber and dry cake.
This cake is done baking when a toothpick inserted into the center of it comes out with a few moist crumbs on it or clean, but no raw batter.
This cake can be made ahead of time and frozen if desired. Let the baked cake cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap and foil and place it in the freezer for up to a month.
To thaw, place the wrapped cake on the counter at room temperature and let thaw completely, then remove the wrapping. Once defrosted, add the glaze.
This cake should be stored covered or in an airtight container in the refrigerator and can last up to 5 days.
Because this is a butter cake, it’s best served near room temperature. Butter will harden up in the fridge, so when the cake is cold, it will be on the firm side and not as tender.
When you’re ready to eat this cake, take the cold cake out of the fridge and set it out to come closer to room temperature for about 20-30 minutes, then serve it. You can also pop a slice in the microwave to warm up a bit.
It may be possible, but the cake density is really more like a pound cake, so if made into cupcakes or a layer cake, it probably won’t be as light and fluffy as you’d expect.
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Video:
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
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Recipe:
White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake (a copycat recipe)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour (measured correctly: spooned into the measuring cup and leveled off – don't scoop and pack the flour into the cup)
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (3.4 ounce) box dry instant white chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream, near room temperature
- ½ cup milk, near room temperature
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup white chocolate, chopped small (or chopped white chocolate chips)
- 1 cup seedless raspberry filling, preserves, or jam ( I used jam)
For the glaze:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk or cream (may use up to 4 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Grease and flour a large bundt pan very well. Only spraying the pan with baking spray may not be enough as this cake can easily stick to the pan if it's not very well greased and floured.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and dry pudding mix. Whisk well and set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, add the sour cream, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and mix on medium-high speed for several minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium between each addition only until just combined. Try not to mix too long after each egg. Only mix until the egg is just incorporated.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again on medium, just until everything is incorporated.
- Alternately add in the flour mixture and the liquid mixture, mixing on medium speed, starting and ending with the flour mixture. (Add in ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix on medium just until combined. Add ½ the liquid mixture, mixing only until combined. Add another ⅓ of the flour mixture, mixing only until combined. Add the last of the liquid mixture, mixing only until combined, then the last of the flour mixture and mix until combined.)
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again only for about 10 seconds or so. Mixing for several minutes is too long for a scratch cake and can cause the texture to be dense, rubbery, dry and/or cause the cake to fall.
- Add the chopped white chocolate and stir in by hand. The batter will be thick.
- Add ½ the cake batter to the prepared pan, then spoon ½ the raspberry filling or jam onto the batter. Just spoon it onto the batter in small clumps. Take a knife and swirl the batter only a few times. Do not touch the bottom of the pan with the knife. If the preserves touch the bottom of the pan, it will get very sticky and make cause the cake to stick to the pan.
- Add almost all of the rest of the batter (saving some for the top) then spoon on the rest of the raspberry filling or jam and swirl again. Only swirl with the knife several times around.
- Add the remaining batter and smooth over the top.
- Bake at 325 degrees F, on the middle rack, for approximately 1 hour and 5-15 minutes. This cake does take a while to bake as it is very thick and there is a lot of batter in the pan.
- To keep the cake from browning too much on the bottom (which will end up being the top) add a baking sheet on the rack below the pan.
- This cake is finished baking when a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it or clean but no raw batter.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set on a cooling rack to cool, in the pan, for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, invert the pan onto the cooling rack and lift the pan off the cake. Let the cake cool completely on the cooling rack before adding the glaze.
For the glaze: (This makes a lot of glaze, so if you only want a light drizzle, then only make half the glaze recipe.)
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and cream cheese well with an electric mixer on medium to medium-high speed until smooth.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of milk. Mix well on medium-high speed.
- If the glaze is too thick, add milk by teaspoonful and mix. Be careful not to add too much at a time though because if it's too thin, it will run off the cake and pool around the bottom.
- Once desired consistency is reached and the cake is cooled, spoon on the glaze, use a piping bag or squeeze bottle to drizzle it on.
- See the notes section for best ways to store these, serve them and for more questions.
Notes
Nutrition
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Joey
Thank you for sharing a well-conceived, from-scratch recipe and for providing detailed, clear instructions. I made this today and it turned out really good.
My grocery store did not carry white chocolate instant pudding mix, so I used vanilla instead. The resulting cake was tasty with vanilla, and I look forward to trying white chocolate pudding another time for comparison. Your FAQ where you indicated vanilla could be an acceptable substitute helped me to decide giving it a try rather than making a special trip to another store just for white chocolate instant pudding.
The cake needed every bit of my Nordicware 12-cup Bundt pan’s capacity. A 10-cup pan would have been too small.
Why does 325 F work better than a higher temperature? At 325 F (internal oven thermometer used), it took about 1 hour 30 minutes to bake in my oven.
Kara
Hi Joey, so glad you liked it! Yes, I can see the vanilla pudding mix working just as well! So 325 degrees F works with this cake because you’re using a bundt cake and it’s a deeper pan. It’s also a thicker batter. Baking at a lower temperature makes sure that the cake is baked all the way through without the outside over baking. It does take longer to bake that way, but the texture of the cake is more even and the outside doesn’t get too brown. Hope this helps and thanks so much for the great review!