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This White Christmas Truffle Cake is a beautiful holiday dessert that consists of a fluffy sponge layer with white chocolate truffle on top. Stunning in its simplicity, this is the ultimate decadent Christmas cake recipe!
For another beautiful Christmas cake take a look at this Cranberry Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Icing.
I had a very specific idea of what I wanted this White Chocolate Truffle Cake to be. But when I looked at it my mind immediately turned to Charlie Brown Christmas.
Doesn’t that little Christmas tree in the middle of the vast white remind you of the favourite childhood cartoon?
For my money, this is the ultimate in Christmas desserts. Silky smooth, decadently rich and gorgeous to look at. This cake is the perfect way to take your Christmas baking to the next level!
Chocolate truffle
Chocolate truffle is a simple form of confectionary that anyone who has tasted will fall in love with. But what is it exactly?
Taken down to its most basic form, truffle is a combination of cream and high quality chocolate. Sometimes other ingredients like butter or, as in this case, mascarpone can be added to make it even richer.
It comes from those genius chocolatiers in France and was originally found in a round ball shape and coated in cocoa powder, coconut or nuts. The hand-rolled-and-coated look is similar to the truffles found buried in forests, and gives the chocolate treat its name.
Chocolate truffle is notable for being extra rich and smooth. It’s truly a melt in your mouth treat for all sorts of special occasions!
I’m a huge truffle fan, so I made another indulgent Chocolate Truffle Cake for Christmas and a beautiful Red Velvet Truffle Cake for Valentine’s Day!
White Christmas Truffle Cake
As the name suggests, this creation is part cake, part truffle, and therefore the most luxurious thing one would expect on Christmas. The cake layer has three ingredients, as does the truffle topping. Simple and elegant.
This white chocolate truffle cake is perhaps the simplest cake I’ve ever posted on Vikalinka. It took me no longer than one hour to do…including baking.
That said, it does take some skill, the right ingredients and attention to detail. Take a look at the recipe tips and notes section below, as well as the instructional video in the recipe card to help you make this cake successfully!
Ingredients
The sponge layer only has three ingredients. Eggs, sugar and flour. It’s a simple sponge that compliments a rich truffle layer very well.
The truffle layer also consists of three ingredients. White chocolate, heavy whipping cream (US) or double cream (UK) and mascarpone.
The fat content in both cream and mascarpone is responsible for the ability of this white chocolate truffle layer to set. Using lower fat dairy and chocolate chips will result in the truffle not setting.
I’ve used white chocolate to give it that winter wonderland look. It’s best to find white chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter, rather than vegetable oil. The extra cocoa butter helps it to melt better and become silky smooth.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- I live in England and what I have found through years of blogging is that dairy products differ between countries, especially mascarpone cheese. Ours comes from Italy and is made with no stabilisers and is higher in fat, so for best results buy the highest quality ingredients you can afford.
- Also the fat content of double cream in England is 48%, which is responsible for the firmness of the truffle layer.
- If you live outside of the UK, look for heavy whipping cream with the fat content between 36-40% or higher. Anything below that will not produce the same results.
- Mix the mascarpone in after the chocolate and cream mixture cools.
- Overbeating mascarpone will result in the mixture splitting.
- The chocolate has to be measured by weight using a This is an affiliate link.kitchen scale.
- Avoid chocolate chips as they don’t melt as needed for this cake. Ideally find white chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter instead of vegetable oil for a better melt.
- Watch for the consistency of the truffle layer in the extended video in the recipe card to ensure yours sets properly and is ready to wow everyone at Christmas dinner!
- Please read the recipe instructions carefully before starting on your cake. Enjoy!
Storage and leftovers
You can make it up to two days in advance and keep it in a springform pan refrigerated. Unmold the cake before serving, decorate with the sugar pearls and serve.
Leftovers should be refrigerated in a sealed container so it doesn’t absorb smells and flavours from elsewhere in the fridge.
More Christmas dessert recipes
- Christmas Cranberry Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- Frostbitten Raspberry Cake
- Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake
- Raffaello Cheesecake
White Christmas Truffle Cake
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Kitchen scale
- This is an affiliate link.Pyrex mixing bowls
- This is an affiliate link.Hand mixer
- This is an affiliate link.Springform pan
Ingredients
For the cake layer
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup/65 g sugar
- 1/3 cup/45 g flour
- 1 tsp This is an affiliate link.vanilla extract
For the truffle topping
- 1 1/4 cups/ 300 ml double cream/heavy cream, I used 48% fat double cream
- 12 oz/350 g white chocolate, chopped, not chocolate chips (measured by weight)
- 9 oz/250 g mascarpone or cream cheese, full fat only
Instructions
For the cake layer
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Butter and dust with flour an 8″/20 cm round springform pan.
- Beat room temperature eggs, vanilla and sugar in a medium bowl for about 3-5 minutes with an electric mixer until white, foamy and triple in volume.
- Fold sifted flour in 3 additions with a spatula, be careful not to deflate the cake batter. If after the addition of the flour the volume goes down significantly, the cake will not rise properly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. The baked sponge should have risen to at least double the height of the unbaked batter. Cool on a wire rack.
For the truffle topping
- Bring the heavy cream in a saucepan to a boil. Pour the hot cream over chopped white chocolate and stir with a whisk until the chocolate in melted and completely incorporated into the cream. Let the mixture come to a room temperature. (I chill mine outside for 20-30 minutes.)
- Add mascarpone and whip with a hand mixer until smooth. If using cream cheese instead of mascarpone, whip the cheese until light and fluffy before adding cream and chocolate mixture and blending the ingredients together. Do not pre-whip mascarpone or it might separate from over-beating. Mix mascarpone and the cream/chocolate mixture together with a hand blender until combined, approximately 2 minutes. (The consistency of the truffle layer should be similar to thick sour cream.)
- Line the sides of a springform pan with parchment paper. Put the sponge layer back in the springform pan.
- Pour the truffle mixture on top of the cake in the springform pan and level it with an offset spatula. Chill in the refrigerator for at least for 2 hours or better overnight.
- Run a knife along the sides of the cake to release it from the pan, then carefully unmold it and move to a cake stand. Decorate with sugar pearls and greenery.
Video
Notes
- Dairy products vary between countries, especially mascarpone cheese. For best results, buy the highest quality ingredients you can afford.
- I live in the UK where the fat content of double cream in England is 48%,. This is responsible for the firmness of the truffle layer. If you live outside of the UK, look for heavy whipping cream with the fat content between 36-40% or higher. Anything with fat content below this level will not produce the same results.
- Mix the mascarpone in only after the cream and chocolate mixture cools.
- Over-beating the mascarpone will result in the mixture splitting.
- The chocolate has to be measured by weight. Use a kitchen scale for this.
- Don’t use chocolate chips as they will not melt as needed for this cake. Find white chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter instead of vegetable oil for a better melt.
- The extended video in the recipe card will show the consistency of the truffle layer. Watch for this to ensure yours sets properly.
- Please read the recipe instructions carefully before starting on your cake.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hiya, I would like to make this for Christmas Day but will be very busy before hand with having all the family over this year, would it be suitable to make ahead and freeze? I know my mum always freezes her homemade cheese cakes!
Thank you,
Lou x
Hi Lou, I’ve have never tried to be honest but like you said cheesecakes are freezable. I would say go for it and take it out 30-40 minutes before serving. Let me know how it goes! Best, Julia
Brilliant I’ll give it a go and let you know. I pinned this recipe about 6 months ago and been counting down the weeks ever since to try it!!
And thankyou for replying xxx
That is so great! I made this cake two years in a row and my daughter is already requesting it for this year!
This is beautiful and looks like a great recipe, but you spelled Christmas incorrectly on Pinterest! Just wanted you to be aware so you can correct it 🙂
Hi there, thank for your comment. I am aware there is a typo on the original pin on Pinterest…many people pointed it out but since there are quite literally hundreds thousands of those pins, there is no way of tracking all of them down and correcting them. I just have to live with it.
This cake is delicious! I followed the directions and it worked out perfectly. I used Lindt white chocolate.
That is so great, Kimberly! It is my favourite Christmas cake, so quick to make and tastes amazing!
little confused do you whip the mascarpone. as per instructions say you whip then don’t whip it??? sorry if its been brought up already.
x
Hi Joanne. You whip the mascarpone with the double cream, just don’t whip it separately and then whip again with double cream, which can cause separation. US readers seem to have that problem but if you are in the UK, you should be fine. Best, Julia
I made this cake last Christmas and will be making it again this Christmas as well. It was delicious!! I live in Canada, and found that I needed to add more mascarpone cheese to make up for the cream with less fat content. I just added until I thought it was the right consistency, and it set in a couple hours with no problems. I was so impressed with how it turned out. Thank you for such a lovely recipe!!
Thanks so much for your feedback, Dee!I am so glad you enjoyed this cake as much as we do. Would you be able to let us know how much more mascarpone you added?
Did not set. Had all ingredients. Was a disaster.
Hi Trace, unfortunately as I mentioned a few times already, it’s not about having all ingredients but rather about having the right ingredients. This cake recipe has been tested multiple times by me and by external testers, which is more than some cook book authors do, it is certainly not a normal blogging practice. Additionally, you can see many comments from readers who made it and had great results, I have also many private messages that confirm the same positive result. All the external testers came back with successful results apart from one, who used white chocolate chips from Trader Joe’s. I specified in the recipe not to use chocolate chips. The reasons why it didn’t set could be either because the cream you used was not the appropriate fat content specified in the recipe or white chocolate was in fact not chocolate at all. Here is an excerpt from an article that explains it “The FDA has mandated that white chocolate must contain at least 20% cocoa butter, at least 14% milk solids, at least 3.5% milkfat, and a maximum of 55% in sweeteners.The amount of cocoa butter is key here: many products out there that look like white chocolate, especially chips, contain very little, if any, cocoa butter. If you look carefully, they’re actually labeled white baking chips or morsels, and usually contain mostly milk, oil, and sugar.” In other words, there is a lot of rubbish out there. I simply cannot control what ingredients people use, especially in other countries. (I live in the UK.) The ingredients that are used will affect the texture as well as taste. If the white chocolate didn’t taste good out of the package, it will taste the same in the cake.
If you used all the right ingredients and it still didn’t set I can offer absolutely no advice as I was not in the kitchen with you and can’t tell you what exactly happened. All bloggers can offer is a recipe, a guideline, it’s up to our readers to choose whether to use it or not. A recipe is not a mathematical formula and especially a baking recipe; ingredients, environment and even people’s baking skills all play a part in what the end result will be. I have never revised or updated a recipe with more instruction than I’ve done with this one and every time it was tested it came out just as I said a year ago. I can accept that it failed for some people but it does not mean the recipe is flawed.
I am in the U.S. and have made this a few times now. The cake layer turned out excellent every time and the truffle layer did also when I used the correct white chocolate. The first time I used Nestle white baking chocolate and it was more like a think icing. I have used cream cheese and heavy cream and whipping cream with success.
Today I made it with a little twist. I also made the chocolate truffle cake at the same time. I used a 10″ spring form. I made the white cake layer first. Then I made the chocolate cake layer. Set them both aside to cool. Then made the truffle layers using heavy cream, mascarpone and marked down Christmas chocolate. For the white layer I used 3 – 4.2 once Lindt white chocolate peppermint bars. For the dark layer I used 12 ounces of Hershey’s dark chocolate kisses. I then placed the chocolate cake layer back in the spring form as the base. Then poured the dark truffle layer on top and let it set up in the freezer while I finished mixing the white truffle mix. I then placed the white cake layer on next followed by the white chocolate peppermint truffle mix. This filled my 10″ spring form right to the top. Let it sit in the fridge all day and it turned out amazing. This is one of my wife’s favorites. I had previously made both cakes before and she would mix bites of each. Now it’s all together.
Thank you so much for such detailed feedback, Derek! I am very pleased to hear you’ve made both dark and white chocolate cake and loved them both. So assuming from your comment you think the wrong type of white chocolate might be why some people are unsuccessful with the recipe in the US? I am still trying to figure out what exactly goes wrong and why. 🙂 Happy New Year!
Yes, like you replied below, the quality of white chocolate is very important. You can find a dozen different quality chocolate bars but only a few white and the white morsels are seldom white chocolate. Also as long as whipping cream is used, heavy or regular, and quality white chocolate, it should set just fine. Maybe some used table cream which has half the fat content and/or poor quality white chocolate or overheating when melting. For the chocolate layer in the combined cake I did use a lower quality chocolate than the Lindt bars (Hershey’s dark kisses) but it set up fine.
Thanks for a thoughtful reply, Derek. I have to admit this cake is a complete mystery to me, no matter how many times I’ve made it, which I did a lot because of some negative comments here and on Pinterest, it always works for me. It also works just fine for anyone in the UK and the rest of Europe but it doesn’t work for some people in the US, so it has to be down to the products that were used. I guess it’s a risk you take when cooking!
PS I would love for you to give this recipe a review on Pinterest. Thanks! 🙂
I made this beautiful truffle a couple of times now and it turned out pretty awesome. I wasn’t sure whether to serve it cold or not. I brought it to a party and refrigerated it when I got there, but took it out about an hour before serving. It was perfect this way. It maintains its form, but is has a nice soft and creamy texture. I ate some leftover right from the refrigerator and it was not as pleasing this way. By the way, the first time I made it for a dessert auction and it raised $190 for a non-profit organization.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Barbara. I am so pleased you loved the cake but even more so that it raised money for charity! That’s what it’s all about, the true spirit of Christmas.
Made this for Christmas today and it tasted so so good! Just like one of those white chocolate Lindt Truffle balls! I halved the recipe and used a 6″ springform pan. I was nervous after reading the comments and not being able to find double cream (I’m in the US), but it set up just fine using heavy whipping cream and good (Lindt) white chocolate and marscapone! I used my food scale to measure everything and I think that was key. Will make again!
I made this cake for Christmas two years in a row because of its simplicity and delicious taste! After spending a day cooking a giant meal I want something quick and easy for dessert. You are absolutely right, Heather, the truffle top does taste like little white Lindors, I never thought of it myself but seems obvious when you mentioned! And finally yes, measuring everything is very important in baking and I agree it might be key in this cake!
Your truffle cake is beautiful! I am in the US and had high hopes of making this dessert work out for my family. I read some of the difficulties others had, and figured that it did not sound tricky, so I would give it a try anyway. The flavors are great, but the textures did not work out for me. I am determined to make something work though, so I am sticking my truffle “pie” into the freezer and hoping for the best. Maybe I will try again some day! =)
I made it last night as well, it really is an easy cake. I hope to make a video of this cake in the new year to clear up all questions. 🙂 Merry Christmas, Jessica, I hope it didn’t dampen your spirits!
Merry Christmas! Is it supposed to be egg whites or the whole egg for the cake part?