My dad loves this cake. He is not a huge chocolate fan. So the white chocolate and fruit in this really hit the spot for him.
Cake
1 box white cake mix
4 egg whites
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 c. applesauce
3/4 c. white chocolate
Filling
5 ounces white chocolate
1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries , thawed
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1/2 c. vanilla pudding (snack pac measures exactly 1/2 c.)
Frosting
6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/ tsp salt
8 ounces light cream cheese, room temperature
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour 2 round 8" pans.
Mix all ingredients except for the white chocolate in a bowl.
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. About 2 minutes. Fold into the cake batter.
Pour half mixture in each pan.
Bake until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean- 30 to 35 minutes.
Allow cakes to cool completely, and then carefully slice each in half, lengthwise.
For the filling:
Chop the strawberries.
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, add the vanilla, Set aside.
Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Fold the pudding and strawberries into the whip cream.
When the white chocolate is cooled, fold it into the whip cream mixture.
Cover and refrigerate 8 hours.
Frosting Instructions:
Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
Whip the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, vanilla, butter and milk for 2 minutes. Until it is smooth and creamy.
Whip the whip cream until it forms still peaks.
Fold the cream cheese mixture and white chocolate into the whip cream.
Refrigerate until firm enough to frost the cake, about 30 minutes.
Assembly:
Place 1 layer of the cake on a cake pedestul. Put pieces of parchment paper under the edges of the cake. This way, when you are frosting
the cake, you can just take out the parchment paper when you are done, and the plate is all clean.
Top the cake with a layer of strawberry mousse, then another layer of cake, then strawberry mousse. Do this with the 4 layes of cake. But do not top the last layer of cake with the mousse. You will be putting frosting on this layer
Now spread very thin layer of frosting all over the cake. once that frosting is spread, now you can go and spread a thick layer all over the
cake. Spreading the first thin layer helps minimize the chance of cake crumbs getting into the frosting and making it look bad.
Top the cake with frsh sliced strawberries, shaved white chocoalte, and sliced almonds.
Serves 10-12 slices.