This white chocolate raspberry Bundt cake is filled with layers of vanilla and raspberry ripple batter, then topped with a rich white chocolate sauce for a deliciously elegant finish. With a white velvet cake base and the fresh flavor of a whole pint of raspberries, this easy mix cake has a perfect flavor balance that'll keep you coming back for more!
Is this cake a Nothing Bundt Cake copycat?
I'm guessing you may be wondering...is this Bundt a copycat of the famous Nothing Bundt Cake White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt?
Well yes...and no (lol)...is the short answer.
This delicious cake has all the same flavors as the beloved bakery favorite - fresh raspberries, rich white chocolate, a moist white velvet cake base. But I chose to make a raspberry batter layer as opposed to just adding whole raspberries into the cake. Why you ask? Well I'm going to tell you all about it.
And if you're looking for another delicious Bundt recipe, don't miss my Double Lemon Bundt with Lemon Glaze!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Bundt
- A whole pint of fresh raspberries: this cake doesn't use raspberry jam or flavoring which can be more sweet or artificial tasting than truly berry-flavored. It uses a whole pint of flavor-bursting fresh raspberries for the raspberry ripple layer.
- Even berry flavor: during testing, I found just folding raspberries into the batter left the flavor lacking a bit and uneven between slices. So by making a raspberry batter here, we concentrate the flavor in each and every slice.
- Stabilizing the batter: using a raspberry batter instead of just loose berries also allows us to stabilize the batter by offsetting the juices from the berries with a little extra flour for a more stable cake.
- Picture perfect: the solid red layer throughout this bundt is also just darn pretty, and will impress anyone lucky enough to enjoy a slice!
Ingredient Tips
- Freeze dried raspberries: while you probably don't have freeze dried raspberries at home, you can find them in most standard and health food grocery stores, as well as some pharmacy snack aisles, and of course, on Amazon. They really are worth searching out because they not only make for a pretty finish and an easy release, but they add extra raspberry flavor too.
- Baking soda + vinegar: for my cake aficionados out there, you'll know this combo from classic Red Velvet Cake. This batter is a "white velvet" batter - essentially a red velvet recipe, without the cocoa and red coloring. But the remaining ingredients still give you that rich, just slightly acidic, moist cake base that's perfect for this white chocolate covered Bundt.
- Fresh raspberries: because of the water released by frozen raspberries as they thaw, I do recommend using fresh raspberries for this recipe for more consistent results.
- White chocolate sauce: this super easy white chocolate sauce was sooooo good I actually had to give it its own post. So for all the info and tips on how to mix it up, head over to my White Chocolate Ganache post for all the details!
For a full detailed list of all ingredients and measurements, just head down to the recipe card below!
Substitutions + Variations
- Substitutions
- Freeze dried raspberries: if you don't have any of these available, just check out the recipe card below for alternative options.
- Fresh raspberries: if you need to use frozen raspberries in a pinch, you can, but just know you might have a slightly denser, wetter batter and very compact final product depending on your particular berries water content when thawed.
- Variations
- Add some citrus: for a flavor twist that's lovely for spring or summer, you can add the zest of two oranges or two lemons to your batter for a bright and citrusy take on this delicious cake.
- Try a different glaze: if you'd like to swap out the white chocolate ganache, feel free to use my Cream Cheese Glaze or Lemon Glaze for Bundts instead!
- Decorate the top: with its red and white color profile, this cake is perfect for so many occasions. Dress it up for Valentine's Day with some extra freeze-dried or fresh raspberries on top, or even dried rose petals. You can also always dress it up with some cute and festive holiday sprinkles for a delicious winter treat that is worthy of your holiday table!
Please note, that any additional substitutions haven't been tested so I can not guarantee the results. However, if you do experiment and find a variation you love, please let me know in the comments below!
How to Make Raspberry Bundt Cake
To Make the Glaze:
Step 1: Mix up the white chocolate sauce.
To Make the Vanilla Batter:
Step 1: Preheat your oven and place your baking rack one rung below the middle.
Step 2: Make the raspberry flour by blending the crushed freeze dried raspberries and ¼ cup of flour.
Step 3: Grease and dust a 10-cup Bundt pan with the raspberry flour.
Step 4: Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 5: Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar and set aside.
Step 6: Roughly crush the fresh raspberries in a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside.
Step 7: In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy.
Step 8: Combine creamed butter, dry, and wet mixtures until batter is smooth.
To Make the Raspberry Batter:
Step 1: Add about ¼ of the vanilla batter, and a ¼ cup of flour or raspberry flour blend to the bowl with the crushed raspberries. Stir together with a fork until well combined.
Step 2: Layer up your pan with half the vanilla batter, then all the raspberry batter, then the rest of the vanilla batter. For each layer, drop the batter around the pan in small spoonfuls then use a spatula or knife to spread into an even layer.
Step 3: Bake for 45-55 minutes until the cracked ring around the center of the cake is dry, feels fully set, and springs back when gently pressed.
Step 4: Cool for 10 minutes, then un-pan and cool fully on a wire rack.
To Glaze the Cake:
Step 1: Once the cake is fully cooled, grab your white chocolate sauce from the fridge. Briefly stir to smooth it out, then glaze your bundt and garish to your liking. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
For a more detailed list of all these steps, just head down to the recipe card below!
Storage + Freezing
- Making Ahead of Time: you can make this Bundt up to 2 days ahead of service if you like. In that case, just make sure to wrap it well, air-tight at room temperature for storage (unsliced), and then glaze it right before serving.
- Storage: to keep this cake fresh once sliced, wrap a small piece of plastic wrap over the cut ends, then keep the whole Bundt fully wrapped, air-tight for up to 4 days at room temperature. Because we have a lot of moisture in this cake, it does mean it will keep for a shorter amount of time than your average Bundt. I don't recommend storing it in the fridge to extend shelf life, as that tends to make the cake stale faster.
- Freezing: while you can freeze this cake, I find its moist and rich crumb doesn't fully return after thawing, so I wouldn't recommend freezing this cake before serving for the best results.
Pro Baker Tips
- Prep your pan correctly: there is nothing more important in Bundt recipes than correct pan prep (because there's truly nothing worse than having half of your cake get stuck in a pan). The recipe card below tells you exactly how to prep your pan for success, and my Lemon Sour Cream Bundt Cake post has an even more detailed tutorial if you need it.
- Leave the berries a little chunky: I found the raspberry batter works best when the berries are still a little chunky. So, you want to only do a rough crush on those fresh berries. If you super pulverized them, you may get an extra-dense raspberry layer.
- Take time with the layering: the mixing steps in this cake are pretty easy, so the only slightly tricky thing is the batter layering. Firstly, know that the layering will not make or break this cake - it'll be delicious no matter what. But my best advice is just to take your time, and add the batter to the pan in lots of little spoonfuls, not big plops (check out the process shots above to see just what I mean)!
- Make sure your glaze and cake are fully cooled: make sure that your white chocolate ganache has fully set up in the fridge so it's nice and thick, and that your Bundt cake is fully cooled. If the cake or ganache is still warm, that sauce may run right off.
Recipe FAQs
I actually did test this this in my early versions of the cake.
What I found was the white chocolate caramelized because of the super long bake time Bundts require. Thus, the chips left a lot of brown spots in my cake. It tasted totally fine, but aesthetically, just wasn't super pleasing to me.
Also because white chocolate is naturally so sweet, and we have all of that white chocolate glaze on top, I figured we could do without it in the batter, hence why there's no white chocolate in this cake base.
Of course though, if you'd like to experiment, you're welcome to try adding a ½ cup of white chocolate chips after you've pulled out the batter that you need for the raspberry portion. If you give it a try, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below!
Believe it or not, I actually had to do 10 versions of this recipe before I found one that I was confident would work well for you all. A huge part of that was battling the fact that the raspberries released a lot of water during the bake. But I still wanted to still use those fresh berries for their amazing flavor.
The solution to make sure you had a stable batter, that would produce great results and not get stuck in the pan, was to make a raspberry batter where we could offset the raspberries juices with that extra ¼ cup of flour.
Because of that dynamic, I don't recommend reverting to just adding raspberries to an all vanilla batter. I think you'll find, that'll result in a really dense, even rubbery underbaked cake.
While I would love for you to try my recipes and be able to meet your dietary needs as well, unfortunately any substitution of primary ingredients like butter, eggs, or flour will drastically alter the baking chemistry here and compromise the results.
So while you are always welcome to experiment, and I love to hear how it goes when you do, I have not been able to test all those substitutions so I can't recommend them.
I find you will always have better results when baking up treats designed with say vegan butter sticks, flax seed eggs, or almond flour from the start. And luckily Google can help you find many of my fellow bloggers I'll send you to with delicious recipes in those specialty diet niches!
Similar Recipes You'll Love
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📖 Full Recipe
White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE GLAZE:
- ⅔ cup high-quality white chocolate chips or chopped bars
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
FOR THE PAN:
- ½ cup whole freeze-dried raspberries (see notes)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted)
FOR THE CAKE:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk (or regular milk)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
FOR THE RASPBERRY BATTER:
- 1 ½ cups 1 pint fresh raspberries
- ¼ cup all-purpose or raspberry flour blend (see notes)
Instructions
TO MAKE THE GLAZE:
- Mix up the White Chocolate Sauce: mix up some easy, rich white chocolate sauce (head over to my White Chocolate Sauce post for instructions!). Once ready, loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge to set up and thicken until you’re ready to glaze your cake in a few hours.
TO MAKE THE VANILLA BATTER:
- Preheat and prep oven: preheat your oven to 350°F, and place a baking rack one rung below the middle, with the remaining racks below.
- Make the raspberry flour: place freeze-dried raspberries in a zip-top bag and crush by hand or with a rolling pin. Combine crushed raspberries in the bag or a small bowl with the ¼ cup flour until well blended and set aside (see notes if you don’t have freeze-dried raspberries).
- Grease and dust a 10-cup Bundt pan: brush your pan with melted butter thoroughly throughout the inside of the pan using a pastry brush, then sprinkle the raspberry flour blend (or just all-purpose flour) into the pan to cover the center ring (see notes). Rotate and knock the pan around over a sink or trashcan to fully cover the rest of the butter in flour. Knock all excess raspberry flour out onto a paper towel for use later in the raspberry batter.
- Prepare dry ingredients: combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl until well-blended and set aside.
- Prepare wet ingredients: in another small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar, and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar: in a large bowl cream together butter and sugar using a hand or stand mixer for 3-4 minutes on medium-high speed until very light and fluffy.
- Combine butter, dry, and wet mixtures: add the wet and dry ingredient mixtures to the creamed butter. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, then medium-high for another 30 seconds until batter is smooth.
TO MAKE THE RASPBERRY BATTER:
- Prepare fresh raspberries: place the fresh raspberries in a medium-sized mixing bowl and crush with a fork until there are some big and some small pieces (you don’t need to pulverize them, just break them up a bit).
- Mix some vanilla batter with raspberries and flour: add about ¼ of the vanilla batter (around 350g) to the bowl with the crushed fresh raspberries. Add the additional ¼ cup all-purpose flour to the bowl as well (or a blend using your remaining raspberry flour; see notes). Stir together with a fork until well combined.
- Layer up your batters - half the vanilla, all the raspberry, the rest of the vanilla: fill your pan with half the vanilla batter and gently spread it to the outer and inner edges in a smooth layer (a small offset spatula works great here!). Add the raspberry batter on top in 10-12 spoonfuls spread around the pan, and gently spread it into a layer on top of the vanilla batter (it’s okay if the layers blend a little) Add the second half of the vanilla batter on top in 10-12 spoonfuls again, and spread it into an even layer one more time.
- Bake up your bundt: bake for 45-55 minutes until the cracked ring around the center of the cake is dry, feels fully set, and springs back when gently pressed (see notes on roasting flour).
- Cool and then un-pan: cool cake for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip the pan over onto a wire rack and remove the pan to allow the cake to finish cooling completely. If the cake is sticking to the pan, gently use a small offset spatula or dinner knife to loosen the edges where possible, then knock the pan on the wire rack a couple of times until it releases.
TO GLAZE THE CAKE:
- Drip, slice and enjoy! Once the cake is fully cooled, grab your white chocolate sauce from the fridge. Briefly stir it with a whisk or fork to smooth it out. Slowly pour and spread glaze in a ring around the top of the cake, in the center of the arch, and allow it to slowly drip down the sides. Allow the glaze to set for at least 15-20 minutes, then cut off a slice (and maybe one for a friend too!) and enjoy this delicious and colorful treat!
Test Kitchen Tips
- Don’t know where to buy dried raspberries? They’re available in most standard and health food grocery stores, pharmacy snack aisles, and on Amazon. But if you’d like to make this recipe without them, you can use straight flour to dust the pan. For the raspberry batter, you’ll just use a full ¼ cup all-purpose flour as well.
- Flour for the raspberry batter: if you have leftover raspberry flour blend from the pan prep, you can add anywhere from a teaspoon to 2 tablespoons of raspberry flour into your ¼ cup measuring cup when scaling the raspberry batters flour. Then just top the rest of the cup with regular flour .
- Pan prep: make sure you take the time to grease and dust your pan well as it's the most important step in a Bundt recipe! I prefer using a pastry brush to make sure you cover the whole inside of the pan, but you can also use a paper towel dipped in the melted butter to coat your pan. You may just need to melt a little extra butter for the paper towel method.
- Roasting flour: early on in the bake time, you’ll probably smell that raspberry flour inside the top of the pan roasting. Don’t worry, that's normal and won't affect your cake's flavor.
- Have leftover sauce? Check out my White Chocolate Sauce post for ideas on all the other tasty treats you can dress up with any extra sauce.
- Can I use frozen raspberries? Because frozen raspberries release more water, I found fresh raspberries worked best for both flavor and texture.
- Add an Orange or Lemon Twist: for a citrusy twist, add the zest of two large lemons or oranges (about 2 tablespoons of zest) in with the butter and sugar.
- Storage and freezing: to keep this cake fresh, wrap a small piece of plastic wrap over the cut ends, then keep the whole bundt fully wrapped, air-tight for up to 4 days at room temperature. The moist and rich crumb doesn't fully return after thawing, so I wouldn't recommend freezing this cake before serving for the best results.
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