Food and Recipes Desserts Cakes White Chocolate Poinsettia Cake Be the first to rate & review! This elegant dessert showcases the delicate sweetness of white chocolate in three delicious ways: moist cake layers, smooth mousse, and velvety buttercream. A shimmery poinsettia made of petal- shaped cookies crowns the whole thing. By Pam Lolley Pam Lolley Pam Lolley developed and tested recipes for Southern Living Magazine in the Souths most trusted Test Kitchen for 19 years. She worked closely with the editors planning and packaging stories, collaborating with art and photo teams on food styling and recipe reproduction to ensure reader satisfaction, content quality control, and recipe authenticity history and cooking. Her area of expertise was baking and and pastry development and she acted as the point person for these areas in the Test Kitchen. With 30+ years of experience in the culinary field, Pam created and tested 1000s of recipes for Southern Living. Southern Living's editorial guidelines and Emily Nabors Hall Emily Nabors Hall Emily Nabors Hall is a food stylist and recipe developer who has contributed regularly to Real Simple since 2015 as a member of the Dotdash Meredith Food Studios team. She works with several Dotdash Meredith brands, including Southern Living, Food & Wine, Rachel Ray In Season, and Meredith Premium Publishing titles. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband and two children. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on November 10, 2016 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez Active Time: 52 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 37 mins Yield: Makes 1 cake (serving size: 1 slice) Ingredients Cake Layers 1 (4-oz.) white chocolate baking bar, chopped 1 cup boiling water 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1 1/4 cups salted butter, softened 7 large egg whites, at room temperature, lightly beaten 3 1/2 cups bleached cake flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste Shortening, for greasing pan White Chocolate Mousse Filling 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided 1 tablespoon crème de cacao Frosting 1 (4-oz.) white chocolate baking bar, chopped 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 cup salted butter, softened 1 (32-oz.) pkg. powdered sugar 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Directions Prepare the Cake Layers: Place white chocolate in a bowl. Pour boiling water over chocolate, and let stand 1 minute; stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool completely. Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat granulated sugar and butter with a heavy-duty stand mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add egg whites, a third at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with white chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat on low speed until blended after each addition. Add vanilla bean paste. Pour into 3 greased (with shortening) and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely. Prepare the Mousse Filling: Microwave white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of the cream in a microwave-safe glass bowl on MEDIUM (50% power) until melted and smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in crème de cacao. Cool 5 minutes. Beat remaining 1 cup cream with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form; fold into white chocolate mixture. Chill in refrigerator. Prepare the Frosting: Microwave chopped chocolate and 1/3 cup heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM (50% power) until melted and smooth, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. (Do not overheat.) Cool completely. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar, beating on low speed until blended after each addition. Add 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on low until blended after each addition. Add salt and white chocolate mixture, and beat on low until combined; increase speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Assemble the Cake: Place 1 Cake Layer on a serving plate. Pipe a 1/2-inch-thick ring of Frosting around edge of Cake Layer. Spread half of Mousse Filling inside Frosting border; top with 1 Cake Layer. Pipe a 1/2-inch ring of Frosting around edge of Cake Layer. Spread remaining Filling inside border. Place remaining Cake Layer on top; spread top and sides of cake with remaining Frosting. Garnish How-To MAKE THE POINSETTIA COOKIES: Roll out 1 (16.5- oz.) pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the dough into 12 large petals with a 3-inch leaf cookie cutter. Cut 3 small petals from dough, using a 2-inch leaf cookie cutter and the center of the poinsettia using a 1 1/2-inch flower cutter. Bake at 350 ̊ for 7 to 9 minutes. DECORATE THE COOKIES: To make Royal Icing, beat 16 oz. powdered sugar, 2 tsp. meringue powder, and 5 to 6 Tbsp. warm water with an electric mixer on high speed, 5 minutes. Pipe the icing onto cooled cookies. Top the center poinsettia cookie with gold dragées, if desired. (Remove before eating.) Let the cookies dry. Use a paintbrush to paint the cookies with edible ivory luster dust and gold luster dust. PIPE THE CAKE: Make another batch of Frosting. Spoon it into a ziplock plastic bag, and snip 1 corner of the bag. Pipe a column of 4 (1-inch) dots of frosting down the side of the frosted cake. (The dots should touch.) Place a 1-inch-wide spatula on the center of the first dot, and drag the frosting outward, creating a petal-like shape. Repeat with the remaining 3 dots, wiping the spatula clean. Pipe a second column of dots on top of the swiped edges, and drag the frosting outward. Repeat, covering the cake, ending with 1 column of dots. EMBELLISH THE CAKE: Arrange the cookies in a flower shape on top of the frosted cake. Rate it Print