This White Christmas Cake with Cranberry Orange Filling and Whipped White Chocolate Ganache Frosting is the BEST-EVER cake for the holidays! It's sweet and delicious with lots of cranberry and orange flavors throughout, plus the addition of white chocolate...SO. GOOD.
Heat cream until it is just starting to bubble around the edges.
Pour hot cream over chocolate.
Let stand until chocolate has melted, 10-15 minutes.
Stir gently to combine.
Cover with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the surface of the liquid.
Refrigerate overnight, or until completely chilled through.
Remove from refrigerator.
Beat mixture until medium stiff peaks form.
Refrigerate until needed.
Cake
Heat oven to 350℉.
Spray three 6 inch pans with baking spray. Set aside.
Whip egg whites to stiff peaks. Set aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla powder. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Fold in egg whites.
Spoon into prepared pans.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until done.
Allow to cool at least 10 minutes in pans before turning out.
Turn out on wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Filling
Combine cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and orange zest in a medium saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat until cranberries pop and sauce thickens, about 5-6 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Stir in orange liqueur.
Assembly
Level cake layers, if necessary.
Place one layer on cake plate.
Pipe a ring of frosting around the outer edge of layer.
Fill with cranberry filling.
Top with another cake layer.
Repeat.
Frost cake with remaining frosting.
Notes
Substitutions:
If you don't have vanilla powder, you can use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
You can leave out the orange liqueur in the cranberry sauce.
It's best to use fresh, but you can use store-bought orange juice.
Butter can be used in place of shortening, but it won't really have the "snow-white" Christmas look once baked.
Expert Tips:
You need to make the frosting first!
Speaking of frosting, it needs to be really cold for it to whip!
The frosting takes a little bit of time to whip, so don't worry. You can use a hand mixer with the whisk attachment or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment to achieve medium-stiff peaks.
The shortening might be a little difficult to beat. Don't worry! Just scrape down the sides as needed and it will get soft and fluffy.
Don't over-beat your egg whites! You don't want to dry them out.
When folding the egg whites into the cake batter, be very careful. You don't want to deflate them, as this contributes to the rise of the cake.
It's best to use piping bags for the filling and the frosting. It's cleaner and a whole lot easier.
You can decorate this cake any way you want! Have fun with it.