Valentine’s Day is almost here, and I’m excited to share more details about the cake I featured on The Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family in January. This over-the-top celebration cake has six layers—white, pink, and red—filled with a white chocolate–raspberry buttercream that tastes like almond candy, finished with a soft pink ganache and piled high with playful toppings to make your Valentine’s extra special.
Hallmark invited me back to create a fun Valentine’s cake for the show, and I was honored to appear for the fourth time. It’s always a joy to work with the team there, and this visit was no different.
Designing a cake that’s just as delightful inside as it is outside was straightforward. I stuck to a simple white, pink, and red palette so the colors would pop both inside and out. I love striped interiors, so I adapted a basic white cake batter to make three shades without needing a lot of extra bowls. Spoon 1/3 of the batter into the first prepared 6″ pan for the white layer. Add a tiny amount of red gel color to the remaining batter to create pink, split that in half for the second pan, then add a little more red to the final batch for a vivid red layer. Bake the rounds and you’ll have coordinating white, pink, and red discs ready for assembly.
For the frosting I wanted a Valentine’s flavor without turning the buttercream pink, so I made a white chocolate–raspberry buttercream. It’s sweet and candy-like, and perfect for this cake. While I often use fresh or freeze-dried raspberries for buttercreams, those can tint the frosting. For a pristine white color with raspberry flavor, I used a raspberry emulsion that adds flavor without coloring the buttercream.
The pale pink drip was made by adding a toothpick-sized amount of red gel coloring to white chocolate ganache, resulting in a soft pastel hue. Use gel or oil-based colorings—water-based color can cause ganache to seize.
I planned separate tutorials for each topper, but life got busy. Instead, I made short videos for a few toppers that I shared on Instagram (two are already posted showing the rose and chocolate bark). The cake is topped with an assortment of garnishes—sprinkles, gumballs, fondant roses and hearts, and white chocolate sprinkle bark—to give it that playful, decadent finish.
One key to success with this cake is keeping everything cold. Chilled cake layers are easier to stack and frost; a cold cake holds its shape, and a chilled ganache drip sets more cleanly and helps the toppings adhere. Use your freezer between steps for the best results.
I had a blast making this cake and hope you enjoy creating it as much as I did. It’s a real showstopper and perfect for sharing. Below is a video of my Hallmark segment from last month:
Happy Valentine’s Day! If you bake this cake, I’d love to see your creation—tag me @bakingwithblondie or use #bakingwithblondie on Instagram for a chance to be featured in my stories.
- Striped Vanilla Cake
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 egg whites
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 white cake mix (sifted)
- Red gel food coloring
- White Chocolate Raspberry Buttercream
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy cream + 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened slightly
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (or clear vanilla for a whiter buttercream)
- 2 tablespoons raspberry emulsion (Lorann)
- 6–7 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- Pink White Chocolate Ganache Drip
- 1 cup white chocolate candy melts (very white/bright white)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Red gel coloring
- Garnishes
- Valentine’s sprinkles
- Gumballs
- Red fondant roses
- White sprinkle chocolate bark
- Marbled fondant hearts
- DIRECTIONS FOR THE STRIPED VANILLA CAKE
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare three 6″ cake pans with shortening and flour. Set aside.
- Whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla, egg whites, and oil. Sift in cake mix and stir until combined. Spoon one-third of the batter into the first prepared pan for the white layer.
- Add a small drop of red gel coloring to the remaining batter to make pink. Divide that pink batter in half and add to the second pan.
- Add a few more drops of red gel coloring to the leftover batter to achieve a red shade and pour into the third pan.
- Bake 25–27 minutes. Cool in pans for 2 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to reach room temperature. Wrap and freeze for easier assembly.
- Before frosting, slice each round in half to yield six thin layers (two white, two pink, two red).
- WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM
- Microwave white chips with 1/4 cup heavy cream for 30 seconds, stir until smooth, and set aside.
- Beat butter on high until light and fluffy, then add the white chocolate mixture.
- Add salt, vanilla, and raspberry emulsion and combine. Add the remaining 1/4 cup heavy cream.
- Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until desired consistency. Beat on high for about three minutes to lighten the texture, then hand-stir briefly to remove air bubbles.
- PINK GANACHE
- Combine white chocolate and heavy cream in a glass bowl and microwave 30 seconds; stir until combined. Add tiny amounts of red gel coloring (a toothpick amount) to reach a soft pastel pink.
- Transfer to a squeeze bottle or spoon for the drip and set aside.
- ASSEMBLY
- Secure a 6″ cardboard round to an 8″ cake board for stability. Fill a large piping bag with buttercream.
- Pipe a small dab of buttercream to the center of the board to act as glue and place the first red layer. Pipe an even layer of buttercream, then add a pink layer, and then a white layer. Repeat with the remaining three layers.
- Crumb coat the cake and freeze for 5 minutes. Add a final coat of buttercream and press sprinkles around the bottom edge.
- Add the chilled ganache drip and freeze briefly to set. Finish by arranging chocolate bark, fondant hearts and roses, gumballs, and additional sprinkles on top.
