White Chocolate Cupcakes

A white chocolate cupcake next to small white flowers

These white chocolate cupcakes are filled with a creamy ganache and topped with fluffy white chocolate cream cheese buttercream. We modified our white chocolate cake recipe and replaced some of the butter with oil to prevent the cupcakes from drying out quickly.

Whipping the eggs with sugar until it reaches a thick ribbon stage gives the cupcakes a light and soft texture. The cream cheese buttercream is incredibly delicious, with a hint of tanginess that perfectly compliments the white chocolate ganache's sweetness.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 45

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 511kcal

Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

White Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces white chocolate 227 grams
⅓ cup heavy cream 75 grams

For the Cupcakes

4 ounces white chocolate 113 grams
2 cups all purpose flour 240 grams
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 eggs room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
⅓ cup butter melted (75 grams)
3 tablespoons canola oil 37 grams
¾ cup sour cream
¼ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

8 ounces white chocolate
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 sticks butter softened (226 grams)
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
8 ounces cream cheese softened

Instructions

Make the Ganache

Chop the white chocolate finely and place it in in a heat proof bowl.
Place the cream in a small dish and heat it in the microwave until it is steaming hot but don’t let it boil. Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and let it sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the mixture until all the lumps of chocolate melt. (Alternatively, you can melt the ganache in a double boiler.)
Set the ganache aside while you make the cupcakes. It will firm up as it sits and cools.

Make the Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 18 cupcake liners in cupcake pans.
Place the white chocolate in a small dish and zap it in the microwave in short bursts, stirring frequently between bursts. When the chocolate is about 80% melted, let it sit on the counter and allow the residual heat to finish melting it. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
Place the eggs in a mixing bowl and whisk them at medium high speed for 30 seconds.
Add the sugar and continue to whisk at high speed for 8 to 10 minutes until pale yellow in color, thick, and almost tripled in volume.
Add the melted butter and oil and whisk until well combined.
Add half of the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Mix in the sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Stir well.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients and use a wide spatula to fold it into the batter until just combined.
Stir in the melted chocolate.
Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

Place the white chocolate and cream in a small dish and zap it in the microwave in short bursts, stirring between bursts. When the chocolate is 80% melted, let it sit on the counter and allow the residual heat to finish melting it. Set it aside.
Place the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium high speed until well incorporated.
Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth and creamy.
Pour the white chocolate mixture into the mixing bowl and beat well.

Assemble the Cupcakes

Spoon the white chocolate ganache into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Plunge the tip of the piping bag into the cupcakes. Gently squeeze the bag to fill the center of the cupcakes. When the top of the cupcakes bulge, stop squeezing and lift out the piping bag.
Place the white chocolate buttercream into a piping bag and swirl the frosting on top of each cupcake.

Notes

For best results, use white chocolate that has cocoa butter in the ingredient list. You can use white chocolate baking chips, but the texture will not be the same since there isn’t any cocoa butter in the baking chips.
For a slightly more delicate crumb, swap the all-purpose flour for cake flour.
Make sure the cupcakes cool completely before filling with the ganache and topping them with the buttercream.
White chocolate will give the cupcakes and the cream cheese buttercream a slightly firmer texture, especially when the cupcakes chill in the fridge. If you store the cupcakes in the fridge, let them sit at room temperature for 2 hours before serving them.
We have a recipe for a larger batch of white chocolate ganache if you want to drizzle the tops of the cupcakes with extra ganache.
You can also fill the cupcakes with our white chocolate mousse.

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