Raspberry Champagne Cake

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add 3 cups of champagne to a large pot. Simmer the champagne on medium-high heat until it has reduced to 1/2 cup. Let it completely cool before using it in the cake. Then cream 10 tbsp of butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar together in a large bowl. Next add in four egg whites and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix until combined. Then add in the 1/2 cup of reduced champagne and combine. In a separate, medium sized bowl, sift 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of baking soda together. Alternate adding 1 cup of buttermilk and the dry ingredients to the  wet ingredients a little at a time. Continue until everything is combined together. Divide the batter evenly between 3 6" greased cake pans. Bake the cakes at 350 degrees for 31-34 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the centers. Let the cakes cool in their pans for five minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish completely cooling.

2. Melt 4 oz of high quality white chocolate and set aside to cool slightly. Add 1 cup of softened, unsalted butter to a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until it is pale in color and fluffy. Add in the slightly cooled white chocolate. It should be still liquid and warm, but not hot as to melt the butter. Mix until fluffy again. (If you wait until the white chocolate is cool to the touch it will solidify when you mix it into the butter so don’t wait too long to add it in). Then add in 3/4 cup of powdered sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Lastly add in 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of raspberry preserves and combine.