This Sourdough Discard Raspberry White Chocolate Loaf Cake happened because our garden has completely run wild this summer. I mean that literally: the raspberry canes have spread into places they were never invited, and we've had more fruit than we know what to do with. It also happens to be the first thing I baked in our newly remodelled kitchen, in a brand new oven I was still getting to know. A buttery, properly tested sourdough cake, packed with fresh raspberries and white chocolate, felt like the right way to break it in.
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Recipe Highlights
TASTE: Buttery, tangy and packed with juicy fruit
WHAT'S SPECIAL: The TikTok-famous flavour combo nobody's actually written down properly. Until now
SEB'S RATING: Went unusually quiet for a full minute. Recipe testing rarely gets a better review than that
PERSONAL NOTE: Baked entirely from raspberries, our neglected garden grew out of spite
Why This One Breaks My Own Rule
Most of my sourdough discard cakes are made with oil, not butter. I like how oil keeps a loaf light and spongy, and how it stays fresh for days longer than a butter-based crumb does. But this one needed butter.
I can't fully explain it beyond gut feeling: creaming butter and sugar together gives this cake a denser, pound-cake style crumb, one that can actually carry the weight of the raspberries and white chocolate rather than being overwhelmed by them. It's a genuinely decadent bake, more "summer in the North of France" than "easy Tuesday loaf".
The sourdough discard itself is doing quieter work. At 100% hydration, unfed starter adds a gentle tang that cuts through the sweetness of the white chocolate, while its acidity helps keep the crumb tender even with all that butter in the mix. Use discard that smells pleasantly sharp, not one that's been forgotten at the back of the fridge and grown a layer of hooch on top.
Ingredient Notes
You'll find exact quantities and full instructions in the recipe card, but a few ingredients are worth a proper mention:
- Fresh raspberries. Fresh is the way to go here; frozen berries bleed too much liquid into this particular batter. More on that in the FAQ below.
- White chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate. Chips work fine folded through the batter, since they hold their shape better in the oven. For the glaze, though, a chopped bar melts smoother than chips, which are formulated with stabilisers to resist melting.
- Greek yogurt. Full fat, ideally. It adds moisture and a slight tang that plays well with the discard.
- Granulated and light brown sugar. The combination keeps the crumb from tasting one-note sweet, and the brown sugar adds a little extra moisture and depth.
- Plain flour, with two tablespoons reserved. This isn't padding, it's functional. Tossing the raspberries and white chocolate chips in flour before folding them in is what keeps them suspended in the batter instead of dropping straight to the bottom.
- White chocolate, butter and freeze-dried raspberries (optional, for the glaze). These add a sharp, tart crunch on top without introducing any extra moisture, which fresh raspberries would.
Step-By-Step Method
STEP 1: Mix the batter
1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease a 9×5" (23×13cm) loaf pan and line it with parchment, leaving overhang on the sides to lift the loaf out later.
2. Whisk the flour (minus the 2 tablespoons reserved for the fruit), baking powder and salt together in one bowl.
3. In another, whisk the Greek yogurt, sourdough discard and vanilla until smooth.
4. Using an electric handheld mixer, beat the granulated sugar, brown sugar and softened butter together for a few minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
5. Fold the dry and wet mixtures into the batter in stages, alternating between them, mixing just until combined each time. This staged approach, rather than dumping everything in at once, is what keeps the batter from getting overworked.
STEP 2: Toss and fold in the fruit
6. Toss the raspberries in the reserved flour. Do the same with the white chocolate chips, tossing them in with the last portion of dry mixture before it goes into the batter.
7. Gently fold the floured raspberries in with a rubber spatula, using as few strokes as possible. A little pink marbling is fine and looks intentional; a fully pink batter means you've overmixed. Spread the fruit as evenly as you can rather than letting it clump towards the centre of the tin, since a dense cluster of fruit in the middle is the main cause of a sunken, gummy centre (more on that below).
STEP 3: Bake
8. Transfer the batter to the tin and smooth the top into the corners. Bake for 1 hour 15-25 minutes, until the top is golden, the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs.
9. This is a rich, sugar-heavy batter that browns quickly, so check it at the one-hour mark. If the top is colouring too fast, tent it loosely with foil for the remaining bake time.
10. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then use the parchment overhang to lift the loaf out. Cool it completely on the rack before glazing.
Optional STEP 4: Glaze
11. Melt the white chocolate and butter together gently, either over a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave, stirring between each. Stir in a pinch of salt.
12. Let the glaze thicken slightly for a few minutes until it's still pourable but no longer runny. Pour it over the cooled loaf, letting it drip down the sides, and scatter over freeze-dried raspberries while it's still soft if using. Let the glaze set before slicing.
Recipe Tips
🌡️ Bring everything to room temperature first. Cold butter, eggs or yogurt make it harder for the batter to emulsify properly, and with this much butter in the mix, a split or curdled-looking batter is more likely if anything's fridge-cold.
🍇 Don't overload the middle with fruit. Spreading the raspberries evenly across the tin, rather than piling extra into the centre, is the single biggest factor in avoiding a sunken or gummy middle.
🥶 Let the loaf cool completely before glazing. A glaze poured onto a warm loaf will simply slide straight off instead of setting into a proper coating.
Recipe FAQs
Toss the raspberries, and the white chocolate chips, in the reserved tablespoon of flour before folding them in. The flour coating grips the batter as it bakes, holding the fruit in suspension rather than letting it drop straight to the bottom. Folding gently with a rubber spatula, using as few strokes as possible, also helps, since overworking the batter loosens its structure and gives the fruit less to hold onto.
I'd avoid shop-bought bagged frozen raspberries here; they've usually been frozen for months and release far too much water into the batter as they thaw, leaving you with a soggy, streaky loaf. If your fresh raspberries are on the soft or overripe side, though, popping them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before tossing them in flour firms them up and actually makes them easier to fold in cleanly.
This usually comes down to moisture pooling in the centre of the loaf rather than underbaking. Raspberries release juice as they bake, and if too many end up clustered in the middle of the tin, that liquid weighs the crumb down before it's had a chance to set, even after the outer batter has cooked through. Spread the floured raspberries out evenly rather than piling them centrally, and don't add more fruit than the recipe calls for.
Yes. Active, bubbly starter works just as well as discard in this recipe, since baking powder is doing the heavy lifting for the rise rather than the starter itself. The main difference is flavour: active starter is usually milder and less tangy than discard that's been sitting for a few days, so expect a slightly softer sourdough flavour if you use it.
You can, though I'd treat it as a rough guide rather than a fully tested conversion for this specific batter. For muffins, fill cases two-thirds full and start checking at 20-22 minutes; for mini loaves, start checking at 35-40 minutes. I've developed a dedicated Sourdough Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins recipe, made with oil instead of butter, which stays moist for days and can also be baked as a loaf. Alternatively, try my Raspberry Pistachio Sourdough Muffins. You can also turn them iinto Raspberry White Chocolate Sourdough Cupcakes.
White chocolate is more temperamental than dark or milk chocolate because it contains more cocoa butter and milk solids, so overheating it causes the fat to separate out and look greasy. Melt it gently, either over a double boiler or in short 15-20 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each burst, and stop as soon as it's smooth.
Because this is a quick cake leavened with baking powder rather than a fermented sourdough bread, a poor rise is not about starter activity. It's more likely that the baking powder is out of date, the oven wasn't fully up to temperature when the loaf went in, or the batter was overmixed after the flour was added, which knocks the air back out.
Storage
Store the glazed loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days. The glaze is butter-based rather than cream-based, so it doesn't need refrigeration to stay food-safe, though the fridge will extend how long the cake stays fresh.
To freeze, wrap the loaf tightly without the glaze and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it at room temperature, then make the glaze fresh and pour it over just before serving. Alternatively, wrap individual slices in plastic wrap (cling film) and thaw as needed.
More Sourdough Discard Cakes
If this one's put you in the mood for more discard bakes, my Sourdough Courgette Loaf Cake is another loaf-tin favourite, and the Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Cake follows a similar berries-and-discard formula if you want to compare notes. For more chocolate, Sourdough Blondies are packed with white chocolate and pecans.
And if you want a proper deep dive into what discard actually does for a bake, my Sourdough Desserts round-up has over 20 discard recipes to work through.
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Sourdough Discard Raspberry White Chocolate Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 50 g (¼ cup, packed) light brown sugar
- 180 g (¾ cup (12 tbsp)) unsalted butter softened
- 4 eggs medium, at room temperature
- 280 g (2½ cups) plain flour a.k.a. all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoon extra for tossing the raspberries and chocolate chips
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 120 g (½ cup) Greek yogurt ideally, full fat
- 100 g (½ cup (ish)) sourdough discard 100% hydration
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, optional
- 125 g (1 cup) fresh raspberries
- 75 g (½ cup) white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease a 9×5" - 23x13cm (2 lbs) loaf pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches of overhang on the sides for easy lifting later.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour (minus the 1 tablespoon reserved for the raspberries and chocolate chips), baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl or jug, whisk the Greek yogurt, sourdough discard and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
- In a separate bowl, using an electric handheld mixer, beat the granulated sugar, light brown sugar and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until light, fluffy and pale in colour.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition until fully incorporated.
- Toss the raspberries in the reserved tablespoon of flour. This little step is what stops them sinking straight to the bottom of the cake.
- To avoid overmixing, fold the dry and wet mixtures into the batter in stages:
- ⅓ flour mixture → mix½ yogurt/discard mixture → mix½ remaining flour → mixremaining yogurt/discard mixture → mixremaining flour + chocolate chips (note 1) → mix
- Mix just until combined each time.
- Very gently fold in the floured raspberries with a rubber spatula, using as few strokes as possible. A little pink marbling is fine and looks intentional; a fully pink batter means you've gone too far.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top into the corners.
- Bake for 1 hour 15-25 minutes, or until the top is golden, the edges are just pulling away from the sides of the pan, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs. Check the loaf after an hour (note 2); if the top is browning too quickly, tent it loosely with foil.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then use the parchment overhang to lift the cake out and cool it completely on the rack before glazing.
Optional White Chocolate Glaze:
- For the glaze, melt 50g white chocolate and 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter together gently, either over a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave, stirring between each. Stir in a pinch of salt. Let the glaze cool for a few minutes until it thickens slightly but is still pourable, then pour it over the top of the cooled cake, letting it drip down the sides. You may add some chocolate chips, candied citrus or freeze-dried raspberries whilst the glaze is still soft. Let it set before slicing (note 3).
Notes
- Add the chocolate chips to the last of the flour and toss everything together before folding them into the batter. A flour coating on the chocolate chips prevents them from sinking to the bottom. You may also reserve a handful of chocolate chips to add to the top of the cake.
- This is a rich, sugar-heavy batter and browns quickly. Don't skip checking it at the one-hour mark.
- The glaze is butter-based rather than cream-based, so the cake doesn't need refrigerating once glazed. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
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