Lemon Raspberry Cake
This lemon raspberry cake has a moist lemon cake with a raspberry filling, and frosted with zesty lemon buttercream frosting. It's the perfect dessert for any celebration!
Servings: 10 slices
Ingredients
Raspberry Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cups fresh raspberries
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
Lemon Cake
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
Lemon Frosting
- 2 cup butter room temperature
- 8 cups powdered sugar divided
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
Raspberry Filling
- In a medium saucepan, add in the sugar and cornstarch. Stir until combined.
- Add in the raspberries, lemon juice, and water. Stir until the raspberries are coated with the sugar.
- Place over medium heat and allow the mixture to come up to a boil. Set the timer for 4 minutes as soon as you see the first bubble and stir constantly as it boils.
- Once it's thickened and the 4 minutes are up, remove from the heat.
- To strain the seeds out once the mixture is finished boiling, pour half of the sauce into a fine-mesh strainer that's sitting on top of a bowl. Gently press the sauce through the strainer with a spatula until all that's left in the strainer are the seeds. Remove the seeds and work on the other half of the sauce.
- Once strained, place a piece of plastic wrap on the sauce so it's just touching the top and place in the fridge until chilled and set up about 4 hours. I allowed mine to set up overnight.
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spray two 8 inch cake pans with nonstick baking spray. Place a parchment circle in the bottom of each pan and add about 1 tablespoon of flour to dust the sides of the pan. Gently tap the pan and turning it while it's on its side to coat the sides of the pan. Tap out any excess flour.
- Add the butter, sugar, and lemon zest to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until creamed, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and each egg one at a time. Beat in the first egg just until combined, before adding the next. Repeat until all of the eggs are incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the bowl of wet ingredients, adding the dry ingredients in 3 increments and buttermilk in 2 increments. Beat in each addition before adding the next and scraping down the bowl afterward.
- Divide the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans. If you have bake even strips available, dampen and line the outsides of the pans with them for a flat top.
- Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 10 to 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely. The tops are slightly sticky so I recommend cooling it bottom side up.
Frosting
- Add the butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a large mixing bowl. Beat with the hand mixer on medium until the powdered sugar is worked into the butter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add in the remaining 4 cups of powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy. If the frosting is too thick, beat in 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until it's the desired consistency.
Assemble the Cake
- Using a cake leveler or cake knife, cut the two cakes in half so there are 4 layers.
- Add one-third of the frosting to a piping bag fitted with the Wilton 1M piping tip.
- Place the first layer of cake on the cake plate cut side down.
- Pipe a ring of frosting around the inside edge of the layer of cake.
- Fill the layer with a little less than 1/2 cup of raspberry sauce. Spread it out evenly using an angled spatula until it touches the frosting.
- Repeat adding layers of cake, cut side down, piping rings of frosting, and filling with raspberry sauce until you add the last layer of cake on top.
- Add a big scoop of frosting on top of the layered cake. Make sure it's more than you think is needed to frosting the top so it gets pushed over the edges of the cake.
- Using a large angled spatula, begin spreading the frosting out. If you're finding the cake is moving a lot, I use my thumb and index to hold the layer on the opposite side of where my angled spatula is and move the spatula towards my thumb and index finger.
- Once the frosting is smoothed out, add frosting to the sides of the cake and begin smoothing it out evenly.
- For a smoother finish, dip the angled spatula in hot water. Wipe off the water and slowly move it straight up and down along the frosting. Repeat every time you pull the spatula area from the frosting.
- Pipe swirls of frosting on top of the cake with the remaining frosting in the piping bag. You can add more frosting if needed.
Notes
Storage: Store in an airtight cake container in the fridge for up to 4 to 5 days.