This bright and vibrant lemon raspberry cake is made of layers of lemon cake, lemon curd, and fresh raspberry buttercream.
How was everyone’s Mother’s Day a few weeks ago? Mine was good and relaxing. I ended up making my own brunch, but I did almost all of the work the day before. I made an overnight French toast, a spinach and mushroom crustless quiche, and this cake.
I had this cake recipe saved on my phone for a long time. Finally, I made the time to bake it, and I am kicking myself for waiting so long. In order to save myself some time on the day of baking/assembling, I made the lemon curd a day in advance and just let it hang out in the refrigerator. I also pre-mixed my dry ingredients the night before so I wouldn’t have to worry about it the next day.
The cake was easy to bake and came out of the oven beautifully. Luckily, my cakes did not dome up in the middle, so I did not need to shave the centers down. The hardest part for me was making the raspberry puree! My blender did not want to crush the raspberries as finely as I wanted to, so I had to start and re-start the puree process a few times. Other than that though, I had no problems.
The cake assembly was a breeze, and it was probably one of the best cakes I have ever made. You all know that I’m a chocolate girl, but this is definitely up there. In fact, I gave this 5 out of 5 stars.
I gave some cake to my pairs partner, and he and his wife enjoyed it so much that he wanted some more! (I happily obliged) My skating bestie wanted to swing by and grab some before her vacation but wasn’t able to. She told me to please freeze a few slices for her so she could eat them when she returned. That, my friends, is how popular this cake is.
I HIGHLY recommend this cake and hope that you make it soon!
Husband’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 5 out of 5
Lemon raspberry cake
Ingredients
Lemon curd
- 6 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 6 large egg yolks
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Lemon cake
- 2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 and ½ Tablespoons lemon zest
- 6 large egg whites
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ cup water
Raspberry buttercream
- 2 and ¼ cups (9 ounces) raspberries I used a 6 ounce container
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 10-12 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons water or milk
Instructions
Make the lemon curd (can be made up to 1-2 days in advance)
- In a double boiler, heat up all of the ingredients and constantly stir until mixture thickens to the consistency of pudding.
- Transfer to a container, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and line three 8" round baking pans and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the vanilla, sour cream, and lemon zest until well combined.
- Then add the egg whites in two separate batches, making sure each addition is fully incorporated.
- Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add half of the dry ingredients.
- In a small measuring cup, combine the milk and water together. Pour this into the mixing bowl and mix well. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until everything is well combined.
- Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared baking pans.
- Bake the cakes in your preheated oven for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. The center should not be jiggly.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
Make the raspberry buttercream
- Puree the raspberries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
- Put a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the puree into the strainer so that you separate the liquid from the pulp. You should end up with almost ½ cup of liquid. We don't need the pulp, so feel free to save it for something else or discard/compost it.
- In the bowl of a clean stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in half of the powdered sugar.
- With the mixer still running on low speed, slowly pour in the raspberry liquid and mix well. Add more powdered sugar until you get your desired frosting consistency. If desired, add 1-2 Tablespoons of milk or water.
Assemble the cake
- If any of your cakes have domed, I'd recommend shaving the bumpy part off with a serrated knife. Save the scraps and eat them as a snack for later.
- Place one cake layer (flat side down) on a cake plate, cake stand, or other serving plate.
- Top with about ¾ cup of frosting, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Using a piping bag, pipe a ring of raspberry frosting near the circumference of the cake. You're creating a "wall" or "dam" for the lemon curd.
- Fill the inside of your "wall" with half of the lemon curd and make sure to smooth out the top.
- Top with another layer of cake. Then top with frosting, make another frosting "wall" and fill with the remaining lemon curd.
- Add the final cake layer, flat side facing up.
- Frost the top and sides with a thin layer of frosting. Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or so to allow the frosting to set. Then finish frosting the tops and sides of the cake and decorate as desired. I piped some scalloped edges and swirly flowers and topped with fresh raspberries and edible pearls.
- Store the cake in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to serve.
Five stars cuz six aren’t available. This thing is the bomb! I don’t know how well it lasts in the refrigerator, because it never saw the inside of one. 😋
Author
So glad you enjoyed it!