Raspberry Lemon Cake

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Layers of tender, moist lemon cake held together with a lemon cream cheese frosting and tart raspberry jam = heaven. This raspberry lemon cake is sweet, tart, tangy, and perfect for any occasion.

Raspberry Lemon Layer Cake

This raspberry lemon cake recipe is the type of dessert that you bring to a party and makes you proud. Every single person will ask you for the recipe and it will be the first thing to be inhaled at the dessert table. At least that was my experience when I brought this to a birthday party a few months ago. The combination of tender lemon cake layers, lemon cream cheese frosting and sweet raspberry jam makes every bite delicious.

What is a raspberry lemon layer cake?

When we were dreaming up this recipe we debated raspberries in the batter, a raspberry cake and lemon filling, a lemon cake and raspberry frosting…the raspberry-lemon flavor combination allows for many different interpretations. But we landed on a lemon cake, lemon cream cheese frosting and raspberry jam between the layers. You get all the flavors of lemon and raspberry in every bite with the least amount of effort and fuss.

Looking for a one layer cake? Try our olive oil cake with 2 tablespoons of lemon zest, 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and fold raspberries into the batter!

Tips for making homemade layer cakes

Making multilayered confections at home can be daunting, but I promise you can do it! Once you get the hang of it it will be a breeze and you’ll be cranking out birthday and celebration cakes in no time!

Freeze the cake layers ahead of time: If your timeline allows for it, I like to freeze the cakes ahead of time. It makes assembling the cakes so easy because they’ll be super sturdy. Just be sure to let the cakes cool completely before wrapping in plastic wrap and freezing until ready to use.
If you don’t freeze the layers, the must be COMPLETELY cool: If you’re not able to freeze the layers ahead of time that’s totally fine, but the cake layers but totally cool or your frosting will melt and you’ll be left with a big mess. A delicious mess, of course, but not ideal.
Pipe a border around each layer so the jam doesn’t squeeze out: Piping a border around each layer will make a nice dam to lock in all that good jam in the center.

How to store this raspberry lemon cake

With cream cheese frosting I don’t like to mess around. If you make this cake ahead of time store it in the fridge until about an hour before you’re ready to serve. When ready to serve top it with the fresh raspberries and let it sit on the counter to come back to room temperature and soften up for about an hour!

This cake always goes fast, but when you’re serving a smaller crowd you can have some leftovers. I like to store leftovers covered tightly in the fridge to keep the cakes as fresh as long as possible.

Easy variations to switch up this cake

I love layer cakes because you can do some mix and matching with frostings and fillings to change them up into different flavor combos. Some of my favorite variations for this cake are:

Lemon Blueberry: More of a blueberry fan? No problem. Swap out the raspberry jam for blueberry and top the cake with fresh blueberries instead of raspberries!
Raspberry Almond: Omit the lemon zest and juice and swap out the lemon extract for almond in both the cake and frosting!
Strawberry Lemon: Substitute the raspberry jam with strawberry jam and top the cake with macerated strawberry slices.

raspberry lemon cake with raspberries on top

Happy eating this raspberry lemon cake. Heh.

XXX

Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 16 servings
Category: dessert
Method: oven
Cuisine: american

Units:

Ingredients

For the lemon cake

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon zest (about 1 lemon worth of zest)
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For the lemon cream cheese frosting

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1–2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
2/3 cup raspberry jam
fresh raspberries, for topping (optional)

Instructions

First, make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of three 8-inch round cake pans* with parchment paper and grease the sides. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the softened butter and oil on low speed until combined. Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
While the butter and oil are beating place the granulated sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and rub the lemon zest into the sugar until it is fragrant.
With the mixer running, slowly pour in the granulated sugar and continue to beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is light, fluffy, and turns a pale yellow color, about 2 minutes.
Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the eggs, vanilla, and lemon extract. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a third bowl, combine the milk and lemon juice. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding in the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in 3 additions (you’ll add half the dry, then all of the wet, then the other half of the dry).
Divide the cake batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake until the cake has risen, the top springs back to the touch, and a butter knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Place the cake pans on a cooling rack and allow them to cool before removing from the pans and letting them cool completely before assembling.
Once the cakes are cool, make the frosting. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the milk, vanilla, lemon, salt and lemon zest. Beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed, until the frosting is fluffy, about 1 minute. Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag to make frosting easier!
Place the first cake layer onto a cake stand or plate. Pipe a circle of frosting around the outer edge of the top of the cake. In a random pattern, pipe frosting into middle of cake, then smooth out middle of frosting with a spatula, keeping the edge/outer rim of the frosting intact. (Basically you’re making a super shallow divot for the jam). Fill the inner divot with 1/3 cup of the raspberry jam, spreading it into an even layer. Repeat with the second layer of the cake. For the third layer, frost the top of cake normally, then frost the outside with remaining frosting. If desired, top with the cake with a dollop of raspberry jam, fresh raspberries and lemon zest. Cut in and enjoy!