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Lemon Raspberry Cake
A light and fluffy lemon cake with fresh raspberries and a fresh lemon cream cheese frosting. A sweet and tangy lemon berry cake!
It’s my husband’s birthday and we make a big deal about birthdays in our home. It all starts with the cake. They get to choose any flavor of cake they can dream up in their head. I have shared some of the unique requests in my days! Dean loves this lemon raspberry cake but also goes crazy for my Love at First Sight Chocolate Cake. You can’t get much different than lemon and chocolate though so he is quite conflicted.
I can vouch for this cake and tell you with 100% surety that you will fall in love with it. This lemon berry cake is always a slam dunk and gets rave reviews! It is made with fresh lemon juice and fresh raspberries which I think makes a big difference. You can tell a difference when using freshly squeezed lemon juice and zest and when you get it from the bottle.
I have shared before how my sister-in-law owns a cake business and we share the same philosophy. The number one priority when making a homemade cake is that it needs to taste good. Sometimes cakes can look so pretty and be perfectly polished but no one wants to eat the frosting and the cake is barely edible. I am all about the balance! This Lemon Raspberry Cake is a beautiful homemade cake that also tastes amazing!
I have made a few cakes in my days and after much experimentation, I have found that oil works like a charm for creating a tender, moist cake. I also love to use buttermilk to create the perfect texture. You can also use whole milk with a touch of vinegar in a pinch. Fresh lemon juice and zest is a must in this cake! It is what brightens it and gives it the punch of fresh flavor.
How to make the Best Lemon Raspberry Cake:
- In a large mixing bowl, add canola oil, eggs, buttermilk, fresh lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix for 2 minutes. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make homemade buttermilk by mixing whole milk and 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar. Let stand for at least 10-15 minutes to let it curdle before adding it to the mixture.
- Add sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Don’t overmix the cake batter. Once you add the flour, if you overmix, it will result in a tougher cake. In a small bowl, toss fresh raspberries with a touch of flour to make sure the raspberries don’t sink to the bottom of the cake. Carefully fold in the raspberries to the batter.
- Prepare baking pans. I prefer to use three 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans. This way you get more filling and the cakes bake faster since they are thinner. You can use parchment paper rounds and also spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake until toothpick comes out clean in the center. Always set the timer for the lowest suggested baking time and check your cake layers. You can always add more time but there’s no really salvaging an over baked cake.
- To make the frosting, make sure the butter and cream cheese is softened and at room temperature. This will help to ensure the frosting is completely smooth.
- Garnish with fresh raspberries and lemon slices.
More favorite Modern Honey cake recipes:
- Key Lime Cake
Vanilla Cake
- LEMON Olive Oil Cake
- VANILLA Cupcakes
- YELLOW Cake with Chocolate Frosting
- Love at First Sight CHOCOLATE Cake
- Chocolate RASPBERRY Cake
- COCONUT Cake
- RED VELVET Cake
- Jeff’s Best BANANA Cake
- Southern CARAMEL Cake
- BERRY Chantilly Cream Cake
My favorite cake baking essentials:
USA 8-inch cake pans
USA 9-inch cake pans
Icing Angled Spatula
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Lemon Raspberry Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Canola Oil (or vegetable or olive oil)
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 1/3 cup Buttermilk
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Zest
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 cups Flour (plus 2 Tablespoons more for the raspberries)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 cups Fresh Raspberries (plus more for garnish)
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
- (1) 8-ounce pkg. Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Zest
Garnish:
- 1 cup Fresh Raspberries
- Lemon Slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add oil, eggs, buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cream for 2 minutes.
- In large bowl, add sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into egg mixture and fold.
- In a small bowl, carefully toss raspberries with 2 Tablespoons of flour to coat them. This helps to keep the raspberries from sinking to the bottom. Fold into the batter.
- Spray three 8-inch or three 9-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. You can also use two 9-inch pans but the baking time will be longer. Place batter into baking pans. If using three 8-inch pans, bake for 20-26 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. If using three 9-inch pans, bake for 19-23 minutes. If using two 9-inch pans, bake for 30-36 minutes. Cool.
To make Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl often. Add powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest and cream together. Chill.
To assemble cake:
- Remove cakes from pan. Spread frosting on top of one cooled cake layer. Place other cooled cake layer on top and spread frosting all over. Garnish with fresh raspberries and lemon slices.Optional: Let chill for 20-30 minutes to let the frosting set up.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How would this be modified for a sheet cake? I’ve been asked to make this for a wedding!
I doubled the recipe and made one in a 9×13 and one in 7×11. I wanted to make rectangle cakes, one for us and one for a familt birthday. I just made all the batter together and then fill the pans until they were about 2/3 full each. The smaller pan baked for about 40-50 minutes before it was cooked through and the toothpick came out clean. The 9×13 took 50-60 minutes until done. Then I just cut each in half and stacked them. The only adjust that I could see being needed is to make more icing than called for. I had already made enough for doubling the recipe, but with the rectangle shape I needed more if I wanted a completely covered cake with a thicker layer of icing. However, with just doubling the recipe I had enough to do a that rustic looking icing which I like because it showed some of the berries I’m the cake. Overall it turned out great!
Sorry I’m from UK. Is the flour plain or self-raising please? Thank you
This is my favorite cake recipe. It tastes fantastic & I was actually able to make it look beautiful as well. Thank you.
Has anyone tried this recipe in a 9×13 pan? Is so, what adjustments have to be made?
This looks and sounds wonderful! Will it work with frozen berries I would thaw them and pat them as dry as I can.
I want to make this, but fresh raspberries are hard time find, or they are too overripe to use. How does frozen berries work? I will work on getting fresh but I need to make the cake tomorrow. Should I try to defrost them or use them frozen?
I did try it with Frozen berries. The cupcakes took allot longer to bake, in total about 20, compared to my normal 12 minutes but they were delicious. Like really good. The raspberries fell to the bottom but that’s because they were partially still frozen. The 6″ cakes came out nice but also took allot longer to cook, like an extra 10 minutes or so. It tastes nice but it was overcooked on the outside but still mind of moist on the inside. They were also way better the next day. I wanted to use fresh but all the stores were either sold out or way too ripe for me to use. I am trying again Fri, and praying the store will have fresh raspberries. Still a great recipe and maybe if you use frozen try to fully thaw before using. I just didn’t have time to wait.
I only have one 8 inch one nine inch and one I believe 10 inch round cake pans.. and I really want to make this cake. my question is if I use the 10 inch pan will all the batter fit into it so I can just cut it in half and still have the two layers? Or should I cook them one at a time in the nine inch pan and hope the batter sitting won’t cause it to be more dense that the first layer of cake? Or should I do a tiered cake using the 8 and nine inch pans?
Hi Cheyenne! I would suggest doing one 8-inch and one 9-inch cake layer. Then you can stack them and do a tiered cake. I hope you love it!
I give this recipe a well deserved 5 out of 5. First of all this cake is deliciously moist. Secondly, when you take a bite you get the different layers and textures. And lastly , the raspberries pair so nicely with the cake and frosting. If your looking for a sweet, sure to please cake, this is it. Last night my husband told me that this was the best cake he had ever had, and I have baked him many cakes over the years.
Great recipe! Can you substitute strawberries instead of raspberries for the recipe?