Lemon Raspberry Cake

Serves 12

40 mins prep

20 mins cook

60 mins total

This lemon raspberry cake is moist, fluffy, filled with a creamy, tangy raspberry curd, and frosted with a lemon raspberry cream cheese frosting. It's packed full of lemon and raspberry flavors, and is the perfect refreshing cake! The raspberry curd is so easy to make and is really the star. It's tangy, has so much raspberry flavor, and has a smooth, buttery texture.

You'll need 4 ½ cups of raspberries plus a few extra for decorating. That's about 550g or 18.5 oz by weight.

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Raspberry Curd Filling

In a medium saucepan, combine eggs, yolks, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine and add raspberries and lemon juice (grated lemon zest optional for more zesty lemon flavor). Stir.
⅓ large egg yolks
⅓ whole eggs
⅕ cup granulated sugar
⅕ teaspoon sea salt
½ cups raspberries
⅕ lemon
Heat on medium low, stirring constantly to prevent it from burning. The mixture will start to simmer and thicken, keep stirring or whisking frequently.
Once thickened, let it simmer for a few minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and strain it through a metal strainer into a clean, non-metal container. Use a spoon or whisk to help push it through the strainer. This will remove the seeds and create a smooth curd.
Add butter into the strained curd and stir until melted and smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap right over the curd’s surface and refrigerate until chilled. It will thicken more as it chills.
⅕ cup unsalted butter

Cake Layers

Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Grease three 8” round baking pans with a cold bit of butter or cooking spray. Line the bottoms with a round of parchment paper.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine sugar and grated lemon zest. Rub the mixture together using your fingers until fragrant and the sugar starts to look damp.
⅕ lemon
¼ cup granulated sugar
Add butter, oil, and salt into the lemon sugar mixture. Beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl halfway. This will take a minute or two.
⅕ cup unsalted butter
⅕ cup vegetable oil
⅕ teaspoon sea salt
Add room temperature eggs one at a time, beating well to combine in between and scraping down the bowl. Add vanilla, sour cream, lemon juice, and zest. Beat well to combine.
⅔ large eggs
⅕ cup sour cream
⅕ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
½ tablespoons lemon juice
Sift half of the flour, all of the baking powder, and all the baking soda into the same bowl. Fold until mostly incorporated. Add the buttermilk and sift in the rest of the flour. Fold just until no more dry streaks of flour remain.
⅗ cup all purpose flour
⅕ teaspoon baking soda
⅕ tablespoon baking powder
⅕ cup buttermilk
In a separate bowl, combine raspberries and flour. If using frozen raspberries, do not thaw. Mix to coat and add the raspberries into the batter. Don’t add any dry bits of flour at the bottom of the raspberry bowl into the batter.
¼ cups raspberries
⅕ tablespoon all purpose flour
Divide evenly into lined baking tins. Use an ice cream scoop or scale to divide evenly. Smooth out the tops and bake. If they don’t all fit in the oven you can place one of the cake layers in the fridge until the others finish baking.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Check if they’re ready with a toothpick - it should come out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached. Let cake layers cool for 5 minutes in their pans before running a knife along the outside of the cake to help release and flipping upside down on a cooling rack. Let cool completely.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Smash raspberries with a spoon and push through a sieve to remove seeds. Set the seedless puree aside.
⅕ cup raspberries
Start off with softened butter, making sure that it isn’t too soft. You should be able to make an indent on the butter with your finger without getting a greasy residue all over it.
¼ cups unsalted butter
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter and salt until light and fluffy. Add sifted powdered sugar, half a cup at a time. Beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl frequently. Beat until it becomes very light in color and fluffy. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
⅕ teaspoon sea salt
1 cups powdered sugar
Add cream cheese, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the prepared seedless raspberry puree and lemon juice, and beat well.
⅔ oz cream cheese
⅕ teaspoon lemon juice
Using a spatula, fold the frosting to remove any large air pockets and bubbles before frosting. This makes a smoother frosting.

Assembly

Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip (or just the end cut off) with the frosting. You can also use a resealable plastic food bag with the end cut off.
On a cake board or serving plate, place a small dollop of frosting. Place the first cake layer down. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top and pipe a thick border of frosting. The thicker the border, the more insurance you will have that the filling won’t leak through the sides.
Fill the middle with about ¼ cup of raspberry curd, spreading it out to the frosting border. Don’t add too much filling or the cake will slide around. Add the next cake layer and repeat the process.
Add the third, top layer of cake. Pop the cake into the freezer for 10 minutes so the frosting sets and the cake is more stable.
Cover the top and sides with frosting. Make sure you leave some frosting to pipe on top. Smooth the sides down with a metal spatula or cake scraper.
Pipe the remaining frosting into a border on top of the cake. Fill the middle of the cake with some more raspberry curd. Decorate with fresh lemon slices and raspberries. Enjoy!
⅕ lemon
raspberries