Lemon Raspberry Cake is a vibrant bakery-style dessert with bright citrus notes and a tangy indulgent finish. Perfect for spring celebrations!
This recipe brings together bright seasonal flavors of Lemon Cake and fresh berries in a show-stopping, bakery-style Dessert that’s as beautiful as it is delicious.
Sabrina’s Lemon Raspberry Cake Recipe
Lemon Raspberry Cake is a refreshing and delightful dessert full of the bright flavors of summer. With its fluffy and moist cake dotted with plump fresh berries and tangy lemon cream cheese frosting, this is one of the most stunning and amazing layer cakes. Whether you’re baking for a special occasion or just want a treat that combines bright lemon and tart raspberry, this Raspberry Lemon Cake recipe is sure to satisfy.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Lemon Layer Cake:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk , room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces raspberries
- 1 tablespoon flour
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 24 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 1/2 cups powdered sugar , about 2 pounds
Instructions
Lemon Layer Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour two 8 inch cake pans.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then set aside.
- To your stand mixer add the butter and sugar and beat them together until light and fluffy on medium speed, 2-3 minutes, then add in the eggs one at a time 15 seconds apart along with the vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice, then lower the speed to low. Add the flour mixture and milk, alternating a little of each at a time.
- Toss the raspberries gently in the 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Fold raspberries gently into batter. Note: Save 10-12 raspberries for garnishing your cake.
- Pour into the cake pans evenly and baked for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool cakes completely before frosting. (See Note)
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Add the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla to a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until smooth and incorporated.
To Finish:
- To your cake stand add a spoonful of frosting.
- Level the cakes with a large serrated knife and discard the cake pieces.
- Brush off excess crumbs.
- Add the first layer of the cake to the cake stand.
- Top with 1 cup of frosting, spread evenly.
- Top with second layer of cake.
- Add 1 cup of frosting to the top of the cake and spread evenly.
- Add 1 cup of frosting, coating the outside of the cake.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow to harden.
- Frost the cake with half the remaining frosting.
- Pipe swirly mounds onto the top of the cake and garnish with lemon and raspberries.
Notes
Nutrition
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Table of contents
Chef’s Note: Sinking Raspberries
Have you ever cut into your beautiful cake only find that your fruit has all sunken down to the bottom? Raspberries can sink in cakes because they are heavier than the batter and release moisture during baking, causing them to sink to the bottom. This is why if you toss the berries in flour before adding them to cake batter, the flour will absorb some of the juices and they don’t sink as much. If fresh berries aren’t available and you’re using frozen berries, be sure to thaw them completely and pat them dry with paper towels before tossing them in flour and folding them into the batter.
Can this be made ahead of time?
You can easily make this Lemon Raspberry Cake ahead of time. Bake the cake layers and make the frosting up to 2 days in advance. Store the cake layers in an airtight container at room temperature, and store the frosting in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to assemble the cake, let the frosting come to room temperature and re-whip it so it’s fluffy before using.
How to Store
- Serve: Refrigerate frosted cakes because of the cream cheese, but keep unfrosted ones at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Store: To store Lemon Raspberry Cake, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: If you want to freeze the cake, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before placing it in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw the cake, remove it from the freezer and let it sit at room temperature for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
Variations
- Filling: Instead of just frosting in the center, add other fillings like raspberry jam, Lemon Curd, or white chocolate pudding. If you are using creamy filling, first pipe a thick layer of frosting in an outline around the top edge of the bottom layer of cake then fill in the center with the creamy filling so it doesn’t leak when you add the top layer of cake.
- Strawberry Lemonade Cake: The combination of lemon and strawberry is always delicious together so you can easily turn this into a strawberry lemonade flavor. Use fresh or frozen berries for the cake batter and use Strawberry Topping for the filling layer.
- Coconut Lemon Raspberry Cake: Swap full fat coconut milk for the whole milk in the cake batter and substitute cream of coconut for the sour cream in the frosting. Add 1 teaspoon coconut extract to both the cake batter and the lemon frosting for stronger coconut flavor and top the cake with toasted coconut shreds along with the lemon slices and whole raspberries.
- Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes: If you prefer individual servings, you can make this recipe into cupcakes instead of a cake. Simply divide the batter between 24 cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes. Once cooled, frost the cupcakes with the lemon cream cheese frosting and top with a fresh raspberry and thin lemon slice for decoration.
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