This perfectly moist lemon raspberry cake is absolutely delectable! Incredibly soft lemon cakes are layered with a zesty lemon buttercream frosting and fresh juicy raspberries. Each bite of this scrumptious lemon raspberry cake is packed with the sweet and tart flavor of lemons and raspberries!
Easy Lemon Cake Recipe
Requiring ingredients that are mostly likely already in your pantry, this lemon cake is not only delicious but also a breeze to make. Here is what you will need to make recipe:
Key Ingredients
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Milk
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Unsalted Butter
- Neutral Flavored Oil
- Vanilla Extract
- Lemon Zest
Tips For Making Easy Lemon Cake
- Room Temperature Ingredients – to ensure that cake batter comes together smoothly without any lumps, all ingredients, specifically the refrigerated ingredients i.e. eggs, butter and milk, should be brought to room temperature before using. Starting off with room temperature ingredients will also help against over mixing cake batter.
- Properly Measured Ingredients – taking the time to measure out the ingredients correctly will result in a cake that is light with a delicate soft texture. For dry ingredients, in particular, the flour, I recommend using the spoon and level as opposed to the scoop and level measuring method. Spooning helps to break up the flour so that it is less compact which in turn helps in ensuring that the accurate amount of flour is being measured.
- Incorporate Lemon Zest Into Sugar – adequately mixing the lemon zest into the sugar before it is creamed with butter and oil helps in releasing the natural flavor from the lemon zest. To make lemon sugar, use your fingertips to massage the lemon zest into sugar until sugar becomes aromatic with the scent of lemons. Alternatively, a fork may be used to blend lemon zest into sugar.
- Avoid Overmixing Batter – over mixing cake batter is never a good idea as it will result in a cake that is dense and dry. The reason for this is that wheat based flour naturally has gluten in it and the more the gluten is worked, the more it develops resulting in a denser bake. Essentially, the goal here is to mix the cake ingredients together just until a smooth, lump free batter is achieved.
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
This lemon buttercream frosting is packed with the zesty flavor of fresh lemons as both the zest and juice of lemons are used in recipe. Here is what you will need to make frosting:
Key Ingredients
- Confectioners’ (Powdered) Sugar
- Unsalted Butter
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest
Lemon buttercream frosting comes together quite easily as the lemon zest and butter are creamed together until combined. Next, the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice are mixed into creamed butter until a smooth buttercream frosting is achieved.
How to Make Easy Lemon Raspberry Cake (Assembly)
- Transfer half of the lemon buttercream frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a round piping tip. I used a 1A (Wilton) piping tip.
- Place the first layer of cake in the center of the serving platter.
- Pipe a small dollop of frosting along the outer perimeter of the cake leaving roughly a 1/4 inch gap between each dollop. Repeat until you can no longer pipe a full circle of frosting.
- Fill the gaps between piped frosting with fresh raspberries.
- Place the second cake layer on top of piped frosting and raspberries.
- Spoon remaining frosting on top of cake and spread into an even layer.
- Top frosting with fresh raspberries and herbs like thyme, mint or rosemary (optional).
How to Store Lemon Raspberry Cake
- Baked unfrosted cakes individually wrapped in plastic wrap will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator and 1-3 months in the freezer. When ready to use frozen cake, thaw out overnight in the refrigerator to restore soft texture.
- Lemon buttercream frosting stored in an airtight container will last up to 1 week in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer. When ready to use frozen/refrigerated buttercream, simply thaw out at room temperature until soft enough to re-whip to smooth, fluffy consistency.
- Sliced cake layered with buttercream and fresh raspberries stored in an airtight container will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
Looking For More Scrumptious Eats, Check out the Links Below:
If you make this recipe, please make sure to let me know by tagging me @nourishedendeavors on Instagram or by leaving a comment in the comment section down below so I can find out how this recipe turned out for you! If you have any questions, ask away! I would love to answer your questions! Happy baking!
PrintLemon Raspberry Cake
This perfectly moist lemon raspberry cake is absolutely delectable! Incredibly soft lemon cakes are layered with a zesty lemon buttercream frosting and fresh juicy raspberries. Each bite of this scrumptious lemon raspberry cake is packed with the sweet and tart flavor of lemons and raspberries!
- Prep Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 1 Cake 1x
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 1 3/4 Cups (219 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Spooned and Leveled
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
- 3/4 Cup (150 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup (120 ml) Milk of Choice, Room Temperature
- 5 Tablespoons (71 g) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Neutral Flavored Oil i.e. Vegetable Oil
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Zest (1) Large Lemon
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 Cup (113 g) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature, Slightly Firm to Touch
- 1–1 1/4 Cups (110–138 g) Confectioners’ (Powdered) Sugar, Sifted, Divided
- 3–4 Teaspoons (15–20 ml) Fresh Lemon Juice or Milk of Choice
- 1 Heaping Teaspoon Lemon Zest
Assembly
- 8 oz (121 g) Fresh Raspberries, (About 1 Heaping Cup)
- Fresh Herbs i.e.Thyme, Rosemary or Mint (Optional)
Instructions
Lemon Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325F(165C). Grease (2) 6 inch round baking pans and line the base of each pan with 6” parchment paper circle cutouts. Alternatively, lemon cake may be baked as a single layer 8 or 9 inch round cake.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add and whisk to combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Use a fork or fingertips to incorporate lemon zest into sugar until sugar becomes fragrant with the aroma of lemons.
- Fit stand mixer with paddle attachment or use a hand-held mixer to cream the butter, oil and lemon sugar together at medium high speed until mixture appears thick and fluffy in appearance, about 2-3 minutes.
- Mix in the vanilla extract into the creamed butter mixture.
- Beat the eggs into the wet mixture one at a time. The initial egg should be completely mixed into batter before mixing in the next egg.
- Reduce mixer speed to low. In an alternating fashion, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, mix half of the dry ingredient mixture into wet batter, followed by the milk and lemon juice, and ending with the remaining dry ingredient mixture.
- Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides and base of the bowl.
- Resume mixing cake batter at medium speed for an additional 30-60 seconds to help ensure an evenly smooth batter.
- Divide cake batter into prepared baking pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through bake time. Cakes are ready once a toothpick inserted into the center of cakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool in baking pans for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Lemon Buttercream
- In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter and lemon zest at medium high speed until mixture is smooth and fluffy in appearance, about 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar into creamed butter. Gradually increase mixer speed back to medium.
- Once all the sugar has been incorporated into butter, mix 3 teaspoon of the fresh lemon juice into buttercream.
- If buttercream appears to be on the soft side, mix in the remaining 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar until a thick but pipable consistency is reached. If buttercream appears too thick, mix in remaining lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency (thick but pipeable) is reached.
- Increase mixer speed to medium high and mix lemon buttercream for an additional 30-60 seconds. The resulting buttercream should be smooth and fluffy in appearance.
Assembly
- If cakes have a domed top, simply level cakes with a cake lever or serrated knife. This is completely optional if you wanted a leveled as opposed to domed cake.
- Using an offset spatula, spread a small amount of frosting (about 1 teaspoon) in the center of serving platter (i.e. cake stand or large plate). This will help keep the cake in place as it is being piped with frosting and decorated.
- Transfer half of the lemon buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a round piping (pastry) tip. I used a Wilton 1A piping tip.
- Place the first cake layer into the center of prepared serving platter.
- Pipe a small dollop of the lemon buttercream frosting over the surface of cake leaving roughly a 1/4 inch gap between each dollop. I recommend starting along the outer perimeter of the cake and moving inward until you can no longer pipe a full circle of frosting. (See notes if you would rather spread instead of pipe frosting on cake.)
- Fill the gaps between piped dollops of frosting with fresh raspberries. Raspberries should be position upwards with the point top faced up.
- Evenly position the second cake layer on top of the piped frosting and raspberries.
- Spoon remaining frosting on top of the cake and spread out into an even layer using an offset spatula.
- Top cake with remaining raspberries and fresh herbs of choice (optional) before serving. You may not end up using all of the remaining raspberries just enough to top the center of the cake with.
- If making a single layer 8 or 9 inch cake, simply spoon all of the frosting into the center of the cake and use an offset spatula to spread into an even layer. Top frosting with fresh raspberries and herbs of choice (optional) before serving.
Notes
- Lemon raspberry cake is best eaten the day it is prepared. Sliced cake layered with buttercream and raspberries stored in an airtight container will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
- In place of raspberries, fresh strawberries, blueberries or blackberries will work beautifully in cake as well.
- If preferred, instead of piping frosting, spread half of the frosting over the first cake layer and assemble fresh raspberries with the pointed tops facing upwards. Next, place the second cake layer on top of the raspberries. Evenly spread remaining frosting over cake and top with remaining raspberries. Finish with fresh herbs, if using.
- Lemon raspberry cake may be baked as a single layer cake in an 8 or 9 inch round baking pan. To assemble, spread all of the frosting over the top of cake and assemble with fresh raspberries and herbs (optional).
- To make double layered 8 or 9 inch cake, simply double the recipe for lemon raspberry cake.
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Onya
This was amazing!! The frosting, especially, was super lemon-y and since there is no lemon extract, it doesn’t take like chemicals!!
Tiffany C.
This is the third cake of Winnie’s I’ve now made. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.