Moist Lemon Raspberry Cake
Print Pin VideoThis lemon raspberry cake combines tender lemon cake layers (from my 5-star rated lemon cake recipe) with bursts of fresh raspberries throughout. It’s light, moist, and topped with a creamy, not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting—probably one of the best cakes I’ve had!
IMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Lemon Raspberry Cake
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 2½ tsps baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1½ cups (300 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 tbsps lemon zest - see note 1
- 4 large eggs - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (90 g) whole milk - room temperature
- ½ cup (115 g) yogurt - unflavored and unsweetened. Greek yogurt is okay, but regular type preferred.
- ¼ cup (58 g) fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups (250 g) fresh raspberries - Coated in 1½ tbsp of flour. See note 2 if you want to use frozen raspberries.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing/confectioners' sugar.
- 1½ cups (335 g) cream cheese - cold. Use a firm/block type, not the spreadable type.
- 1½ tsps vanilla extract/essence
- 1 tsp lemon juice - must be fresh
Instructions
Lemon Raspberry Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) conventional (see note 3 if using a convection oven with a fan). Grease two 8-inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release) and line the bottoms with parchment paper as well, as this cake tends to stick to the bottom.
- Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix together using a whisk and set aside.
- In a large bowl add butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using a hand or stand mixer on a medium speed, cream together for 3 minutes, until light and creamy.
- Add the eggs one by one, mixing well between each addition.
- Add milk, yogurt and lemon juice. Mix until well combined. The batter may look curdled, but that's okay. Now set your mixer aside, as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add your pre-sifted dry ingredients to the wet mixture and, using a spatula, fold together until just combined. Do not overmix.
- To finish off, toss the raspberries in 1½ tablespoon of flour (this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake layers). Then add the berries to the batter, discarding any leftover flour, and fold them in with a spatula until just combined. Again, try not to overmix.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8-inch cake tins, trying to distribute the raspberries evenly. Bake for 38–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 20 minutes. Then carefully run a thin knife along the edges of the pans and turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cake layers are soft and delicate, so handle them carefully.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- To a large bowl, add unsalted butter. Using an electric mixer (a hand or stand mixer is fine — use the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), cream for a few minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix on medium speed until everything is well combined and smooth. Do not overmix (see note 4).
Assembly
- See the end of the blog post above for assembly instructions, or watch the recipe video for a visual demonstration 🙂
Video
Notes
Note 1. When zesting the lemons, make sure you’re using a fine grater and only grate the top yellow part of the lemon. Don’t grate down to the white part, as it is bitter and we don’t want it in the cake 🙂
Note 2. If using frozen raspberries, do not thaw them. Fold them into the batter at the end, and remember to coat them in flour; otherwise, they may sink to the bottom.
Note 3. If using a convection oven with a fan function, bake at 320°F (160°C), as the fan function bakes food faster.
Note 4. Only mix the frosting until it is smooth. Once it’s smooth, stop mixing, as overmixing can result in a less stable frosting. This happens because the liquid in the cream cheese can break down the icing sugar.
Note 5. If you end up with lumpy frosting, it is most likely due to the cream cheese not mixing in properly. This is more common when using a stand mixer. To fix it, mix on the highest speed. If that doesn’t help, swap the paddle attachment for the whisk attachment and mix on high speed — this should do the trick 🙂 Alternatively, you can whip the cream cheese first until smooth before adding it to the frosting.
Nutrition
Calories: 691kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 434mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 61g | Vitamin A: 1006IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 204mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
Tried this recipe?I love hearing from you! Tag me @cakesbymk.nz on instagram so I can see your amazing creations :)