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
Lemon Raspberry Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Canola Oil (or vegetable or olive oil)
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 ⅓ 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
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ cups Fresh Raspberries (plus more for garnish)
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ½ cup Butter (softened)
- (1) 8-ounce pkg. Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- ½ 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.
Mesha
This recipe is PERFECT!!! The recipe was super easy to follow and I didn’t have to make any changes.
Jessica
I am using 3 8×1.5 inch pans...i have them baking now and its now 10 minutes past the max bake time the recipe says and its still soft in the middle ???? i followed all directions...i did make my own buttermilk which wasnt really thick, not sure if that is the problem?
Chris
Hi, I’m from the Uk. Should I use plain flour or self raising flour?
Eryn
This cake is delicious! I will definitely make it again. I'm not much into sweet frosting, so I reduced the powdered sugar, and increased the butter, cream cheese, and lemon. So tasty! Not too sweet, and oh so moist
Karen Crandall
Isn’t a cup of oil quite a lot
Claudia
Delicious!!! It’s a lot of prep, but worth it. I used 3 eight inch pans and sprayed Pam on them. I waited for them to cool the usual time, but they had to be scraped out of the pans with a spatula. I don’t know if I didn’t bake them long enough, but I baked 24 minutes-the maximum. Next time I’ll line the pans with parchment. I wonder if you can double the batter. The layers are very thin. I’d like to try that next time.
LouLou
You must test cake by sticking a toothpick in center if it comes out clean cake is done. Or if you press it lightly and it pops back up it’s done and edges also pull away from sides of pan. Sounds like you didn’t bake it long enough. Hope this helps next time. Good luck
OzunaSam
Good Morning,
I am a pastry chef and a little trick we use if we don't have parchment paper is spraying the tins good and then coating the inside with flour. Then dump out and pat for excess flour! The come out every time =)
Rikki
I went with this recipe because of my favorite fruit combinations. It’s a lot of prep. I did the three layers but will do two next time. I also let the layers cool for 30 minutes after baking then applied the frosting. However; that didn’t seem to be long enough because the frosting melted so there is now almost nothing in between the layers. In spite of all these issues, the flavors are popping. I plan to make this again with adjustments to get it right. ❣️❣️❣️❣️ This is my go to dessert for sure. Glad I decided on this recipe when looking for a raspberry cake.
Denise
Very little lemon flavor. Really dense. Not horrible. But I won’t make it again
Kerry Silha
It doesn't say if you are supposed to mix the raspberries into the cake batter or just put them on top of the batter before baking.
Jennifer S.
I made this cake for my wonderful momma on Mother’s Day. This cake turned out so good, well the taste was great but my presentation needed some work. Not the recipe fault. I used half AP flour and half cake flour. It was so moist and tender. My mom said my cake would have cost $14 a slice if you ordered it at a restaurant. I highly recommend. I will say I made three 8in cakes and my baking time was much more than the recipe stated, like 15 mins longer. It wasn’t a big deal. I was just a little surprised. Anyways make this cake!!!!
Sandrea
Hi, I was wondering if I could use 2- 8x3 cake pans? Would the cooking time be the same? Also, did you use cake flour for this recipe? Thank you!
Jovita
Very very nice cake! I only had to increase the lemon juice quantity in order to give a little zingy flavour.
I also swapped buttermilk with sour cream and the sponge texture was very light and creamy.
Will be definitely baking this again soon. Thank you
Justine
Love this recipe! Can’t get enough of the lemon cream cheese frosting. YUM. Thank you for your carefully tested cake recipes - I’ve loved every one I’ve tried! (Keeping me occupied during quarantine!)
Debbie
I am 60 years old and have baled for years. I can honestly say this is the best cake I have ever made! It is exceptional I give it 10 stars !!!
PB
This made a delicious cake! I only used 1.5 cups of sugar for the cake and about 1.25 cups of powdered sugar for the icing and it still turned out delicious and perfectly sweet. I also added two more tablespoons of lemon juice to the icing because I wanted it to be nice and lemony. Next time, I think I'd like even more raspberries in the cake. One thing I was unsure about was why the sugar didn't get creamed in with the oil and other wet ingredients. I've just seen that usually the sugar is mixed with the fats before adding in the dry ingredients. Next time, I'll try to do that to see if there's any difference in texture. Nevertheless, very happy with this recipe! Thank you!
Lisa
This cake is exceptional! I am not sure why other commenters left 4 stars. This is one of the best cakes I have ever eaten! I followed the recipe exactly as written and never comment on recipes. This recipe looks very similar to the olive oil cake, I will try that one next. The combination of the sweetness of the cake with the tart lemon zest and raspberries make this a 5 star recipe in my opinion. Also I am not a baker. If you follow the recipe this cake will turn out perfectly. Thank you for exact detailed instructions on all of your recipes. It is greatly appreciated for somebody that isn't really a baker, but I can bake with your recipes!! Make this cake!!
Andrea
Very moist! I made this into cupcakes. The lemon flavor really shines!
The raspberries were a bit watery even though they are fresh. I’m not sure why. Overall an awesome recipe. Thanks so much
Polly
This is seriously the best cake I have ever made!! Everyone went back for seconds!! The cake was light and moist and the lemony cream cheese frosting was perfect!! I can’t wait to make this again!!!)
Kylie
I don’t know why but I made this cake and it tasted like corn? Is this normal
Angela
can i bake this in one pan i do not want to ice it in the middle, how long should i expect to cook it for
thanks
Alicia
Why not butter in the recipe?
Alissa
Because they use oil instead it could be substituted with butter though!
Nivida bagga
OMG!! I can’t explain how delicious this cake came out! My whole family said this was the best ever vanilla cake that I made. Tender but still so moist. It melts in your mouth. The crumb is so easy to handle with. You can’t go wrong with this recipe. I think I will never go back to any other recipe now. And the lemon adds such a nice flavour to it. Just reduced the sugar by around 1/4 cup. It’s a keeper for sure. 10 stars
KL
So, the recipe calls for buttermilk, but in directions it mentions whole milk. Which is it? Thanks.
Jill
I’m wondering the same thing.
Rikki
The whole milk and vinegar is if you don’t have the buttermilk.