This fresh lemon raspberry cake recipe is packed full of lemon flavor and swirled with a fresh raspberry filling throughout the cake. Get a sweet and tangy bite of lemon and raspberry in each mouthful and pair it with homemade raspberry buttercream, cream cheese frosting, or stabilized whipped cream.
The buttermilk in this lemon raspberry layer cake gives it an extra tender crumb. Paired with tart raspberries, it makes the perfect combination for a summer BBQ dessert, Mother's Day cake, or springtime treat!
Table of contents
Ingredients
Lemon: In this tender cake, the lemon flavor is added in 3 ways. Lemon peel from a fresh lemon, lemon extract that enhances the natural lemon flavor, and lemon juice to add some acid and a hint of tartness.
Buttermilk: Buttermilk tenderizes the gluten in the cake flour, which is already soft, creating a melt-in-your-mouth feel with this cake crumb. Learn how to make your own with milk and vinegar, sour cream, or Greek yogurt in my buttermilk substitutes blog post.
Raspberries: Juicy raspberries are a perfect match for lemon flavor, they both enhance each other's natural flavors. A little bit of lemon is added to the berries in the filling to brighten the berry flavor. 
How to Make a Lemon Raspberry Cake
To make this lemon raspberry cake, you'll want to start off by making the raspberry filling first. I like to make it the day ahead and strain out the seeds, but you can leave them in if you prefer. Then make the lemon cake and swirl in the filling, bake it, and then make the buttercream while the cakes are cooling.
Making Raspberry Filling
- Add your raspberries and sugar to a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat.
- Heat your raspberry puree until it begins to bubble. Increase the heat to medium-high heat if needed.
- In a small bowl, combine the water and the ClearJel (or cornstarch) and mix until smooth. Don't just add the ClearJel (or cornstarch) directly to the hot liquid or you'll end up with lumps of thickener in your filling.
- Add your ClearJel mixture (or cornstarch slurry) to the hot liquid and mix for one more minute to thicken the mixture.
- Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest and continue cooking for one more minute until thickened.
- Transfer the mixture to a heat-proof container and cover it with plastic wrap (so that it's touching the surface) and allow it to cool to room temperature or place it into the refrigerator to cool before using it.
Making Lemon Raspberry Cake
- Preheat the oven to 335º F/168º C or 350º F/177º C and prepare three 6-inch cake pans (or two 8-inch pans) with cake goop or another preferred pan spray or parchment paper. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature or slightly warm (eggs, buttermilk, butter).
- Measure out the buttermilk and place 4 ounces in a separate measuring cup.
- Add oil to the 4 ounces of buttermilk and set aside.
- To the remaining buttermilk, add your eggs (lightly whisked to break them up), lemon extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Measure out the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Attach the paddle to the mixer and mix on low speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers) until the dry ingredients are combined. I recommend a stand mixer for this recipe, but you can do this with a large bowl and electric mixer, just mix by texture instead of time.
- Slowly add chunks of softened butter to the flour mixture and mix on medium speed until the batter resembles coarse sand.
- Add the milk/oil mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed (speed 4 on Kitchenaid) for 2 full minutes until it's white and fluffy.
- Scrape the bowl. This is an important step because if you skip it, you will have hard lumps of flour in your batter. If you do it later, they will not mix in fully.
- Slowly add in the rest of your wet ingredients in 3 parts and mix until combined. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl one more time halfway through. Your batter should be thick and not too runny.
- Fill the pans ¾ full and give each a tap to level out the batter and get rid of any air bubbles.
- Add 3 to 4 large dollops of your raspberry filling to the cake batter and use a spoon or knife to swirl it through the batter.
- Bake the cakes for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.
- After the cakes have cooled for 10 minutes, flip them onto cooling racks to cool completely. Or wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them.
How to Make Raspberry Buttercream
- Place the egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed for 3-5 minutes.
- Add the softened butter in small chunks then vanilla and salt. Whip on high until light and fluffy and white, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Set aside 2 cups of vanilla buttercream if you want to do the ombre design. Add a drop of yellow food color to give it a slight tint.
- Add about ½ cup of the strained raspberry purée to the buttercream and continue to whip until combined.
- Mix in about 1-2 drops of pink food coloring to enhance the raspberry color if you choose.
- Optional: switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes until all air bubbles are gone.
- Stored it in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator or for 3 months in the freezer.
Assembling and Decorating the Cake
- Trim the dome from the top of the cake rounds and the browned edges.
- Place the first cake layer on the cake board and spread raspberry buttercream over the top. Using a piping bag and round tip, pipe a dam around the outer edge of the cake.
- Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of raspberry filling within the dammed area. If you overfill the center it could possibly squeeze out once you start stacking other layers.
- Place a few fresh raspberries on top of the raspberry filling.
- Spread a thin layer of raspberry frosting on the bottom of the next layer to sandwich in the berries.
- Repeat the process with the remaining cake layers.
- Once all 3 layers are placed, cover it in a crumb coat of buttercream. Chill it for 5-10 minutes until the buttercream has set.
- Spread a final coat of buttercream on the cake. I used the yellow buttercream to make an ombré, but you can do all raspberry if you prefer.
- Spread some raspberry buttercream around the bottom half of the cake.
- Then smooth the whole cake using the bench scraper, creating an ombré, watercolor effect between the 2 buttercream colors.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a star tip, pipe 8-10 dollops on top around the cake. (Make sure the dollops and raspberries are touching, to create a dam for the center raspberry filling.)
- Then, fill the center of the top of the cake with 2-3 tablespoons of raspberry filling.
- Make sure to keep the cake chilled, but take it out a few hours before you're going to serve it. This cake is best eaten at room temperature!
Tips for Baking From Scratch
- Weigh your ingredients to avoid cake failure. Using a kitchen scale for baking is super easy and gives you the best results every single time.
- Make sure all your cold ingredients are room temperature or slightly warm (butter, milk, eggs, to create a cohesive batter. Curdled batter causes cakes to collapse.
- No buttermilk? You can make your own buttermilk
- Need more help with making your first cake? Check out my how to decorate your first cake blog post.
- Make your own pan release (cake goop!) The best pan release ever!
- Chill your cakes before frosting and filling. You can cover a frosted and chilled cake in fondant if you wish. This cake is also great for stacking. I always keep my cakes chilled in the refrigerator before delivery for easy transportation.
FAQ
Can I use different berries?
Yes, you can use any frozen or fresh berries you prefer and they all pair well with this lemon cake. You will find other berry-filling recipes on the blog. This cake would also be delicious with the addition of homemade lemon curd.
Can I use frozen raspberries for my lemon raspberry cake?
To make the raspberry filling, I prefer to use frozen because they are already partially broken down through the freezing process, this makes the reduction process quicker. You can also use frozen berries when filling the cake, however, they will be softer as they thaw. I prefer to use fresh raspberries for the inside of the cake and the decor on top, however, both are delicious!
Can I use raspberry jam instead of making my filling?
Yes! If you are pinched on time, you can use store-bought raspberry preserves or jam in place of the filling.
Related Recipes
Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Cake
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Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Recipe
Servings: 8 cups
Calories: 1379kcal
Ingredients
Raspberry Filling
- 16 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries
- 5 ounces sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 ounces cool water
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch
Lemon Raspberry Cake
- 13 ounces cake flour
- 12 ounces granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces unsalted butter
- 8 ounces buttermilk
- 3 ounces vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 2 Tablespoons AP Flour for dusting berries
- 10 ounces raspberries You can use frozen but don't thaw them
Raspberry Buttercream
- 4 ounces pasteurized egg whites room temperature
- 16 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 16 ounces powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces raspberry puree strained
Instructions
Making Raspberry Filling
- Add your raspberries and sugar to a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat.
- Heat your raspberry puree until it begins to bubble. Increase the heat to medium-high heat if needed.
- In a small bowl, combine the water and the ClearJel (or cornstarch) and mix until smooth. Don't just add the ClearJel (or cornstarch) directly to the hot liquid or you'll end up with lumps of thickener in your filling.
- Add your ClearJel mixture (or cornstarch slurry) to the hot liquid and mix for one more minute to thicken the mixture.
- Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest and continue cooking for one more minute until thickened.
- Transfer the mixture to a heat-proof container and cover it with plastic wrap (so that it's touching the surface) and allow it to cool to room temperature or place it into the refrigerator to cool before using it.
Making Lemon Raspberry Cake
- Preheat the oven to 335º F/168º C or 350º F/177º C and prepare three 6-inch cake pans (or two 8-inch pans) with cake goop or another preferred pan spray or parchment paper. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature or slightly warm (eggs, buttermilk, butter).
- Measure out the buttermilk and place 4 ounces in a separate measuring cup.
- Add oil to the 4 ounces of buttermilk and set aside.
- To the remaining buttermilk, add your eggs (lightly whisked to break them up), lemon extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Measure out the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Attach the paddle to the mixer and mix on low speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers) until the dry ingredients are combined. I recommend a stand mixer for this recipe, but you can do this with a large bowl and electric mixer, just mix by texture instead of time.
- Slowly add chunks of softened butter to the flour mixture and mix on medium speed until the batter resembles coarse sand.
- Add the milk/oil mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed (speed 4 on Kitchenaid) for 2 full minutes until it's white and fluffy.
- Scrape the bowl. This is an important step because if you skip it, you will have hard lumps of flour in your batter. If you do it later, they will not mix in fully.
- Slowly add in the rest of your wet ingredients in 3 parts and mix until combined. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl one more time halfway through. Your batter should be thick and not too runny.
- Fill the pans ¾ full and give each a tap to level out the batter and get rid of any air bubbles.
- Add 3 to 4 large dollops of your raspberry filling to the cake batter and use a spoon or knife to swirl it through the batter.
- Bake the cakes for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.
- After the cakes have cooled for 10 minutes, flip them onto cooling racks to cool completely. Or wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them.
How to Make Raspberry Buttercream
- Place the egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed for 3-5 minutes.
- Add the softened butter in small chunks then vanilla and salt. Whip on high until light and fluffy and white, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Set aside 2 cups of vanilla buttercream if you want to do the ombre design. Add a drop of yellow food color to give it a slight tint.
- Add about ½ cup of the strained raspberry purée to the buttercream and continue to whip until combined.
- Mix in about 1-2 drops of pink food coloring to enhance the raspberry color if you choose.
- Optional: switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes until all air bubbles are gone.
- Stored it in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator or for 3 months in the freezer.
Assembling and Decorating the Cake
- Trim the dome from the top of the cake rounds and the browned edges.
- Place the first cake layer on the cake board and spread raspberry buttercream over the top. Using a piping bag and round tip, pipe a dam around the outer edge of the cake.
- Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of raspberry filling within the dammed area. If you overfill the center it could possibly squeeze out once you start stacking other layers.
- Place a few fresh raspberries on top of the raspberry filling.
- Spread a thin layer of raspberry frosting on the bottom of the next layer to sandwich in the berries.
- Repeat the process with the remaining cake layers.
- Once all 3 layers are placed, cover it in a crumb coat of buttercream. Chill it for 5-10 minutes until the buttercream has set.
- Spread a final coat of buttercream on the cake. I used the yellow buttercream to make an ombré, but you can do all raspberry if you prefer.
- Spread some raspberry buttercream around the bottom half of the cake.
- Then smooth the whole cake using the bench scraper, creating an ombré, watercolor effect between the 2 buttercream colors.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a star tip, pipe 8-10 dollops on top around the cake. (Make sure the dollops and raspberries are touching, to create a dam for the center raspberry filling.)
- Then, fill the center of the top of the cake with 2-3 tablespoons of raspberry filling.
- Make sure to keep the cake chilled, but take it out a few hours before you're going to serve it. This cake is best eaten at room temperature!
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients to avoid cake failure. Using a kitchen scale for baking is super easy and gives you the best results every single time.
- Make sure all your cold ingredients are room temperature or slightly warm (butter, milk, eggs, to create a cohesive batter. Curdled batter causes cakes to collapse.
- No buttermilk? You can make your own buttermilk
- To prevent blueberries from sinking, I wash them (to get them wet) then roll them in flour. Then I add them to the batter halfway through baking
- Do not fall for the "just add cornstarch to regular flour" trick. It does not work for this recipe. Your cake will look and taste like cornbread. If you can't find cake flour, use pastry flour which isn't quite as soft as cake flour but it's better than all-purpose flour.
- Make your own pan release (cake goop!) The best pan release ever!
- If you're in the UK search for Shipton mills cake and pastry flour. If you're in another part of the country, search for low protein cake flour.
- Need more help with making your first cake? Check out my how to decorate your first cake blog post.
- Make the raspberry filling first, then make the lemon cake and swirl in the filling, bake it, and then make the buttercream while the cakes are cooling.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 1379kcal | Carbohydrates: 176g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 73g | Saturated Fat: 45g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 256mg | Sodium: 461mg | Potassium: 392mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 125g | Vitamin A: 2432IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 143mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Lisa says
Can I add some kind of lemon to the buttercream? If so, what and how much? Cakes are in the over and I’ll ice them tomorrow morning. Thanks:)
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes of course, you can add lemon extract or lemon zest to your taste.
Danny says
Where do you get your cake flour?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I get mine in bulk from cash and carry but you can find it in the baking aisle in most grocery stores
Angela M says
Not sure if you know this trick or not but if you lightly coat whatever fruit filling you're putting into a cake with flour then it has less chance of sinking to the bottom. Just A little something I learned doing a lot of British baking.
Angela M says
My bad I hadn't watched the video yet so I didn't see that you did the flour thing with the raspberries.
Bonnie Anderson says
Is the nutritional information for one slice of cake? Or the whole cake? ?
The Sugar Geek Show says
lol the whole cake, but who's counting calories on a cake anyway huh? lol
Alana says
Hello,
This cake looks very moist and pretty. If I wanted to make a three layer cake (my pans are 9 in rounds), should I multiply the recipe by 1 and 1/2 times or double it? Would I do the same for your vanilla cake to make three 9-in layers?
Thank you.
The Sugar Geek Show says
I would double the recipe for three 9" cakes
Bunny says
Besides catering and making several wedding cakes every weekend, I also make desserts for several area restaurants and resorts (I'm in The Thousand Islands). One of my most requested desserts is my Lemon Cake, with Lemon Curd and Raspberry Pastry Fillings, and Lemon French Buttercream Frosting. I agree with you about using too much lemon extract, and likewise, use a lot of lemon zest. I bake all my cakes in 3" high cake pans, so I torte this cake into 4 layers, and fill between the middle 2 layers with Lemon Curd, and between the other layers with a Raspberry Pastry Filling. I don't like to use jams or jellies because I think they are too sweet. And I like Lemon Curd not too sweet. I also drizzle each layer with a Lemon Simple Syrup (leaning toward a little 'puckery', and not really sweet) as I assemble the cake. My signature frosting is a Mock Whip Frosting, which is the most requested of all my frostings, but for this cake, I like to use my Lemon French Buttercream.
I encourage all the students in my Wilton Classes to invest in an 8" by 3" cake pan, since it's easier to stack level layers. I also suggest that they don't bake any cake higher than 300 degrees, which guarantees a flat cake. This gives the edges of a cake more time to bake higher before being set, and results in little or no center dome. And, since testing a cake for doneness with a skewer, or toothpick, can still result in an underbaked cake in the center, I teach my students (I also teach the baking classes at a local culinary college) to test their cakes with an instant-read thermometer, like you'd test a steak for doneness. Once the internal temperature of a cake reaches 212 degrees, the liquid in the cake boils and evaporates very quickly, resulting in a dry cake. When a cake's temp reaches about 207-208 degrees, it's ready to come out of the oven. Cakes will still bake a few more minutes out of the oven, so this is the sweet spot for the internal temperature. Other pastries have different internal temps - i.e. custards, cheesecakes, etc. - but for a cake, this is a good way to tell. Baking a cake a day ahead, and wrapping it tightly in saran wrap BEFORE it is completely cool, also help to guarantee a moist cake. I've only frozen a cake when I had to stack a large cake layer on a soft filling, and I never refrigerate a cake until I'm torting, filling, and first coating.
Angela M says
That is a great tip about the internal thermometer. I have one of those and I will be testing that tomorrow during my baking session.
Angela M says
When using a 3" cake Pan how full do you fill the Pan?
Melanie Gray says
Great tips. Thank you.
catherine charry says
Hello!
Im from Panama, and we dont have cake flour, could I use AP? or I could convert the AP to cake flour? please let me know 🙂
The Sugar Geek Show says
For this recipe you do need do to use cake flour. If all you have is AP flour try this recipe https://sugargeekshow.com/white-cake-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-10281
Jan Woolley says
Could I substitute marion berries as written in this recipe? Would the berries needed to be halved, as they are larger than raspberries?
The Sugar Geek Show says
marion berries would be delicious, I would half them because they are so large (fresh berries)
Jo Horton says
would blue berries work well w/this?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Totally and would be so yummy!
Robyn says
Is this cake recipe sturdy enough to stack for a tiered cake?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes this is all I use for sculpted and stacked cakes
Carmella Alexander says
I want to try this but I worry about the seeds. Would it work if i strain it
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you can strain it (what are you worried about with the seeds btw? They aren't harmful or taste bad) strain before you add the cornstarch
Tulika Verma says
hi Liz,
can we use AP flour in this recipe?
Karen says
Hi Liz, this cake looks delicious ? I was thinking of using your White Chocolate Ganache for the frosting instead of buttercream. Your thoughts?
Thank you
The Sugar Geek Show says
Would be a great combo!
Neil Dicker says
I don’t mean to be picky but should there be some lemon in the lemon buttercream?! ?
anneeyeong says
Hi Liz,
Today, I just make this lemon cake. I try to reduce sugar to 11oz and few blueberry filling into the cake butter. It’s still turn out super good texture and soft ! I love this recipe !
Thank you so much for the great recipe and video (making vanilla cake).!
The Sugar Geek Show says
That's great! I've been meaning to try a blueberry version too!