Lemon Raspberry Cake Recipe is an easy-to-make dessert that’s made with juicy raspberries and fresh lemon zest, creating a standout flavor! It takes just 15 minutes to prep before sliding it into the oven to bake!
Sweeten Your Day With This Recipe For Lemon Raspberry Cake
You’re in for a real treat with this delicious Lemon Raspberry Cake Recipe! It has a lemony batter that’s dotted with fresh, ripe raspberries and topped with coarse lemon-infused sugar that gives it a slightly crunchy finish with every bite!
To make this Lemon Raspberry Cake really shine, we used fresh, juicy raspberries and fresh lemon zest. These fresh ingredients bring vibrant, sweet, and citrusy flavors, making it an unforgettable dessert everyone will love!
However, this cake is so simple that it borders on coffee cake or at least a snack cake. So why wait for dessert when you can enjoy it with your morning cup of tea or coffee? Or better yet, make it for brunch with family and friends!
This easy recipe bakes up in under an hour and is the perfect summertime treat for picnics and cookouts!
Raspberry Lemon Cake Recipe Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Lemon Zest
- Salted Butter
- Vanilla Extract
- Large Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Raspberries
- Coarse Sparkling Sugar
This raspberry lemon cake recipe combines pantry staple baking ingredients with three standout ingredients: raspberries, fresh lemon zest, and coarse sparkling sugar. I prefer making this dessert with fresh raspberries as this makes for a cake with the most delicious fresh flavor along with a great texture.
Fresh lemon zest is then added to the cake batter to bring out the bright citrus flavor to compliment that mouthwatering raspberry taste. Lemon zest is also rubbed together with the coarse sparkling sugar, which releases lemon oil to infuse the sugar.
This infused lemon sugar is sprinkled on top of the cake before baking to give it a sweet, lemony, crunchy finish. If you’ve never used coarse sparkling sugar, it’s just sugar that has bigger granules than regular sugar.
To find coarse sparkling sugar, check the baking aisle of your grocery store.
Raspberry Lemon Cake Substitutions and Variations
- Coarse Sparkling Sugar – Turbinado, demerara, or granulated sugar can replace coarse sparkling sugar.
- Salted Butter – If all you have is unsalted butter on hand, you can use that instead of salted butter. Just add an additional 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the cake batter.
- Buttermilk – You can make a Homemade Buttermilk Substitute using whole milk and white vinegar, lemon juice, or cream of tartar.
- Raspberries – Fresh raspberries are best, but frozen berries can be used instead.
- Other Berries – To enjoy a flavor variation of this lemon cake, swap the raspberries out for blueberries, cranberries, or even blackberries!
- Toppings – Instead of a coarse sugar topping, you can finish this cake with a drizzle of lemon icing made with fresh lemon juice or even lemon cream cheese frosting or lemon buttercream!
How To Make Lemon Raspberry Cake
Step 1: Rub the butter in a 9-inch round cake pan to coat the bottom and sides. Then, place parchment paper into the pan, pressing it into the butter to secure it.
Step 2: Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl, then set it aside.
Step 3: Mix the granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and lemon zest into the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Step 4: Add the salted butter and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and beat on medium-high speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 5: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 to 45 seconds after each addition.
Step 6: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients by alternating with buttermilk on low speed until combined.
Step 7: Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the raspberries into the cake batter. Then, pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Step 8: Gently press raspberries into the top of the batter.
Step 9: Rub coarse sparkling sugar with lemon zest in a small prep bowl using your fingers. Then sprinkle the lemon-infused sugar over the top of the cake.
Step 10: Bake the raspberry lemon cake until a toothpick that’s inserted into the center of the cake comes back clean. It takes about 45 to 55 minutes.
Step 11: Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for another 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Raspberry Lemon Cake Tips and Tricks
- Parchment Paper – To make the parchment paper easier to handle when lining the round cake pan, first crumple the paper into a ball. Afterward, run the crumpled ball of parchment paper under water and then squeeze and flatten it out. Dry the wet parchment paper off using a paper towel and then place it into the cake pan. You can also learn this parchment paper folding and cutting trick to learn how to line a round cake.
- Weighing Ingredients – For accurate baking, the weighted measurements are included on the recipe card. Using a simple kitchen scale to measure the ingredients will ensure your lemon raspberry cake comes out just right!
- Infusing The Sugar – Using your fingers to rub the coarse sparkling sugar and lemon zest together is the best way to create a lemon-infused sugar.
- Checking For Doneness – Another tip to check for doneness in this lemon raspberry cake is to use a kitchen thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the center of the cake, and once it reads 200 degrees F, the cake is finished baking. This will ensure the cake doesn’t overbake and dry out!
- Serrated Knife For Serving – Use a serrated knife in a sawing motion to cut slices of this cake. This will prevent the cake from squishing down and becoming flattened!
Lemon Raspberry Cake Recipe Storage Tips
Store this Lemon Raspberry Cake in an airtight container or tightly cover the cake pan with plastic wrap or tin foil. The cake can then be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for 3 days.
You can also freeze Lemon Raspberry Cake as a whole or slice it into individual slices to freeze. To do so, first, allow the cake to cool completely.
Then, wrap the cake or individual slices in plastic wrap and again in aluminum foil. This double-wrapping method will prevent freezer burn.
The frozen lemon raspberry cake can then be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature to enjoy!
Easy Lemon Raspberry Cake FAQs
You can increase the lemon flavor by adding more lemon zest to taste.
I’d suggest either vanilla ice cream or raspberry ice cream. However, nuts also pair wonderfully with this cake, so a scoop of butter pecan or walnut ice cream would also be a delicious choice.
To prevent the cake from sinking, be sure to use the correct sized pan the recipe calls for and bake it at the right temperature. Also, be sure not to disturb the baking process by opening the oven door or moving the pan in the oven while it’s baking.
An 8×8-inch square pan or a 9×5-inch loaf pan can be used instead of the round cake pan. You can also make this recipe into muffins using a muffin pan!
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Raspberry Lemon Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 290g
- 2 teaspoons baking powder 8g
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar 70g, packed
- 1½ tablespoons lemon zest
- ½ cup salted butter 113g, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature
- 10 ounces raspberries divided
Topping
- 3 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter, then line it with parchment paper, pressing it into the butter to secure. To make the parchment paper easier to handle, crumple it into a ball and run under water, then squeeze and flatten it out and dry it off.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt and set aside.
- In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together ½ cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup light brown sugar, and 1½ tablespoons lemon zest for 1 minute. This helps infuse the sugar with lemon flavor.
- Add the ½ cup salted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the bowl with the sugar and beat at medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add 2 large eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 to 45 seconds after each addition.
- Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the ¾ cup buttermilk, at low speed until combined.
- Fold in ⅔ of the 10 ounces raspberries with a rubber spatula, then transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Add the remaining raspberries to the top of the cake, gently pressing them into the batter.
- In a small prep bowl, rub 3 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar and ½ tablespoon lemon zest with your fingers to infuse the sugar, then sprinkle it over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until a toothpick comes back clean from the center or a digital kitchen thermometer reads 200°F.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cook for at least another 20 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife and serving.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Tiffany says
So good and super easy!
I wanted to make a raspberry lemon birthday cake for my partner and all of the recipes I was finding felt complicated and I was getting overwhelmed. My sister had recently made a raspberry lemon cake that came out really dense, so I was a little nervous. I couldn’t find one that seemed reasonably easy , with great reviews. Finally, I decided to try this page. This was so much easier than anything else I was looking at. I baked it, and wanted a frosting, so I paired it with Rebecca’s easy strawberry recipe (instead of strawberry, I used raspberry jello mix and I added the juice of the lemons I zested for this cake – maybe 5 small lemons) and I sprinkled the lemon sugar on top of the cake as instructed but reserved most of it to sprinkle on top of the frosting. A hit indeed. Next time, I would probably use a little more zest than this called for (I used the double recipe and it wasn’t *quite* as lemony as I would have liked).
This is going to be made for MANY birthdays to come!