A raspberry-flavored layer cake is a delicious, but simple dessert that will please your family and friends at special events. Here’s how to make one easily!
A cute as a button easy raspberry cake recipe. It’s literally too pretty to eat with those raspberry dollops, but we’re not going to resist with this deliciousness.
Hands down my favorite edible prettiness from my Easter Sunday dessert table was Kristina of Buttercup Bakery’s raspberry cake.
You can make this Pumpkin Crumb Cake Recipe for a delicious and easy to make that is sure to impress your holiday guests.
It literally was too pretty for me to eat! And those little raspberry dollops… I just couldn’t handle it.
Luckily, she’s willing to share the wealth and give Sugar & Cloth readers a chance to be the talk of the gathering too by spilling the beans on her infamous easy raspberry cake recipe!
And if you love fun appetizers or light bites ideas for guests at your upcoming party you can try our Raspberry Smoothie Bowl Bites Recipe.
Ingredients Needed to Make Raspberry Lake Cake
Granulated sugar
Unsalted butter
Sifted cake flour
Baking powder
Salt
Eggs
Egg yolks
Whole milk
Vanilla extract
Raspberry jam or raspberry puree
Red food coloring — Optional
Ingredients Needed to Make the Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
Powdered sugar
Butter
Raspberry jam
Vanilla
Red food coloring — Optional
Fresh raspberries — Optional for garnish
How to Make an Easy Raspberry Layer Cake
For the cake:
Step 1 – Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter, flour and line three 8″ cake pans with parchment. Set aside.
Step 2 – Next, sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt.
Combine vanilla and milk together and set both aside.
Step 3 – With a mixer set to medium, cream together butter and sugar for five minutes.
Step 4 – Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the eggs one at a time waiting until they are each fully incorporated before adding a new one. This usually takes around 15 seconds per egg.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Step 5 – Add in raspberry puree/jam and mix until fully combined.
Step 6 – In three batches, add in dry ingredients on low speed, alternating with wet ingredients. Begin and end with dry ingredients.
Step 7 – Add in food coloring at this point if desired.
Step 8 – Fold the batter a few times with a spatula to make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated and then divide batter into the three baking pans.
Step 9 – Bake for 17-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
Trust your nose and keep a watchful eye after 17 minutes. When your house kitchen starts to smell like cake, it’s probably getting close to done
For the frosting:
Step 1 – Beat the butter on medium for 5 minutes, and then lower speed to the lowest setting.
Step 2 – Add in powdered sugar (2 cups at a time,) continuing to add more sugar after it becomes fully incorporated.
Step 3 – Add in vanilla and desired food coloring and increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes or until the icing has lightened a bit.
Decrease the speed of the mixer to the lowest setting for two minutes to knock out some of the air bubbles.
Step 4 – Stack cakes and ice as desired.
Recipe Notes and Tips
— Before icing your cake, make sure the cake cools down completely to room temperature. You can sit it in the fridge so that it is easier to ice and frost.
Styling Sources
Styling and DIY’s by Sugar & Cloth // Photography by Kimberly Chau // Desserts by Buttercup // Illustrations by Lisa Chow // Mint green and white cake stands and bunting c/o Minted // Gold flatware and serving utensils West Elm
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Raspberry Layer Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 3 8" cake pan
- Mixer
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 stick unsalted butter
- 3 cup cake flour sifted
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 3 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam or raspberry pureered food coloring optional
For the buttercream frosting:
- 2 lb sifted powdered sugar
- 1 lb butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Red food coloring optional
- Fresh raspberries optional for garnish
Nutrition
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Butter, flour and line the 3 8″ cake pans with parchment. Set aside.
- Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt.
- Combine the vanilla and milk together and set both aside.
- With a mixer set to medium, cream together butter and sugar for 5 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the eggs one at a time waiting until they are each fully incorporated before adding a new one. This usually takes around 15 seconds per egg.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in raspberry puree/jam and mix until fully combined.
- In three batches, add in dry ingredients on low speed, alternating with wet ingredients. Begin and end with dry ingredients.
- Add in food coloring at this point if desired.
- Fold the batter a few times with a spatula to make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated and then divide batter into the three baking pans.
- Bake for 17-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. Trust your nose and keep a watchful eye after 17 minutes.
To make the buttercream frosting:
- Beat the butter on medium for 5 minutes and then lower speed to the lowest setting.
- Add in powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time, continuing to add more sugar after it becomes fully incorporated.
- Add in vanilla and desired food coloring and increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes or until the icing has lightened a bit.
- Decrease speed of mixer to the lowest setting for 2 minutes to knock out some of the air bubbles.
- Stack the cakes and ice as desired.
Don’t forget to share your raspberry layer cake with us on Instagram using the hashtag #sugarandclothloves. We always love seeing all of your creations! Looking for more quick and delicious recipes? You can find them all right here with a few cocktails to go along with them.
This is the raspberry cake recipe I have been looking for! Every recipe I have found calls for raspberry puree, which I don’t want to make because I don’t want to deal with seeds. I am so happy yours has the option to use jam. I have one question: Does the raspberry buttercream pipe well? I would like to do some elaborate piping on the cake. Thank you.
Hi Rachel! Buttercream is actually a better cream to pipe with than most frostings like whipped cream. We aren’t sure how elaborate it can hold up though but it should do the job! If you are going to be doing an elaborate design, we highly recommend that you completely cool the cake and even let it sit in the fridge and don’t make the frosting way in advance. It’s best made right before you plan to pipe it. Hope this helps! We’d love to see how it turns out!
When the directions say to add the eggs are we adding 3 whole eggs and then the 3 egg yolks? It seems like a lot of egg so I figured I would check.
Yes, it is 3 eggs and 3 yolks! It comes together nice and creamy!
Delicious cake! Too dense but I’m working on it. Still delicious! Used a strainer to remove seeds from smuckers natural raspberry. It was amazing! Never had cake this good.
I was really excited to try this cake. Unfortunately, I’ve been left disappointed. As others have said, it tastes good, but is really heavy and dense. It also really doesn’t taste that’s strongly of raspberries.
I made this for my daughter’s 20th birthday. The taste was great, but the cake was heavy and dense. Not what I expected. Too many eggs/yolks? And even with food coloring I didn’t get the nice color.
your cake looked beautiful, so I decided to use it for one of the layers of a wedding cake….I used raspberry coolie…which by the way is quite expensive….as you suggested and it turned a muddy purple color…very disappointed not to mention the expense of a double recipe.
Can this be converted to cupcakes? I’m assuming yes? just change the back time?
Exactly!
this is too too cute!
not to be ‘that person,’ but you know ‘infamous’ means…being famous for a bad quality/deed?
This looks SO stinking good. I would like it in my belly now.
When do you add the jam for the frosting? Thanks!
Hi Heather! You add the jam for the frosting after all the sugar has been added, Hope this helps!
Thanks! I made it today- delicious!
If only there was a way to get this cake to magically jump off this page and into my lap for my guilty pleasure of sweets!
just adorable! so funny, i just a very similar cake but with strawberry preserves! love the use of jam in a cake for flavouring… gorgeous cake, kristina! xo
I love pink cakes! This one looks flawless.
This is so pretty & looks delicious!
Kristin
Crumbs & Curls
This looks so gorgeous! And delicious ;)
Yes, please. That is beautiful!