Lemon Raspberry Layered Cake

“Brighten your day with this cheery lemon raspberry layered cake”

Do you ever get that feeling where you just need to make a cake? You have a million and a half other things to do but you can't seem to rid that nagging feeling of I just really need to bake this cake. No, just me? I opened my fridge the other day and staring at me was a bag of lemons I had bough from the grocery store and I knew I had to make a lemon cake. It seemed a little bit silly to want to make a Lemon Raspberry cake in the middle of February since I typically associate both flavours with spring or summer but here we are. This cake is bright in flavour and definitely brightens up the dark winter days that we have been having. I think I was drawn to the lemons because I needed some sunshine in my life after days of over cast skies.  

I love the pop of pink that the raspberry cream cheese filling provides in the middle of the cake. It is a nice surprise to cut into the cake and see such a vibrant pink colour. It definitely adds to the cheeriness!  The cream cheese frosting takes this cake to the next level. As you know my cream cheese frosting is very popular. It pairs nicely with both the raspberry and the lemon.  I decided to decorate this cake in a simple rosette design. It is fairly simple to do and creates a stunning looking cake. 

Lemon Cake

Makes: One 6 inch cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c butter, at room temperature

1 c sugar

2 eggs

1 lemon, zest & juice separate

1/2 c milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 6 inch round baking pan, set aside

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium-high speed beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Beat in eggs and lemon zest until incorporated. Scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in lemon juice.

Slowly alternate adding in the milk and flour mixture, ending with the dry. Mix until just incorporated

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45minutes - 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean

Raspberry Filling

Ingredients:

1 c frozen raspberries

1/2 c sugar

1 tbsp corn starch

1 cup cream cheese frosting, recipe below

Directions:

In a small pot, over medium heat add frozen raspberries and sugar. Stir occasionally until the raspberries have broken down and sugar has dissolved

Allow the mixture to come to a light boil. Stir in corn starch to thicken mixture. Bring mixture to a light boil once more and allow to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes

Let raspberry filling cool completely. In a small bowl, combine raspberry filling with about one cup of cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 c butter, room temperature

16 oz cream cheese, room temperature

8 c icing sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

1-2 tbsp heavy whipping cream (optional)

Directions:

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium speed, beat together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes)

Reduce speed to low and add in icing sugar one cup at a time. Mix until combined. Add in vanilla. Whip frosting on medium - high speed until light, fluffy and pale in colour

If you would prefer a thinner frosting, add in whipping cream until desired consistency is reached

Assembling the Cake

1. Once the cake has cooled completely, torte into 3 layers. Use a small amount of cream cheese frosting to secure the bottom layer to a 8 inch cake board. 
2. Using an off set spatula spread the raspberry cream cheese filling between each layer. Until cake is fully stacked. Chill cake in fridge for 30 minutes. 
3. Crumb coat your stacked cake and chill.
4. Frost with cream cheese buttercream as desired. I used a Wilton 2D tip to create this rosette effect.