Lemon Raspberry Cake

5 from 1 vote

This Lemon Raspberry Cake is made of layers of lemon cake with a lemon syrup soak, mascarpone lemon curd, raspberry jam, and swiss meringue buttercream.

Prep Time1

Cook Time1 30

Chilling2

Total Time4 30

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: lemon, lemon curd, Raspberry, swiss meringue buttercream

Servings:

Calories: 637kcal

Equipment

7" Metal Springform Cake Pan

Ingredients

Raspberry Jam

300 grams frozen raspberries
50 grams granulated sugar
20 grams lemon juice

Lemon Curd Mascarpone

90 grams granulated sugar
1 lemon zested
60 grams lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks standard large
225 grams mascarpone

Lemon Cake

150 grams granulated sugar
1 lemon zested
2 eggs standard large, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
90 grams olive oil
100 grams sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150 grams all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Lemon Simple Syrup soak

150 grams granulated sugar
150 grams lemon juice

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

6 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
300 grams granulated sugar
450 grams unsalted butter room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste optional
50 grams heavy cream

Instructions

Raspberry Jam

Please don't hate me for this but I never measure when I'm making this jam because this isn't the kind of jam you make to jar and keep for a long time ok?
We're just making this for the filling of the cake and if you have any leftover it's perfect for a jelly sandwich situation.
In a sauce pot, add in one whole bag of frozen raspberries. Approximately 300 grams depending on your bag.
Add in 50 grams of granulated sugar and the juice of half lemon.
Place the pot over low heat and cook until the raspberries break down. Continue to simmer (turn up the heat if necessary), and stir frequently until thick and reduced. Taste test the jam and see if it is sweet enough. You want it to be zingy but not too tart. If needed add a tablespoon or two more of sugar at a time. It will thicken as it cools but it should be like runny peanut butter kinda consistency.
Once cooked pour the raspberry jam into a heat same container and let it cool to room temperature and then place it in the fridge.

Lemon Curd Mascarpone

In a large metal bowl or the top portion of a double boiler, add in the egg yolks, sugar, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice. Whisk to combine.
Add about 2″ of water into a sauce pan or the bottom of the double boiler. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low so that it maintains a simmer.
Place the bowl with the egg and lemon mixture over the pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly, cooking the mixture until it thickens. It’s done when the mixture is thick like mayo, essentially when you stop whisking the mixture should stop moving, it will sort of just firm up.
Once thick, immediately remove the bowl from the pot of water and turn off the heat.
Add the cold mascarpone into the hot curd, one spoonful at a time. Whisk one spoonful of mascarpone into the lemon curd until completely dissolved before adding in the next spoonful.
Continue adding the mascarpone in until it is all used up.
Pour the mixture through a sieve into a large shallow bowl and place a piece of plastic onto the surface. Place the bowl in the fridge until cold and thick.

Lemon Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom of the 7" springform cake pan with a piece of parchment paper.
In a medium bowl add in the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until fragrant and the sugar begins to clump.
Add in the olive oil, sour cream, eggs, salt, and vanilla. Whip until light and fully combined.
Pour in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and beat again until just mixed.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Spray the cake pan with your baking spray or line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper. Pour in the cake batter and tap the pan a couple of times on the counter.
Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes.
When the cake is finished baking, check it by sticking a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is fully baked.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before removing the spring form.
After 10 minutes, remove the springform.Allow the cake to cool completely before assembling. If prepping the day before, wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and store at room temperature not in the fridge.

Lemon Syrup Soak

In a microwave safe bowl or a small sauce pot combine 150 grams of lemon juice with 150 grams of granulated sugar.
Microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring in between. Keep a close eye on it as the mixture will eventually start to boil and you don't want it to bubble over. You do however want the sugar to fully dissolve.
So the soak should look clear and no longer cloudy once all of the sugar has dissolved.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

In the bowl of a stand mixer (a hand mixer will work too, it will just take ages), add in the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine.
Place a medium sauce pot half way full with water onto the stove. Bring the water to a simmer.
Set the mixing bowl with the egg whites and sugar over the bowl of simmering water and turn the heat to low. The water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Whisk the egg whites and sugar constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved into the egg whites. To check and see if the sugar has dissolved, pinch and rub some of the mixture in between your fingers and feel if you still feel any of the sugar granules, if not you’re good to go. If you do just keep cooking a bit longer.
Once the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the water. Leave it to cool off for about 5 minutes.
Using your mixer, whip the egg white mixture first on medium and then on high speed until fluffy, shiny and stiff.
The bottom of the bowl should have cooled off at this point but if not, place the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes.
Once cool to the touch, turn the mixer to medium high speed. Add in 1″ blocks of butter at a time whipping until all of the butter has mixed in. It will deflate a little bit at the beginning, that’s ok!
If your buttercream starts to look split, the butter maybe too cold so just let it run for a bit longer. If it looks soupy, it just needs to chill so either put an ice pack or ice bath under the bowl. Or place the bowl in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.
When almost all of the butter has been added, the mixture is going to look funny, just keep whipping and it will smooth out.
If you aren't going for a bright white color, add in a teaspoon of vanilla bean taste for a beautiful flavor!
Turn the mixer off and pour in 80 grams of cold heavy whipping cream. Start slow then beat in the cream until just combined.

Stacking the Cake

Once all the elements are ready and the cake has cooled off it's time to stack the cake.
Trim off the mounded top of the cake if necessary to level it out.
Cut the cake into 4 even layers with a long serrated knife. If you feel nervous you can also cut it into 3 layers you just might have a bit of extra filling left over.
Place the bottom layer of the cake, cut side up onto the parchment paper. Spoon or brush about 1/4 of the lemon soak onto the cake.
Pipe a small border (about 1/2" wide) of the swiss meringue buttercream around the edge of the cake.
Spoon in between 3 tablespoons and a quarter cup of the raspberry jam. Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to spread the jam out into an even layer over the cake.
Spoon a full 1/4 cup of lemon curd over top of the raspberry jam. Spread until it reaches the butter cream walls. Do your best to not mix it into the jam.
Place the second layer of cake on top and press down gently. Make sure it is level and also fully touching the fillings from the layer before.
Repeat the soaking, border, and both fillings for the next cake layers. Soak the top cake layer.

Frost & Serve

Scoop the remaining buttercream over the top of the cake.
Use an offset spatula to spread the buttercream over the cake and down the sides.
If you want to smooth it out, use a bench scraper to scrape off any excess frosting. Fill in any openings with more frosting and then smooth again.
Place the cake in the fridge to set for at least an hour or two or ideally overnight.
Decorate however you want but be sure to let the cake sit out for at least 40 minutes before cutting into so the buttercream has a chance to soften.

Notes

Tips for making a Lemon Raspberry Cake

If you want to make a full 9″ cake, multiply all the cake ingredients by 1.5 aka instead of 2 eggs, use 3. This cake can be easily scaled so you could also double it and make two thinner 9″ cakes.
Alternatively, if you have an 8″ pan I would bake the cake batter as is and just do a single layer cake that you can add all the fillings to, on top.
Triple check that your pan is the correct size and that your baking soda and baking powder haven’t expired to ensure a proper rise!
Line the bottom of the cake pan with a round sheet of parchment paper.
For the raspberry jam I love to use frozen raspberries because you need quite a bit and they have great flavor! You can use store bought raspberry jam but it usually isn't as tart and making your own is super simple!
This cake will slice best if you allow it to sit, assembled, for at least an hour or two if not overnight in the fridge.
Make sure the bowl and whip for your meringue are completely clean, any streak of fat will keep the meringue from whipping up.
While meringue is possible with a hand mixer, it will in fact take forever so settle in for the long haul. Ideally use a stand mixer if you have it.
Make sure to use fresh egg whites for the meringue and not bottled egg whites for best results.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream can be intimidating but don’t stress. When in doubt cool it down and keep whipping. It’s important that the sugar fully dissolves into the egg whites, the butter should be soft but not melted and the meringue needs to have cooled off before adding the butter.
If your buttercream starts to look split, the butter maybe too cold so just let it run for a bit longer. If it looks soupy, it just needs to chill so either put an ice pack or ice bath under the bowl. Or place the bowl in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.

Nutrition