High Altitude Raspberry Vanilla Cake

This luscious high altitude raspberry vanilla cake has three layers of soft vanilla bean cake, filled with sweet raspberry jam, and frosted with both vanilla buttercream and raspberry buttercream.

You might also love these raspberry thumbprint sugar cookies, raspberry cream sandwich cookies, and lemon raspberry cake.

This site contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links.  This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services.  All opinions expressed on this site are my own.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Soft and Moist. I based this cake on my popular high altitude vanilla cake recipe. It’s easy to make, and always perfectly soft, moist, fluffy and full of vanilla flavor. Vanilla cake is so versatile, that you can pair it with any flavor of filling and frosting.

Perfect for Any Season. You won’t need to wait for summer to make this vanilla raspberry cake, since I use seedless raspberry jam for the filling and the buttercream instead of fresh berries. With the pretty pink and white buttercream, this cake is perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Easy to Make. The cake batter comes together quickly, and I’ve provided step by step photos for filling the vanilla cake with raspberry filling, and then frosting it with the two-toned buttercream. And although there’s both vanilla and raspberry buttercream on this cake, you only need to make one batch of vanilla buttercream, and then add some raspberry jam to a portion of it.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cake

• Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
• Vanilla Bean. Adds incredible flavor, especially when you rub the seeds into the sugar.
• Cake Flour. Cake flour makes a very soft, light and fluffy vanilla cake, as it contains a lower percentage of protein than all-purpose flour.
• Baking Powder. Leavens the cake, making it rise.
• Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Egg + Egg White. Adds structure and richness, while the extra white make it nice and fluffy. Save the leftover egg yolk for another use.
• Milk. Use whole milk, for fat, flavor and richness.
• Lemon Juice. Adds a little acidity for a tender cake. Instead of the milk + lemon juice, you can also use buttermilk.
• Melted Butter + Vegetable Oil. A combination of both butter and oil gives this vanilla cake the best flavor as well as a soft, moist texture.

Buttercream

• Butter. I use unsalted butter and then add a pinch of salt. But if you prefer to use salted butter, that’s totally fine. Just omit the extra salt in the recipe.
• Vanilla. Flavor.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Seedless Raspberry Jam. You won’t want a bunch of raspberry seeds in the filling. So if you can’t find seedless raspberry jam, just buy jam with seeds, and press the jam through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. You’ll also be adding jam to some of the vanilla buttercream to make the pink raspberry buttercream.
• Raspberries. For decorating.

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the center of the oven, and spray the bottoms of three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray.
• In a bowl, measure out the sugar.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod and use your fingers to rub the seeds into the sugar until very fragrant and the seeds are evenly dispersed throughout the sugar.

• Set a fine mesh sifter over the bowl of sugar, and sift in the cake flour, baking powder and salt.  Use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients well.
• In another bowl, whisk together the egg, egg white, milk, lemon juice, melted butter and oil until smooth.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk until combined, about 10-15 seconds. A few lumps in the batter are okay; take care not to over mix.

• Divide the batter between the cake pans.  Tap a few times against the counter to pop any large air bubbles.
• Bake the cakes for about 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester or a toothpick comes out clean, and the tops spring back when lightly touched.
• Set the pans on a wire rack, cover them loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.  When ready to frost and assemble the cake, remove the cakes from the pans. If needed, use a sharp, non-serrated knife to level the cakes by cutting off the small domed portion on top.

TIP: When assembling layer cakes with slippery filling like jam, it can be helpful to first wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator for an hour before assembling your cake. The chilled cake helps to cool and stabilize the filling. And be sure not to use too much jam, or your cake layers will slide everywhere.

Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
• With the mixer running on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder and the salt, mixing until thick and combined.
• Add the vanilla; increase speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy. Turn the speed down to stir and mix for 1 minute.

Assembly

• Place one of the cake layers on a cake board. Frost with a thick layer of buttercream, about 1/2 inch thick. Then, use the back of a spoon or your icing spatula to thin the center of the buttercream, creating a “well” in the center with a “dam” around the edge, to hold the raspberry jam inside.
• Spread 2 tablespoons of the raspberry jam in the well of buttercream. Top with the second layer of cake, and repeat the above steps. Finish by placing the third layer of cake on top.

• Frost the cake all over with a crumb coat of buttercream, then place the cake in the refrigerator to chill for 45 minutes.

• Meanwhile, take 1 1/4 cups of the buttercream and add 1 tablespoon of the raspberry jam, stirring until well combined.

• Spread a final layer of the vanilla buttercream on top of the chilled cake. Then spread the pink raspberry buttercream around the sides of the cake, using a bench scraper to smooth the sides of the cake.
• Decorate the top of the cake with raspberries.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I can’t find seedless raspberry jam?

You won’t want a bunch of raspberry seeds in the filling. So if you can’t find seedless raspberry jam, just buy jam with seeds, and press the jam through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. You’ll also be adding jam to some of the vanilla buttercream to make the pink raspberry buttercream.

How can I make this into a larger cake?

For a three-layer 8-inch cake, double the cake recipe and bake it for a few minutes longer. There’s no need to double the buttercream, but you should increase it by 30% (2 cups butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, etc.).

How should I store the leftover cake?

Keep the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days to keep it soft and moist.

You Might Also Like

Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!

Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!