My high altitude lemon raspberry cake features three soft, fluffy layers of the most delicious lemon cake, filled and frosted with raspberry buttercream. The buttercream is the loveliest shade of pink, made with tart raspberry jam, and pairs so wonderfully with the tender lemon cake.
To top this pretty cake, a delicate white chocolate rose makes a gorgeous, edible cake topper that looks so impressive.
Looking for more high altitude cake recipes? You’ll love my classic vanilla cake, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and white velvet cake.
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Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- Lemons. You’ll be using both the lemon juice and the zest for the best flavor in the lemon cake.
- Whole Milk + Sour Cream. Adds richness, fat and flavor. Lemon juice combined with the whole milk creates a lemon “buttermilk”, which makes the cake so light and tender.
- Vegetable Oil. Moisture.
- Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture. I rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse this lemon raspberry cake with as much lemon flavor as possible.
- Cake Flour. The lower protein content of cake flour makes a lighter, fluffier cake than if you used all-purpose flour.
- Baking Soda + Baking Powder. Leavens the cake so it rises as it bakes.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Eggs + Extra Egg Whites. Adds structure, while the extra egg whites keep the cake light and tender.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
TIP: If you can’t get seedless raspberry jam, just press the jam through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.
Raspberry Buttercream
- Seedless Raspberry Jam. Raspberry jam is thick and concentrated, so it’s perfect for adding lots of raspberry flavor to the buttercream, without excess moisture from fresh raspberries.
- Unsalted Butter. Adds fat and richness.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
- Meringue Powder. Stabilizes and improves the buttercream’s texture.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Instructions
Lemon Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper in the bottoms of the pans, and spray the paper with non-stick spray. The baked cakes are sticky, and you should not skip this step of lining your pans with parchment paper.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and milk; set aside for about 15 minutes to let the milk curdle.
- Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemons over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
- Set a fine mesh strainer over the sugar, and sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then whisk together the dry ingredients with the lemon sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice/milk mixture, eggs, egg whites, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk by hand until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 25-27 minutes, until a cake tester in the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Set the pans on a wire rack, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely.
TIP: Make sure your cake ingredients are at room temperature for the best results.
Raspberry Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and raspberry jam for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine. Add the vanilla.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy.
- Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.
How to Make the White Chocolate Decorations
White Chocolate Cameos
The white chocolate embellishments were so fun to make, and are just the most beautiful touch. Aren’t the little oval decorations the prettiest things? To create the cameos, I kept a bowl of white chocolate warm over a pan of simmering water, and spooned the chocolate into a silicone mold that I have.
Silicone chocolate molds are so easy to use with chocolate or candy melts; after chilling them until firm, they just pop right out and you can immediately make and chill the next batch.
White Chocolate Flower
The white chocolate flower makes a stunning cake topper. The petals are thin, delicate, and look so incredibly realistic. It’s also much easier to make than you might think, and the process goes quickly.
See my White Almond Wedding Cake post to find out how to make this beautiful, edible flower.
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.
FAQs for Lemon Raspberry Cake
What if I can’t find seedless raspberry jam for the buttercream?
- Seedless raspberry jam can sometimes be difficult to find. My local grocery stores always seem to be out of stock. So what I do is I buy the raspberry jam that’s full of seeds, and press it through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. It’s that simple!
Do I need to use cake flour to make lemon cake?
- You really should use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour, for the lightest, fluffiest lemon cake. In a pinch, you can make your own cake flour by swapping 2 tablespoons of corn starch for 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, for every cup of flour in the recipe. Sift together well.
Should I use fresh or bottled lemon juice for the cake?
- You can use bottled lemon juice, but you need fresh lemon zest, too, so you’ll need fresh lemons regardless.
You Might Also Like
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High Altitude Lemon Raspberry Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- ½ cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- zest of 2 small lemons
- 2 ¾ cups cake flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large egg whites (save the extra yolks for another use)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup seedless raspberry jam
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper in the bottoms of the pans, and spray the paper with non-stick spray. The baked cakes are sticky, and you should not skip this step of lining your pans with parchment paper.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and milk; set aside for about 15 minutes to let the milk curdle.
- Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemons over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
- Set a fine mesh strainer over the sugar, and sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then whisk together the dry ingredients with the lemon sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice/milk mixture, eggs, egg whites, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk by hand until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 25-27 minutes, until a cake tester in the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Set the pans on a wire rack, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and raspberry jam for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine. Add the vanilla.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy.
- Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.
Notes
- I’ve only made this recipe using cake flour, and it produces a very light, fluffy cake. All-purpose flour will not give you quite the same result, but should still be fine. Be sure to sift the flour to get out any lumps.
- It’s a good idea to set out your dairy products (eggs, milk, sour cream) an hour or two before you mix your batter, to let them come to room temperature. Large eggs can vary in size, but they should average about 1/4 cup each in volume; three large eggs plus two whites should fill one cup. If your eggs are on the small side, add another to get a full cup.
- Lemons also can vary in size, as well as how much juice they contain. You might need 4 small lemons to get 1/2 cup of juice for the cake batter.
- These cakes are extremely light and fluffy, and will stick to your cake pans if you don’t line them with parchment paper. Take this extra step to ensure easy release.
- For a Lemon Poppyseed Cake, add two tablespoons poppy seeds to the dry ingredients.
- Be sure to review my Baking FAQs for my other tips on cake baking.
- This cake will stay moist for days if stored in an airtight container or cake carrier.
hi i would love to make this cake, i just have a few questions .. does this recipe need to be modified if i live at sea level? Or any recipe that you want to make of your beautiful blog needs to be modified if I live at sea level? thanks in advance and I love your blog, beautiful photos, congratulations.
Thanks, Claudia! Yes, you’ll likely need to make a few adjustments for most of the cookies, cakes and other baked goods on my site – pretty much anything with leavening. To adjust a recipe from high altitude to sea level, you’ll usually be decreasing the flour and liquid by a few tablespoons and increasing the leavening a little. I always refer people to this article for guidance: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Made this recipe for a bbq on Labor Day weekend. I baked it in my bundt cake pan and it came out beautiful and oh so delicious. I piped flowers and vines all over the cake with the raspberry buttercream. 🤤 No leftovers to take home.