Lemon raspberries and cream cake, with three layers of moist lemon cake, two layers of vanilla pudding, lemon curd, and raspberries – piled high with whipped cream.
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lemon raspberries and cream cake
Hello hello! I’m super excited to share this recipe with you all today because it’s truly equal parts pretty & delicious. I also love lemon curd so I’ll never miss an opportunity to put it in a recipe. This is my lemon raspberries and cream cake which is made up of three very moist and delicious lemon vanilla cake layers, two layers of vanilla pudding, lemon curd & raspberries – and then, of course, it’s piled high with fresh whipped cream, more lemon curd, and more raspberries.
The only thing special you’ll need is a 7″ springform pan – you can find the one I used here. But other than that, this cake is super easy to make. So let’s get into it! 🙂
why you’ll love this lemon raspberries and cream cake
- It’s super light and fluffy: we’re adding whipped egg whites into the vanilla cake to make it extra light and fluffy.
- The layers: no frosting here – (instant) vanilla pudding takes the place of frosting and adds a delicious creaminess that pairs so well with the raspberries.
- Lemon curd: it’s sharp, sweet, fresh, and pairs so well with the cake & raspberries.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Be careful when mixing the cake batter:
When you over-mix your batter, you create more gluten in the batter which will make your cake go from light and moist to dense and chewy. When you mix in the wet ingredients, be sure to only mix just until that last streak of flour disappears.
Use room temperature ingredients:
This is super important for allowing the batter to come together smoothly. You’ll want to take your ingredients out of the fridge about an hour before baking to allow them enough time to come to room temperature.
Keep a close eye on the cake while it bakes:
Cakes and cupcakes like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. I’d recommend that you start checking on the cake around 35 minutes.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for lemon raspberries and cream cake:
lemon vanilla cake:
- All purpose flour: gives the cake structure.
- Baking powder: for helping the cake rise.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the batter.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cake and for flavor. You can substitute in salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt in the batter.
- Vegetable oil: for tenderizing the cake. If you don’t have vegetable oil on hand, you can use another neutral oil such as canola.
- Granulated sugar: for adding sweetness and for locking in moisture.
- Egg whites: for binding the batter together, adding moisture, and for making the cake super light and fluffy.
- Vanilla: for flavor.
- Sour cream & whole milk: for moisture and for tenderizing the cake. I recommend full-fat for both of these for the best texture, but low-fat or non-dairy alternatives should work well here.
- Lemons: fresh, for the zest.
lemon curd:
- Egg yolks: the base of the curd and what thickens it up.
- Granulated sugar: sweetens up the curd.
- Lemons: where all the flavor comes from! You’ll need fresh lemons for the zest and the juice.
- Salt: to balance and bring out the sweetness of the curd.
- Unsalted butter: for thickening the curd and giving it that melt-in-your-mouth feel. You can use salted butter here, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the curd.
vanilla pudding:
- Instant vanilla pudding: I used Jell-o brand. This is a super simple (but super delicious) alternative to pastry cream for this cake.
- Heavy cream: thickens up the pudding and makes it more creamy.
- Whole milk: used to dissolve the pudding mix. 1% or 2% will work great here as well.
- Raspberries: fresh, for layering in the pudding.
Whipped cream:
- Heavy whipping cream: the base of the whipped cream.
- Granulated sugar: just a bit of sugar to sweeten up the cream a little.
- Vanilla bean paste: or vanilla extract, for flavor
- Salt: to balance the sweetness of the whipped cream.
how to make lemon raspberries and cream cake
Below are some images of what the cake looks like at various points of the process. You can find the full recipe at the end of the blog post!
- Beat together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, lemon zest, and butter, then beat in the wet ingredients.
- Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until they reach stiff peaks, then gently fold them into the batter.
- Bake the cake.
- Once the cake has cooled, slice it into thirds horizontally.
- Make the pudding layer by whisking together the instant pudding, heavy cream, and milk.
- Layer the cake with the pudding, lemon curd, and raspberries. Pile high with whipped cream, then slice, serve, and enjoy!
lemon raspberries and cream cake
recipe q&a
Help! My cake is dry / over-baked
If your cake turned out a tad dry, you can brush some milk on to the layers to help make it a bit more moist again. The pudding filling will also help and make it more moist over time.
can I turn this into cupcakes?
If you’d like to turn these into cupcakes, you definitely could! Bake them off as cupcakes (of course.) You will get around 10, depending how much you fill the liners. Once they’ve cooled, scoop some of the center out and fill it with lemon curd. Then, place a big ol’ scoop of the pudding on top of the cupcakes to frost them and top them with some raspberries for garnish. You won’t need the whipped cream if you go this route.
Can I bake this cake in a different sized pan?
You could bake this in a 8″ springform. Just note that the cake and cream layer will be a tad thinner.
can I make this cake ahead of time?
Definitely! You can bake the cake a day in advance and keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also make the pudding and lemon curd a day in advance and keep it stored separately in the fridge. I’d recommend waiting to assemble the cake until you want to serve it, to avoid needing to keep it all in the fridge, where the cake will dry out faster.
how to store lemon raspberry vanilla cream cake
Once you fill the cake, you’ll want to keep it stored in an airtight container in the fridge, where it will keep well for about 3 days.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Lemon Raspberries and Cream Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Vanilla Cake
- 150 g all purpose flour (1 ¼ c.)
- 1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 175 g granulated sugar (¾ c. + 2 tbsp.)
- zest of 2 lemons
- 85 g unsalted butter cubed, room temperature (6 tbsp.)
- 25 g vegetable oil (2 tbsp.)
- 1 tbsp. vanilla
- 60 g sour cream room temperature (¼ c.)
- 100 g whole milk room temperature (¼ c. + 3 tbsp.)
- 2 egg whites room temperature
Lemon Curd
- 35 g unsalted butter cubed (2 ½ tbsp.)
- 2 egg yolks
- 65 g granulated sugar (⅓ c.)
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 40 g lemon juice (2 ⅔ tbsp.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
Vanilla Pudding
- 1 packet instant vanilla pudding (96g / 3.4 oz)
- 335 g heavy whipping cream (1 ½ c.)
- 115 g whole milk (½ c.)
- 120 g fresh raspberries halved (1 c.)
Whipped Cream
- 170 g heavy whipping cream (¾ c.)
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
- ⅛ tsp. salt
Instructions
Lemon Vanilla Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Butter a 7" springform pan, then coat the inside with sugar.
- To a medium sized mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, lemon zest, and cubed butter. Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the mixture together until the butter has completely combined with the dry ingredients and no lumps remain.
- Add in the oil, vanilla, sour cream and milk. Whisk the ingredients together just until a cohesive batter has formed.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they reach stiff peaks.
- Add the egg whites to the batter and gently fold them into the batter until the mixture is cohesive.
- Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Lemon Curd
- While the cake is baking, make the lemon curd. Prep a small mixing bowl by adding the cubed butter to it, along with a fine mesh sieve. Set aside.
- Add the egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt to a small saucepan.
- Whisk the mixture, then place the saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue to stir the curd until it thickens and reaches a temperature of at least 170°F / 76°C (This took me about 3 minutes.)
- Remove the curd from the heat and pass it through the fine mesh sieve over the butter. Mix the curd and the butter together until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Place the curd in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the cake.
Vanilla Pudding
- Add the instant vanilla pudding mix to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in the heavy cream and whole milk and whisk for 2 minutes.
- Transfer the pudding to the fridge to chill until you're ready to assemble the cake.
- Once the cake has completely cooled to room temperature, slice it in half horizontally twice to get three even pieces. If the cake seems a little over-baked/dry, brush some milk onto the inside part of both halves.
- Place the bottom piece of the cake into the pan. Spread ½ of the vanilla pudding onto the bottom cake layer, then top it with ~⅓ of the lemon curd and ~⅓ of the raspberries.
- Place the middle cake layer on top, then spread the remaining pudding on top of it, followed by ½ of the remaining lemon curd and ½ of the remaining raspberries.
- Place the top half of the cake on to the pudding – pushing down slightly to secure it.
- Cover the cake and place it in the fridge while you make the whipped cream.
Whipped Cream
- Add the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and salt to a medium sized mixing bowl (or to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.) Beat the mixture until soft peaks form.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and from the pan. Top it with the whipped cream, remaining lemon curd, and remaining raspberries. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
Love the recipe. Made it today, was hit at office.
Thank you so much Sam, I’m so happy to hear that!
Hi! Looks amazing, as always! I’m hosting a galentine’s afternoon tea party soon and a few guests are gluten free. I’m wondering if I could make this gluten free with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1:1 Baking Flour instead of the all purpose flour? Any thoughts?
Hi Theresa! So sorry for the late reply – I have not tried this out with a GF flour but I don’t see why a 1:1 gf flour wouldn’t work here!
No worries! Thank you Erin! One other question, the cake recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of vanilla. Is that correct? That seems like a lot of vanilla to me. My cake is currently in the oven so I can’t take it back now haha, but just wanted to ask in case it’s a typo!
Hi! Yes the 1 tbsp of vanilla is correct. I hope it all turns out perfectly for you! 🙂
It turned out perfectly!!! Amazing cake!!! Everyone loved it – such a hit and it just looks delightful. I greatly appreciate that the recipe uses instant pudding and makes life a little easier! I made the lemon curd 4 days before serving, then refrigerated; the cake 3 days before, then froze; the vanilla pudding last night; then made the whipped cream and assembled it this morning! (Only 2 layers instead of 3) It all tasted fresh and moist! Thank you again for an incredible recipe that makes me look like a star baker 🙂
p.s. I didn’t end up doing gluten free, but thanks for the help!