Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling

It's here..the delectable lemon cake recipe and tutorial I promised!

I actually don't eat lemon cake very often. But, every time I do, I remember how much I love it! I tried this recipe, courtesy of Ina Garten, and it turned out great! I was a little nervous to attempt a recipe I had never done before, especially for such a special occasion but luckily I was not disappointed!

I have been seeing more and more of the Martha Stewart "Ruffle Cake" and have really been wanting to try it myself. The technique is gorgeous and surprisingly simple. So, I have also included a Ruffle Frosting tutorial if you would like to try it too!

This 3 layer cake is coated with a lemon glaze crumb-coat, followed by a lemon buttercream frosting. Although that probably would have been delicious enough, I decided to add a raspberry filling (my husbands favorite berry) and it proved to be an excellent combination!

Because this cake has a few recipes and processes, I have divided everything into categories instead of having 1 super giant post. So, click on each individual link to view the recipes and tutorials!

Part I. Click HERE to view Lemon Cake recipe and tutorial (or just click the read more link below)

Part II. Click HERE to view Lemon Buttercream recipe and Lemon Glaze recipe/tutorial

Part III. Click HERE to learn how to properly build a 3 tier round cake

Part IV. Click HERE to learn how to frost your cake using the "Ruffle Technique"

By the way...

Making a cake like this can be a little time consuming. To make things a little more stress free, I like to bake the cake the day before the event and put it in the fridge. That way the next day I just have to put it together and frost it. Less stress, and less mess!

Lemon Cake With Raspberry Filling (From Ina Garten)

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (3 to 4 large lemons)
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Raspberry filling - to use later, when building your cake. (I used store bought raspberry pie filling, just to save time. It still tasted excellent!)

By the way...I took a cake decorating class in college so this tutorial will include many helpful cake decorating techniques.

Part I - baking the cake

Step 1 (cake pan prep). Grease and flour two 8" round cake pans. To do this, take a small plastic sandwich bag, put it over your hand, and scoop up a few tablespoons of shortening. Then spread the shortening around the bottom and sides of the pan, making sure to coat it completely. sprinkle a couple of tablespoons in the pan and shake it around make sure all of the shortening is covered. 

Step 2. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest. 

Step 3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. 

Step 4. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour.

Step 5. Divide the batter evenly between the pans. If you only have one 8" round pan (like me), fill the pan about 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes (I think mine took around 35 min.). You can test the cake to see if its done by inserting a toothpick in the center, if it comes out clean its done! (Make sure you don't overcook the cake, you want it to be super moist!)

Part II - Building Your Cake

Step 1. Take your cake out of the oven and let it cook slightly. Now comes the scary part...taking the cake out without it falling apart! Glide a butter knife around the edge of the cake to ensure the cake is not sticking to the sides of the pan.

Step 2. Take a pan (large enough for your cake to sit on top of) and cover with 2 long strips of plastic wrap, in an "x" shape. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the plastic wrap, so the cake doesn't stick to it.

Step 3. Now be VERY careful... Take the cake and quickly tip it upside down onto the pan. Slowly remove the pan, its o.k. if the cake doesn't look perfect you can cover small holes and jagged edges with frosting later! (If this makes you nervous you can skip the plastic wrap, put the flat pan directly on the cake pan and flip it upside down, then add the plastic wrap later).

Step 4. When the cake has cooled completely, wrap it up with the plastic wrap and put it in the fridge until decorating time (if you are a go-getter and are doing the whole process at once, skip this step).

View the links below for further instructions...

Part II. Click HERE to view Lemon Buttercream recipe and Lemon Glaze recipe/tutorial

Part III. Click HERE to learn how to properly build a 3 tier round cake

Part IV. Click HERE to learn how to frost your cake using the "Ruffle Technique"