Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake
This easy flower cake is a simple one layer lemon cake with raspberry buttercream and easy buttercream roses. This impressive yet Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake is perfect for any occasion!
If you’re looking for more spring cakes, check out some of my other favorites like Strawberry Almond Cake, Eggless Strawberry Shortcake, Eggless Strawberry Zucchini Cake, Vegan Lemon Chamomile Tea Cake, or Orange Ginger Carrot Cake.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake
- Ready In: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Makes: 8-inch cake (about 9 slices)
- Main Ingredients: salted butter, cane sugar, powdered sugar, raspberries
- Flavor Profile: lightly sweet lemon cake with tart raspberries
- Dietary Info: gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: naturally colorful, stunning snacking cake
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Naturally Colorful: This lemon raspberry cake is naturally colorful, thanks to the addition of fresh raspberries in the buttercream! No food coloring here!
- Easy Decorating: If you’re new to decorating cakes, then this easy flower cake is a perfect beginner cake! I pipe easy buttercream roses on top of a simple one layer snack cake. So if you want to start decorating cakes, this easy flower cake is a perfect place to start!
- Spring Cake: This cake with easy buttercream roses makes a beautiful spring cake! This easy flower cake would be a beautiful cake to serve for Easter or Mother’s Day!
- Organic Cake: I use organic ingredients in this Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake so you can feel good about indulging in this beautiful cake with no artificial colors!
Ingredients
- Butter: I like to use Organic Valley Salted Butter for cakes, you can read more about this in my post Best Salted Butter for Baking. If you want to use unsalted butter, you can but you'll just need to add in 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1/2 cup.
- Lemon Flavor: I use organic lemon flavor for this cake for the best flavor. This is a concentrated sweet lemon flavor that I love using in cakes as it's minimal effort with big flavor.
- Lemons: I also use lemon zest inside the cake for a little tart lemon flavor to meld with the sweet lemon extract.
- Sour Cream: I love using sour cream in cakes as it provides moisture, structure, and also a little tang. This flavor goes so well with this organic cake.
- Cake Flour: I use Homemade Organic Cake Flour, but store bought also works.
- Baking Powder: Be sure to use baking powder, not soda. Be sure to check out my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening agents.
- Raspberries: I use fresh raspberries in the frosting. If you don't have fresh raspberries, you can use organic raspberry powder as well, but I don't think it has the same flavor. If you use the powder, omit the cornstarch as you do not need it.
- Cornstarch: I add organic cornstarch to the raspberry frosting because I'm using fresh berries with high water content. This helps solidify the frosting.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips for Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Make sure your butter is soft! This is key for a smooth cake batter. I like to allow butter to soften naturally on the counter.
- I use an 8×8-inch cake pan for this recipe. If you only have a 9×9-inch pan, you could also use that as well.
- If you don't have fresh raspberries, you can make the frosting with freeze-dried raspberries. You'll want to use about 2 teaspoons of freeze-dried raspberry powder. You can buy the powder or food processor freeze-dried raspberries into a powder. You'll also need to use half the amount of powdered sugar (or confectioners’ sugar) in the frosting as you won't need as much sugar because there's no moisture in freeze-dried raspberries.
- Check out my post How to Make a Flower Cake With Buttercream for a full video tutorial if you are new to piping roses onto cakes.
- Make sure to store extra cake in an airtight container in the fridge so it stays moist.
- Gluten Free — Replace the cake flour with 170 grams (heaping 1 cup) gluten free flour blend, I used the Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend for testing.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
How to Make a Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, lemon zest, and lemon flavor.
- Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.
- Add the eggs, milk, and sour cream.
- Mix on low to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and sea salt in that order.
- Mix on low until combined into a smooth batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pan. (If you’re baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for the high altitude baking instructions).
- To make the piping frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. Mix on low until combined and then speed mixer up to high and mix for 1 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Transfer three-quarters of the frosting to a piping bag with Ateco tip #827. Transfer the remaining one-quarter to a piping bag with Ateco tip #30.
- To make the raspberry frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (no need to was the bowl) add the butter, powdered sugar, raspberries, and cornstarch. Mix on low until combined then speed mixer up to high and mix for 1 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the raspberry frosting on top of the cooled cake and spread evenly.
- Spread it out evenly.
- Pipe roses onto the boarder of the cake and add the remaining raspberries.
Recipe FAQ's
A snack cake is a single layer cake, just one layer of cake and one layer of frosting. They are called snacking cakes because it's a smaller portion of cake with only one layer and the slice are usually smaller too!
Lemon and raspberry are a great pairing as the raspberry is sweet and the lemon brings a tart so they compliment each other so well!
We're using real raspberries to get a naturally pink frosting without food coloring.
Yes, you can. Just thaw the raspberries in the fridge for 24 hours before using and drain off excess moisture before adding to the frosting.
Yes, you'll want to use about 2 teaspoons of freeze-dried raspberry powder. You can buy the powder or food processor freeze-dried raspberries into a powder. You'll also need to use half the amount of powdered sugar (or confectioners’ sugar) in the frosting as you won't need as much sugar because there's no moisture in freeze-dried raspberries.
You can!
This is my lazy way of making raspberry buttercream (without cooking down the raspberries). Because fresh fruit has a lot of juices, and I’m not cooking it down, I add in a little cornstarch to keep the buttercream thicker and not too runny.
You can if you don't have a fresh lemon. Just skip the zest in the batter and use bottled lemon juice for the frosting.
Yes, feel free to use Ateco tip #846 or #864 if you have either of those! You can really use any open or closed star decorating tips you like for a similar look.
No, if you want to skip the roses completely, you can totally do that! If you do this, you don’t have to make the piping frosting!
Yes, you can. Just be sure to store it in the fridge because of the fresh raspberry frosting. It should also be covered to keep it moist and to prevent it from drying out. You can leave the cake in the cake pan or store it under a dome to keep it moist.
Yes, this does need to be refrigerated because of the fresh raspberries. If you do the freeze-dried raspberry frosting option instead, then it doesn't need to be refrigerated.
Yes, you can freeze either the cake or extra slices. To freeze just the cake (unfrosted) bake, cool, and wrap in plastic wrap. Then, you can transfer to the fridge for 24 hours before frosting. If you want to freeze the whole frosted cake, you can do that too. Just freeze the finished cake first so everything can solidify (including the roses), you can do this on a baking sheet. Once it's completely frozen, then you can wrap the entire cake in plastic wrap. If you have extra slices, wrap completely in plastic wrap. You can freeze all of these options for up to 3 months. Thaw for 24 hours in the fridge before enjoying.
You can, but you'll need to bake for a little bit less. Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.
More Snack Cake Recipes
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Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- 8×8-inch Baking Pan
- Parchment Paper
- Piping Bags
- Ateco Tip #827
- Ateco Tip #30
Ingredients
Batter
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 170 grams cane sugar
- 1 lemon (zest)
- 1 teaspoon lemon flavor
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- ½ cup milk (room temperature)
- 57 grams sour cream (room temperature)
- 170 grams cake flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Piping Frosting
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 226 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Raspberry Frosting
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 226 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1.5 ounces raspberries
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Topping
- 3 ounces raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, lemon zest, and lemon flavor. Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.
- Add the eggs, milk, and sour cream and mix on low to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and sea salt in that order and mix on low until combined into a smooth batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pan.
- To make the piping frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. Mix on low until combined and then speed mixer up to high and mix for 1 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Transfer three-quarters of the frosting to a piping bag with Ateco tip #827. Transfer the remaining one-quarter to a piping bag with Ateco tip #30.
- To make the raspberry frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (no need to was the bowl) add the butter, powdered sugar, raspberries, and cornstarch. Mix on low until combined then speed mixer up to high and mix for 1 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the raspberry frosting on top of the cooled cake and spread evenly.
- Pipe roses onto the boarder of the cake and add the remaining raspberries.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Make sure your butter is soft! This is key for a smooth cake batter. I like to allow butter to soften naturally on the counter.
- I use an 8×8-inch cake pan for this recipe. If you only have a 9×9-inch pan, you could also use that as well.
- If you don't have fresh raspberries, you can make the frosting with freeze-dried raspberries. You'll want to use about 2 teaspoons of freeze-dried raspberry powder. You can buy the powder or food processor freeze-dried raspberries into a powder. You'll also need to use half the amount of powdered sugar (or confectioners’ sugar) in the frosting as you won't need as much sugar because there's no moisture in freeze-dried raspberries.
- Check out my post How to Make a Flower Cake With Buttercream for a full video tutorial if you are new to piping roses onto cakes.
- Make sure to store extra cake in an airtight container in the fridge so it stays moist.
- Gluten Free — Replace the cake flour with 170 grams (heaping 1 cup) gluten free flour blend.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
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Warning: don’t make this one if you don’t want to eat the entire thing by yourself. So good!!
Haha, thank you!
So so good, light and airy! Amazing!
Thank you Connie, so glad you enjoyed!
Mimi uses sorcery in all her desserts. I can never have just one piece. All these recipes are insanely good 🪄
Thank you so much!