Strawberries, move over! Raspberries are taking the spotlight in this Summer Raspberry Cake! If you like a traditional Victoria Sponge, you will enjoy our version of lemon and raspberry cake with a layer of buttercream in the middle! Baked in one tin, the sponge is topped with tangy summer raspberries, then sliced in half after baking and cooling, creating a wonderful summer dessert for the whole family to enjoy!
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Ingredients and Substitutes
- butter: use unsalted butter at room temperature.
- caster sugar: white granulated sugar will work well too.
- eggs: medium in the UK or large, if you are in the US.
- vanilla bean paste: we love Nielsen Massay vanilla bean paste, but you can use one vanilla bean and simply scrape the seeds out of it.
- lemon: because we use both the juice and the zest in this raspberry sponge cake recipe, choose unwaxed lemons.
- plain flour: also known as all-purpose flour works best in this recipe, however, you can try to substitute up to 1/3 for wholewheat flour.
- baking powder: not to be mixed up with baking soda/ bicarbonate of soda.
- raspberries: we used fresh summer raspberries in this recipe. See Recipe FAQs for tips for using frozen raspberries.
- raspberry jam: we used seedless raspberry jam.
- icing sugar: a.k.a powdered sugar.
Method
STEP 1: Lemon and Raspberry Cake
Preheat the oven to 170° C Fan. Grease a 7in (18cm) springform cake tin with butter and line the bottom with a circle of baking parchment (we highly recommend Bacofoil).
Place softened butter and caster sugar in a large bowl and, using an electric handheld mixer, beat until pale and fluffy.
One at a time, beat in the eggs. Add the milk together with the last egg. Finally, mix in the lemon zest and vanilla paste.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
Gently fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Only mix long enough for the ingredients to combine – overmixing will result in a less fluffy cake.
Spoon the cake batter into a prepared cake tin and smooth out the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
Scatter the raspberries across the surface of the cake (see notes in the recipe card for tips). Place the cake into the oven for approx. 50 minutes.
Once cooked, leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes. Then take it out of the tin and leave it to cool down completely on a wire rack.
STEP 2: Cream Layer
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until pale and fluffy, for approx 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla paste. Tip the sifted icing sugar into the butter and mix carefully to partially combine (this will avoid a cloud of icing sugar when you start beating). Using an electric mixer, beat again until butter and sugar are completely incorporated.
STEP 3: Assembly
Cut the sponge in half crosswise. Spread the raspberry jam onto the bottom half of the cake. Spread the buttercream on the top half (you may reserve some buttercream for decorating the top) and carefully invert on to the bottom layer.
Recipe FAQs
Whilst we think this cake is best with fresh raspberries, you can use frozen ones too if making this cake out of season. Defrost the raspberries first and drain any excess liquid before dipping them in flour and arranging them on top. Defrosted frozen raspberries won’t keep their shape, but will still taste great.
Absolutely. You can make a cream cheese frosting instead! Or make the cake and leave it in one piece and serve it warm with a dollop of Greek yoghurt, vanilla ice cream or lemon sorbet!
You can coat the raspberries lightly in flour or cornflour and then scatter them on top of the cake. They will sink a little, but not right to the bottom of the cake!
Other Summer Bakes and Desserts
If you are in the mood for baking your way through summer, we have you covered. Here are some of our absolute favourites desserts and cakes to enjoy in the hot summer months:
Recipe Card
Summer Raspberry Cake
Ingredients
For The Sponge:
- 170 g butter softened
- 150 g caster sugar
- 3 eggs medium
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 lemon zest only
- 170 g plain flour (all-purpose flour), plus extra for raspberries
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 150 g raspberries
For the Middle:
- 95 g unsalted butter softened
- 90 g icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 heaped tbsp raspberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170° C Fan. Grease a 7in (18cm) springform cake tin with butter and line the bottom with a circle of baking parchment.
- Place softened butter and caster sugar in a large bowl and, using an electric handheld mixer, beat until pale and fluffy.
- One at a time, beat in the eggs Add the milk together with the last egg. Finally, mix in the lemon zest and vanilla paste.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Only mix long enough for the ingredients to combine – overmixing will result in a less fluffy cake.
- Spoon the cake batter into a prepared cake tin and smooth out the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Scatter the raspberries across the surface of the cake (see notes for tips). Place the cake into the oven for approx. 50 minutes.
- Once cooked, leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes. Then take it out of the tin and leave to cool down completely on a wire rack.
- Cut the sponge in half crosswise.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until pale and fluffy, for approx 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla paste. Tip the sifted icing sugar into the butter and mix carefully to incorporate (this will avoid a cloud of icing sugar when you start beating). Using an electric mixer, beat again until butter and sugar are completely incorporated.
- Spread the raspberry jam onto the bottom half of the cake. Spread the buttercream on the top half (you may reserve some buttercream for decorating the top) and carefully invert on to the bottom layer.
Notes
Nutrition
