Lemon Raspberry Cake
Recipe for a Lemon Raspberry Cake that is made of layers of lemon torte, probably my most successful the most delicious one I ever made, filled with raspberry German buttercream, coated with raspberry ganache.
This lemon torte is so rich and moist that it doesn’t even require brushing with simple syrup. Do not be intimidated by making a Germany buttercream. It is a lot easier to make compared to any other buttercream you might be familiar with, and is significantly less sweet than American buttercream.
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Lemon Raspberry Cake:
One Round cake pan, 15cm (d) x 7.5cm (h), sides and bottom lined with parchment paper.
Recipe: A single cake sized 16cm (d) x 8 cm (h)
For the cake:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| White Granulated Sugar | 175g |
| Vegetable Oil | 54g |
| Eggs | 84g |
| Vanilla Extract | 1 tsp |
| Sour Cream (15%) | 50g |
| All Purpose Flour | 175g |
| Baking Powder | 7.5g (1.5 tsps) |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp |
| Lemon Zest | 7g |
| Lemon Juice | 70g |
| Milk | 80g |
For the Raspberry German Buttercream:
For the pastry cream:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Eggs | 30g |
| Milk | 70g |
| Raspberry Puree | 70g |
| Cornstarch | 10g |
| White Granulated Sugar (adjust sweetness level to your taste) | 50g |
| Unsalted Butter (1) | 10g |
For the buttercream:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Pastry Cream | 200g |
| Softened Unsalted Butter (2) (Room Temperature) | 200g |
For the Raspberry Ganache:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| White Chocolate (melted) | 35g |
| Raspberry Puree | 35g |
Cake preparation and assembly instructions:
Lemon Torte Batter:
- Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper and set to the side.
- Preheat your oven to 160C (fan mode off), setting a baking rack at the lowest level of your oven.
- In a bowl, rub the sugar, salt and lemon zest with your hands, so that the oils and aroma of the lemon will be incorporated into the sugar and salt crystals.
- Add in the sour cream and thoroughly whisk it into the mixture.
- Add in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, milk, oil and eggs, and whisk together to a smooth mixture.
- Sift the flour and baking powder over the wet ingredients. Whisk thoroughly to a smooth batter without any lumps.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and allow it to cool down 10 minutes before unmolding and letting it cool down completely.
- Once the cake has cooled down, slice it into 3 layers, 1.5cm thickness each.
German Raspberry Buttercream (Video demonstration available here):
- In a small bowl, whisk together 35g of the milk and cornstarch, until smooth and without any lumps. Add the eggs and whisk thoroughly to combine.
- Into a small saucepan, and the rest of 35g of Milk with sugar and raspberry puree, and cook on low-medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the milk simmers.
- Gradually temper the eggs mixture with the hot milk mixture by constantly whisking it to avoid cooking the eggs.
- Pour the eggs mixture back into the saucepan through a fine strainer to get rid of any unwanted cooked egg bits.
- Cook on medium heat whisking constantly making sure to scrape the sides of your pan, until you see large and thick bubbles rising to the surface. This should take 2-3 minutes. As soon as you see the bubbles, cook for some 1-2 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and add in the butter (1). Whisk well to combine.
- Transfer the cream to a clean bowl and cover it with plastic wrap that touches the surface of the custard to prevent a skin forming. Cool down to room temperature.
- Using an electric mixer, or using a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the unsalted butter (2) on medium-high speed until it is light and fluffy.
- Add the cooled custard gradually by the tablespoon and mix very well to combine. There is no risk of separation here, but we need to ensure the cream is uniform.
Assembly:
- Evenly spread the cake sheet with about 100g of the cream and cover it with the next cake sheet.
- Repeat steps 1-2 with the rest of the cake sheets and cream.
- Ice the entire cake with the rest of the cream (you should have about 50-70g of leftover buttercream at the end of the process).
- Prepare the raspberry ganache by melting the white chocolate and raspberry cream, separately, in the microwave. Then combine the two together. The mixture should be at body temperature before using (it should be poured on a cold cake).
- Decorate with whipped cream and berries, as shown on the photo, or per your personal preferences.
