Lemon Raspberry Poppy Seed Cake

A Weekend of Birthdays

This weekend, I celebrated my birthday.  Consequently, I share my birthday with my long-time next door neighbor.  She has been a faithful taste tester of many of my cakes, so I decided it would be nice to bake her a cake of her own for her birthday.  So while my mom (bless her soul) was making me a chocolate turtle cake for my birthday, I was making a lemon raspberry poppy seed cake for our neighbor.

The Cake

The cake recipe is almost identical to the lemon cake from my lemon-lavender cake recipe.  The only change I made was adding poppy seeds.  I must confess, the recipe for the raspberry filling is not my own.  It is from the raspberry chocolate cake recipe by Life Love and Sugar.  You may want to make the filling ahead of time as it requires some cooling in the refrigerator.  The cake is topped off with lemon cream cheese buttercream frosting and some extra raspberries and lemon slices for garnish.  A note about the recipe:  The cake I made for my neighbor was a five-layer cake made in 6″ cake pans, and is thus the cake shown in the pictures.  However, the recipe generates enough for three eight inch cake rounds.

Blessings on your home and table,                                                                                                                  ~Natalie

Lemon Raspberry Poppy Seed Cake

Serves 12

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 4 egg whites + 2 whole eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

Raspberry Filling:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons water
• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Frosting:

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 9 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line the bottom of three eight inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds in a small bowl.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer.
4. Add eggs, one at a time until well incorporated.  Mix in sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.
5. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.  Mix in the buttermilk.  Add the remaining flour mixture.
6. Divide batter evenly between cake pans and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let cool completely.
7. Raspberry Filling:  Combine sugar, water, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat.  Cook until sugar is completely dissolved.  Add raspberries and stir to coat them with the sugar mixture.  Allow the mixture to cook until it has thickened slightly, all the while, mashing the raspberries along the sides of the saucepan with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon.  Once thickened, pour into a heat-proof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge until completely cooled.
8. Frosting:  In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.  Add the lemon juice.  Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
9. Assembly:  Level off the tops of the cake using a leveler or a large serrated knife.  Pipe a ring of frosting around the top of the first layer.  Spoon half of the raspberry filling into the middle of this ring.  Repeat this process once more.  Frost the top and sides of the cake with remaining frosting and garnish with fresh raspberries and lemon slices if desired.

 

For more cake recipes, check out my red currant orange poppy seed loaf cake!