Lemon Lime & Raspberry Layer Cake

Springtime calls for desserts like this.  Fresh flavors that don’t weigh you down or make you feel too full.  This light citrus cake is filled with fresh raspberries and topped with a sweet cream cheese glaze-like frosting.  It was the perfect end to the Mother’s Day lunch we had last weekend with some of our friends.  The kids played in the pool while we sat outside enjoying the perfectly warm and breezy weather while eating our cake.  I’d enjoy a day like that again anytime.

This recipe is from Cooking Light, and I chose it because I’d made it years ago and remembered it being really tasty.  The original recipe calls for lemonade concentrate, which I could not find.  Weird, right?  They had all kinds of juice concentrate, and lots of frozen drink mixers, but no lemonade.  I used limeade instead and it was great.  My only complaint with the use of juice concentrate in this recipe is that you’re left with a lot left over.  If I’d been thinking about not being wasteful, I’d have frozen the rest in ice cube trays and used them to ice down a pitcher of punch or something.  But I don’t always think about stuff like that when it matters.  I think about it after I’ve tossed what I could have saved.

I added the berries in the middle of the cake because I thought it needed some color and berries are a perfect match for citrus.  Blueberries would have also been nice in the center, or a combination of the two.  I squished and flattened the raspberries as I layered them on the cake to make sure they made a nice even blanket of berries.

A good thing to know about the cake is that the tops get sticky.  When you take them out of the pans to cool, set them bottom side down or else the tops will stick to the cooling racks and make you very frustrated when you try to move them.  I am speaking from personal experience and am trying to save you some heartache.

The frosting/glaze gave me some trouble when I frosted/glazed the cake.  It’s not thin, like a glaze, but not quite thick enough to be used as frosting.  It could be the concentrate that makes the consistency a bit sticky and strange, but it still tastes good.  I thought about adding more sugar, but didn’t so as not to make it too ridiculously sweet.  The final product wasn’t as pretty and clean as I would have hoped, but it was delicious.  I made the cake the night before and refrigerated it overnight.  This cake stores very well in the fridge.  I did notice a little sugary crunch to the frosting when eaten cold from the fridge, but not so much after it had warmed up slightly.  This recipe is one that I’ll come back to.  I might try it as cupcakes for a baby shower I’m helping with in June.

Carson enjoyed this cake.  Or maybe he just enjoyed the fact that I was letting him have his way with a real fork and a nice big slice of cake…

Lemon, Lime and Raspberry Layer Cake

From Cooking Light

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons thawed limeade concentrate
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries, rinsed and drained

Frosting

  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoons thawed limeade concentrate
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease and flour 2 8-inch cake pans.
  3. To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
  5. Pour batter into cake pans; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles.
  6. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
  7. To prepare frosting, place butter, cream cheese, concentrate, zest and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.
  8. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.