This lemon raspberry bundt cake is so moist, tart and delicious, you’ll want to eat slice after slice. This scratch cake recipe includes a lemon cake base and a yummy raspberry swirl plus a delicious lemon glaze to top it all off.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
I really love how pretty this cake is. I love the way you get variations in the color of the raspberry puree swirled throughout the cake.
This cake takes a bit of effort. It’s not hard to do, but it does take a couple extra steps. Believe me though, the effort is worth it. You just can’t beat the combination of the lemon and raspberry.
Now you’ll want to make the puree ahead of time and it does take a bit of time and patience to remove the seeds, but I’ll show you how to do that in the video.
Once the cake is baked and cooled, you’ll then top if off with an insanely easy lemon glaze. You don’t want to skip this part, it really gives an added zing to the cake.
A LOOK AT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE LEMON RASPBERRY BUNDT CAKE:
Real Raspberries: These are a must here and you can use frozen or fresh.
Cake flour: I chose to use cake flour because I feel like it makes a softer textured cake.
Lemon Yogurt: This provides moisture and a bit of extra lemon taste to the cake.
Lemon Zest, Lemon Juice and Lemon Extract: Adds a ton of lemon flavor to the cake.
MIXING METHOD FOR THE LEMON RASPBERRY BUNDT CAKE:
I went with the regular creaming method for this one. That means you’ll be whipping up the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, adding in the eggs one at a time and then alternately adding in the liquid and dry ingredients.
There is one small change in that you’ll reserve a portion of the batter that you’ll add your raspberry puree to, so make sure not to forget that part.
TIPS & FAQs FOR THE LEMON RASPBERRY BUNDT CAKE:
You can use either frozen or fresh raspberries in this recipe. I used fresh, but if you’re using frozen, just make sure they are thawed completely.
If you don’t mind the seeds, you don’t have to strain them out. You’ll have more puree than you’ll need for the recipe though, so you just need to be aware of that.
If you strain the seeds out though (per the recipe), the amount of puree you have left should be the exact amount you’ll need for the recipe. In my opinion, it makes a better cake without the seeds.
You’ll get the best results with cake flour. It will make a softer cake texture, but if you can’t get it, you can substitute with all purpose flour with these changes:
For every cup of cake flour called for in the recipe, use one cup of all purpose flour instead and remove two tablespoons of it, then replace that with two tablespoons of cornstarch.
You definitely don’t want to omit it. Using lemon yogurt adds a bit more lemon flavor and the yogurt is needed for moisture. If you can’t find lemon yogurt, you can substitute with plain yogurt. You can use regular yogurt or Greek yogurt. (I used lemon Greek yogurt.)
You really don’t want to omit the zest as this will give the cake a lot of lemon flavor.
You can, but the lemon extract gives the cake some lemon flavor, so if you omit it, your cake may not have as much lemon flavor as you’d like.
Don’t melt it, just set it out to come to room temp.
You’ll see in the recipe that you will add the batter to the pan in two parts. Make sure to swirl the batter very well.
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SUPPLIES USED FOR THIS CAKE:
- Fine mesh strainer
- Large glass mixing bowl
- Glass batter bowl
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
- Flat beater attachment (if using a stand mixer)
- Bundt Pan
- Wooden Spoons
- Rubber Spatulas
- Cooling Racks
Ok let’s get to the recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the raspberry puree:
- 16 oz. fresh raspberries (you can use anywhere from about 16 – 18 oz.)
- 4 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
For the cake:
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature (two sticks)
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup lemon yogurt (about 2 small containers)
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest (from about two lemons)
- 4 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from about two lemons)
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract (can add another teaspoon for extra lemon flavor)
- ¾ cup seedless raspberry puree, cooled (see instructions above)
- red gel food coloring (optional)
For the glaze:
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 5 tablespoon lemon juice
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Instructions
For the puree:
- You’ll first want to make the puree, so it can be cooled when added to the cake batter.
- Add all the puree ingredients for the puree to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes until it cooks down and thickens just a bit. (It won't get super thick.)
- Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the seeds. (This will take some patience, but it's worth it.)
- After you’ve strained the puree, you’ll have about ¾ cup of seedless raspberry puree. Cover and chill the puree until it is at least room temperature or slightly cooler. You can pop it in the fridge for twenty minutes or so while you work on your cake batter.
For the cake:
- Once your raspberry puree has chilled, or at least come to room temperature, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan very well and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract. Set aside.
- In your mixing bowl, beat the butter on medium until smooth. Add sugar and beat on medium/high until fluffy. This will take several minutes.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, beating on medium just until combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again only for about 10 seconds.
- Add a third of the flour mixture and beat on medium until just combined. Add half the liquid mixture and beat just until combined. Add another third of the flour mixture, mix until combined. Add in the last half of the liquid mixture, beat, then add in the last third of the flour mixture and beat only until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again only for about 10-15 seconds.
- Now take out 2 cups of the batter and add to a small mixing bowl. Add the ¾ cup of cooled, strained raspberry puree to the 2 cups of regular cake batter and mix together with a whisk. Add in about two small drops of gel red food coloring to brighten the color a bit.
- Pour half of the regular cake batter (from your large mixing bowl) into the prepared bundt pan. Smooth the batter.
- Add the raspberry batter mixture to your pan and smooth.
- Pour in the remaining regular cake batter over the raspberry batter and smooth.
- Use the handle of a wooden spoon to swirl the cake batter well. Go around the pan multiple times to swirl very well. (If you don't swirl the batter enough, you will have large pockets of raspberry puree and the cake will not set up or bake throughout properly.)
- Place in the oven and bake for approximately 55-60 minutes.
- A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 25 minutes before turning the cake out onto a plate.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before adding glaze.
For the glaze:
- Add the confectioners sugar and lemon juice to a bowl and mix well with a whisk.
- Check the consistency. If it’s too thick, add in more lemon juice a teaspoon at at time.
- If it’s too thin, add more confectioners sugar.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Don’t Forget to Pin it Below!
Janet
Can this be made with freeze dried raspberries?
Kara Jane
Hi Janet, I have not tried this with freeze dried raspberries. It may be possible, but may have to add a little water to them to reconstitute them a bit…not sure. I only tried this recipe with fresh raspberries and also with frozen raspberries that were defrosted. Sorry I’m not more help!
Anna
I’m wondering if this can be made as a layer cake?
Kara Jane
Yes it should be fine as a layer cake. I haven’t tested it out as one, but I don’t see a reason it wouldn’t work. Just make sure to swirl the raspberry puree really well into the batter and you’ll probably need to bake it for a little less time. I’d start checking at about 40-45 minutes.
jabeve
Do you think good quality seedless raspberry preserves could be used? Can’t wait to try this recipe….Thanks
Kara Jane
I think it’s possible it might work. I haven’t tested it out, but feel like it could work…it just might be sweeter though, since it’s the preserves and not puree.
Linda
Have you ever tried strawberry purée in place of the raspberries? That’s all I have at the moment. To cake looks great
Kara Jane
Linda, you could sure try that. I think it would be just fine. I’ve found though that strawberries aren’t as strong in flavor as the raspberries would be though, so there might not be enough strawberry flavor.
Megan Lac
Made this cake for Mother’s Day. I used strawberry puree instead of raspberry (what I had on hand). Still turned out great. The baking time for me was closer to an hour and half. The basic lemon cake batter would be great on it’s own. Will make this recipe again!
Kara
Yay! I’m so glad it worked out and that you liked it! Love the strawberry puree idea too!
Wendy
What size Bundt pan? I several different ones.
Kara
Hi Wendy, I used just a standard size bundt pan, but anything 10 inches or larger should work.