Easy Lemon Raspberry Cake
This easy Lemon Raspberry Cake is topped with delicious streusel and filled with juicy raspberries! A buttery and moist crumb cake that is perfect for spring and summer. Your guests will be begging you for the recipe.
This Lemon Raspberry Cake is bursting with flavor! A lemon-flavored batter that is so light and fluffy because of the creamed butter is topped with juicy raspberries and a crunchy cookie-like streusel.
I’m a big fan of everything lemon-flavored like this Easy Lemon Sheet Cake Recipe but what’s even better than lemon is lemon combined with sweet, juicy raspberries like in this cake or in my Raspberry Lemon Curd Cupcakes. Lemon and raspberries are a great flavor combination!
And combined with an easy streusel topping this cake is sure to be a crowd-pleaser that not only looks pretty but also tastes delicious. You’ll love the cookie-like German streusel on top!
Streusels are by far my favorite thing to put on a cake! Especially German Streusel which has a cookie-like texture and is crunchy on the outside but soft where it touches the cake. It’s like combining a cookie and cake. So tasty AND super easy to make!
If you like this kind of streusel you have to try my German Apple Streusel Sheet Cake, it’s one of my most popular recipes. A moist apple filling topped with crunchy streusel, this cake will be your favorite way to eat apples, even if it’s not fall at the moment.
But back to this Lemon Raspberry Cake. This easy coffee cake would make a great dessert for Easter but it’s also perfect for Mother’s Day Brunch or even breakfast.
HOW TO MAKE LEMON RASPBERRY CAKE
To make this lemon crumb cake you need a 9-inch springform pan
You can use frozen or fresh raspberries for this cake. I prefer frozen raspberries because they’re harvested as ripe as possible and are easily available all year. You don’t need to thaw the raspberries. But this cake is also great to use up all those juicy, ripe fresh raspberries!
This lemon raspberry coffee cake is topped with German-style crumbs called Streusel. Real German streusels are crunchy and have a cookie-like texture. They’re usually made with granulated sugar, flour, and butter.
SOME MORE RECIPES YOU’LL ENJOY!
I have a lot of recipes to choose from if you want to take a look at my recipe index, but here are a few of my recent recipes.
These Brown Butter Maple Glazed Roasted Rainbow Carrots are the easiest and most delicious side dish ever! They make a perfect side dish for your Easter Sunday dinner. If you’re looking for other spring cakes, you need to check out my Easy Carrot Cake Recipe or my Easy Banana Cake Recipe. Both are great desserts for crowds!
Easy Lemon Raspberry Cake with Crumb Topping
This easy Lemon Raspberry Cake is topped with delicious streusel and filled with juicy raspberries! Your guests will be begging you for the recipe. Watch the VIDEO above to see how easy it is to make this cake!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature (115g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream (225g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour (250g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 large lemons (60ml)
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 cups raspberries fresh or frozen (not thawed) (230g)
Streusel:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (135g)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature (115g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 380˚F (180°C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to the batter and whisk until just combined.
- Add lemon juice and freshly grated lemon zest.
Pour batter into prepared springform pan and spread evenly. Top with frozen raspberries and spread evenly. The raspberries should be distributed in a single layer so that they are not too crowded.
- To make the streusel, combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, and butter in a bowl. Mix for 2-3 minutes until all the flour is incorporated. Distribute the streusel evenly over the raspberries.
- Bake for about 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake rest for about 15 minutes then remove ring and let cool completely.
Recipe Notes
- If you don't have a springform pan you could also use a normal pan and these parchment paper rounds with tabs to help you lift your cake easily out.
- For the best flavor use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- This cake keeps fresh covered at room temperature for about 3 days.
- Make your own cake flour at home: Take one level cup of all-purpose flour, remove two tablespoons, and then add two tablespoons of cornstarch back in. Sift the flour to distribute the cornstarch well before adding it.
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This looks so delicious. I am going to have to try this! Beautiful pictures!
Julia
Thank you, Heather! It’s so easy to make and perfect for spring and summer. – Julia
Izzy
This looks amazing!
Izzy | Pinch of delight
Kristen Chidsey
Julia, I totally agree with you–struesels are the BEST on cakes or muffins, or breads…..LOL!!
Kerry
Where does the baking soda come in?
Julia
Oh I’m sorry, I forgot to add that to the instructions! When you combine the flour, baking powder, and salt you also add the baking soda. Thank you for catching my mistake, Kerry!
Lindsay | With Salt and Pepper
This looks off the hook packed with flavor Julia!! Two of my favorites combined ?
Annette Herbst
I wonder if you could switch the raspberries with huckleberries?
Julia
I haven’t tried it but I think huckleberries would work too. – Julia
Annette Herbst
Thanks for the reply
F
Any chance this could be adapted for a large sheet cake?
Thanks
Steph
I saw this recipe and thought it looked great and decided to make it today for Easter. I was so disappointed in how this turned out and after cutting into it, we ended up throwing it out. I had some doubts about the :”frozen raspberries” as i feel, there is added condensation and also brings the temperature down of the actual cake while baking because of the coldness of the raspberries, however, I followed this recipe exactly as stated and the cake was just so wet (and it just never cooked up). It was in the oven over one and half hours and yet, it was still wet inside when we cut into it. I felt this would have been a great cake, and it smelled great in the oven, but i knew something was wrong, when a toothpick would not come up clean (and that wasn’t from wet berries), but actual wet cake batter. Has someone had this issue? I am an experienced baker and I have an oven thermometer, etc. My baking powder and baking soda are fresh, as I bake several times per week, and therefore, always have fresh baking powder when baking. I am tempted to try this again with fresh berries, however, after having to throw away a cake that used expensive ingredients, (organic eggs and butter) and Bob Red Mill Cake Flour, etc., I feel doubtful. If anyone has any insight as to the frozen berries, etc, I would appreciate some feedback, as I really thought this would be a great cake! Thank you.
Julia
I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you, Steph! I totally understand your frustration but I’ve made this cake many times and never had this problem. The only time my cake was a little bit wet in the middle was when I added too many raspberries, that time I baked it 15 minutes longer because my skewer didn’t come out clean after the normal baking time and it was cooked through after the added time. Did you use a 9-inch baking pan? If you use a smaller pan the raspberries would no longer be in a single layer and the cake might take a lot longer to bake through. Another thing that could influence the baking time is the streusel on top. German streusel is clumpy and leaves room for the condensation of the raspberries to evaporate because it doesn’t cover the raspberries completely but if you don’t mix the streusel dough long enough you end up with sandy American streusel which would cover all the raspberries. It’s so strange that your cake wasn’t cooked through after 1.5 hours but you said you have an oven thermometer so I don’t think your oven temperature was the problem because that’s often the culprit. Mmh I’m really not sure what happened but I’m sorry you had to throw away the cake.
Steph
Today, I made the cake again. I used the same pan, etc. The only two things that were different was that i used a layer of fresh raspberries instead of the frozen ones. In addition, one important factor (I think), is that the temperature stated on your recipe is 380 degrees. I think this is a misprint. I was checking your blog and saw a similar cake you have using blueberries, and the temperature listed on the recipe was 350 degrees. Therefore, today, I preheated my oven at 350 degrees and the cake came out perfectly!! Thanks.
Lina
How much baking soda?
Julia
You need 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.