White Cake with Raspberry Filling and Buttercream Frosting

This White Cake with Raspberry Filling and Buttercream Frosting Recipe yields a moist, almond scented white cake filled with a raspberry jam filling and lemon pastry cream, covered in an almond cream cheese swiss meringue buttercream. This popular wedding cake flavor is a classic for a reason, and you can enjoy it year-round for all special occasions with this at-home recipe.

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My mom's wedding cake flavor when she remarried was white almond cake with raspberry jam filling. I was 8 at the time and even more obsessed with sweets than I am now. I fell in love with those layers of soft white cake, tangy raspberry jam and silky buttercream, and have always wanted to recreate it in a cake. I adapted the white cake recipe from Carissa Shaw, which I have been using since at least 2018. I sub butter for oil though, as I really like how oil cakes withstand refrigeration without losing moisture. I also add toasted milk powder to add even more bakery-quality flavor depth.

This is the same base recipe I use in my matcha cake. I love it because it stays moist for days and holds up well to stacking for making layered cakes. If you're looking for a cake with a raspberry frosting, I recommend my raspberry chocolate cake recipe.

Why you'll love this recipe

• The cake is oil-based so it stays moist for days, even in the refrigerator!
• The cake batter can be made without a stand mixer.
• Raspberry and almond are the main flavors, but lemon and cream cheese support the tang of the raspberry even more.

Ingredients

• Granulated sugar sweetens the cake and the buttercream.
• Whole milk brings moisture to the cake.
• Cake flour provides a tender crumb.
• Lemon flavors the pastry cream. Lemon zest is rubbed into the granulated sugar to express the oils and lemon juice is added at the end for a bright finish. I also include lemon juice in the raspberry filling to further lift the natural tartness of the raspberry.
• Eggs provide structure to the cake, pastry cream and buttercream.
• Baking powder gives rise to the cake.
• Oil keeps the cake moist. I used avocado oil in this, but any neutral-flavored oil will do.
• Kosher salt and vanilla balance the overall flavor profile.
• Toasted milk powder gives flavor depth to the cake.
• Cornstarch and all-purpose flour thicken the pastry cream.
• Almond extract flavors the cake and the buttercream.
• Unsalted butter is the base of the buttercream.
• Raspberries are the base of the jam filling. I used frozen raspberries, but you can also use fresh fruit.
• Cream cheese adds a tang to the buttercream.
• Vanilla extract balances the flavor of the cake. Sub for vanilla bean paste without issue.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Substitutions and variations

Here’s how to customize this moist cake to your liking:

• Different oil — use any neutral oil for the cake. Olive oil can also be used, but will impart flavor on the finished product.
• Buttercream — instead of Swiss meringue buttercream, make a traditional cream cheese frosting or white chocolate frosting.
• No toasted milk powder — omit without issue or use untoasted, if desired.
• Another filling — omit the lemon pastry cream and fill with more jam, or fill with something else, like chocolate ganache.
• No almond — omit the almond extract and replace with vanilla extract.
• Another jam — instead of making homemade raspberry jam, use store-bought raspberry jam or another flavor, like strawberry or blackberry. You can also make a seedless jam by sieving the jam through a fine mesh strainer.
• No cake flour — swap cake flour with all-purpose flour, just use 2 tablespoons less of all-purpose flour.

This recipe has not been tested with any substitutions or variations. If you try any, please let me know how it turned out by commenting below!

How to make white cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting

Step 1: In a medium bowl, thoroughly whisk together the room temperature milk, egg whites, and both extracts. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, milk powder (if using), baking powder, and salt. Add the vegetable oil. Use a hand mixer to combine the oil with the dry ingredients on medium speed until they are evenly coated and no dry pockets of flour remain. The texture should be like wet sand. Add the wet ingredients mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Do not over mix. Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 34-37 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cakes. Cool for 20-30 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack.

Step 2: Combine the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat. Combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Rub the zest and sugar together between your fingers to express the oils and flavor from the zest. Add the egg yolks and whisk vigorously until light yellow and fluffy. Add flour and cornstarch and whisk until thoroughly combined and lightened in color even further. Very slowly stream in the warmed vanilla milk with a ladle while whisking vigorously to prevent cooking the eggs. Continue slowly adding in the milk mixture until it is all combined. Place a fine mesh sieve over the medium saucepan you used previously and return the entire mixture to the medium saucepan through the sieve. Discard the solids in the sieve. Place over low heat and whisk constantly until the pastry cream has thickened to a pudding consistency (coats the back of a spoon). This can take 5+ minutes. Remove from the heat promptly and transfer to a heatproof bowl or baking sheet (for faster cooling). Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Place the bowl over a larger bowl with ice and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least 2 hours. If using a baking sheet, place it in the fridge without the ice. When ready to use the pastry cream, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix just until combined.

Step 3: In a medium saucepan, add the raspberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice and salt. Place over low heat, stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. Then, turn the heat up until the mixture is boiling and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the stove and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Place in the refrigerator until chilled completely.

Step 4: Make the buttercream according to Serious Eats’ instructions, adding 2 teaspoon of almond extract at the end and mixing to combine with the whisk attachment. Remove the buttercream to another bowl. Add the room temperature cream cheese to the bowl the buttercream was just in. Beat on medium with the paddle attachment until the cream cheese is completely smooth. Add your swiss meringue buttercream to your cream cheese in thirds. Do not add your cream cheese to your swiss meringue buttercream. It will not mix in properly. Your frosting is ready to use as is, or you can add food coloring. I added whitener and a very small drop of purple to whiten it further. Level the cake layers by cutting off any domed parts with a serrated knife that may have developed when baking. Put a small dollop of the buttercream on a serving plate or board (this will help the cake stick and not slide around). Place the first layer of cake on top. Pipe a tall, thick dam of buttercream around the top edge of the cake to keep the fillings in. Fill with a layer of raspberry jam and then a layer of the lemon pastry cream. Place the second layer of cake on top. Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of the buttercream to create a crumb coat to seal in any crumbs. Freeze for 5-10 minutes to seal this coating. When the crumb coat is set, pipe or dollop a thin layer frosting around the outside. Spread evenly with an offset spatula before scraping down the outside edge with a bench scraper. You may need to do this several times to get a smooth look, but don’t worry too much about it being perfect if you plan to pipe on it like I did. I find that keeping the bench scraper in a bowl of warm water before using it (drying it off in between) helped remove air bubbles on the outside and made smoothing even easier. If you need a visual on how to frost a traditional layer cake, check out this video. Garnish as desired. I piped dollops all over using a large French star tip in a piping bag and then garnished the top of the cake and the sides with fresh raspberries.

Hot tips

1. To toast milk powder, heat over medium in a clean pan, stirring often, until golden.
2. You will have leftover raspberry jam and lemon pastry cream. These will keep in airtight containers in the refrigerator. The jam will keep for about two weeks and is great on toast or in Linzer cookies. The pastry cream will keep for 2-3 days and can be eaten plain just like any other pudding.
3. To remove air bubbles from the buttercream heat ¼ cup of it in the microwave until melted. Add back to the entire bowl and mix slowly until incorporated.

Recipe FAQs

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📖 Recipe

White Cake with Raspberry Filling and Buttercream Frosting

Heather Janak

White almond cake filled with raspberry jam and lemon pastry cream and covered in almond cream cheese swiss meringue buttercream.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 55 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Resting Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 5 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16 slices

Calories 600 kcal

Equipment

• Parchment paper
• Serrated knife
• Medium saucepan
• Bench scraper
• 8-inch cake tins
• French star piping tip
• Offset Spatula

Ingredients

  

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White almond cake

• ▢ 1 cup whole milk room temperature (241g)
• ▢ 6 egg whites room temperature (about ¾ cup) (180-209g)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon almond extract optional
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups cake flour sifted (256g)
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (350g)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon milk powder lightly toasted, optional
• ▢ 4 teaspoons baking powder (17g)
• ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¾ cup neutral oil avocado or vegetable (160g)

Lemon pastry cream

• ▢ 1 ¾ cup whole milk (418g)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• ▢ 4 egg yolks (60g)
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon lemon zest
• ▢ 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• ▢ 2 tablespoon lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)

Raspberry filling

• ▢ 2 ½ cups raspberries frozen (300g)
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar (125g)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ Pinch kosher salt more or less to taste

Frosting and garnish

• ▢ 1 batch Swiss meringue buttercream from Serious Eats’
• ▢ 2 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
• ▢ ¼ cup raspberries fresh

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Instructions

 

Do ahead

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with a circle of parchment paper.

Make the cake

• In a medium bowl, thoroughly whisk together the room temperature milk, egg whites, and both extracts. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, milk powder (if using), baking powder, and salt. Add the vegetable oil. Use a hand mixer to combine the oil with the dry ingredients until they are evenly coated and no dry pockets of flour remain. The texture should be like wet sand. Add the milk mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Do not over mix.
• Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
• Bake for 34-37 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cakes. Cool for 20-30 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the pastry cream

• Combine the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat.
• Combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Rub the zest and sugar together between your fingers to express the oils and flavor from the zest. Add the egg yolks and whisk vigorously until light yellow and fluffy.
• Add flour and cornstarch and whisk until thoroughly combined and lightened in color even further. Very slowly stream in the warmed vanilla milk with a ladle while whisking vigorously to prevent cooking the eggs. Continue slowly adding in the milk mixture until it is all combined.
• Place a fine mesh sieve over the medium saucepan you used previously and return the entire mixture to the medium saucepan through the sieve. Discard the solids in the sieve. Place over low heat and whisk constantly until the pastry cream has thickened to a pudding consistency (coats the back of a spoon). This can take 5+ minutes. Remove from the heat promptly and transfer to a heatproof bowl or baking sheet (for faster cooling). Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
• Place the bowl over a larger bowl with ice and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least 2 hours. If using a baking sheet, place it in the fridge without the ice.
• When ready to use the pastry cream, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix just until combined.

Make the raspberry jam filling

• In a medium saucepan, add the raspberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice and salt. Place over low heat, stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. Then, turn the heat up until the mixture is boiling and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the stove and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Place in the refrigerator until chilled completely.

Make the buttercream

• Make the buttercream according to Serious Eats’ instructions, adding 2 teaspoon of almond extract at the end and mixing to combine. Remove the buttercream to another bowl.
• Add the room temperature cream cheese to the bowl the buttercream was just in. Beat on medium with the paddle attachment until the cream cheese is completely smooth. Add your swiss meringue buttercream to your cream cheese in thirds. Do not add your cream cheese to your swiss meringue buttercream. It will not mix in properly.
• Your frosting is ready to use as is, or you can add food coloring. I added whitener and a very small drop of purple to whiten it further.

Assemble

• Level the cake layers by cutting off any domed parts with a serrated knife that may have developed when baking.
• Put a small dollop of the buttercream on a serving plate or board (this will help the cake stick and not slide around). Place the first layer of cake on top. Pipe a tall, thick dam of buttercream around the top edge of the cake to keep the fillings in. Fill with a layer of raspberry jam (you won’t need all of it**) and then a layer of the lemon pastry cream (you won’t need all of it**). Place the second layer of cake on top.
• Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of the buttercream to create a crumb coat to seal in any crumbs. Freeze for 5-10 minutes to seal this coating.
• When the crumb coat is set, pipe or dollop a thin layer frosting around the outside. Spread evenly with an offset spatula before scraping down the outside edge with a bench scraper. You may need to do this several times to get a smooth look, but don’t worry too much about it being perfect if you plan to pipe on it like I did.
• I find that keeping the bench scraper in a bowl of warm water before using it (drying it off in between) helped remove air bubbles on the outside and made smoothing even easier. If you need a visual on how to frost a traditional layer cake, check out this video.
• Garnish as desired. I piped dollops all over using a large French star tip and then garnished with fresh raspberries.

Notes

*To toast milk powder, heat over medium in a clean pan, stirring often, until golden.

**You will have leftover raspberry jam and lemon pastry cream. These will keep in airtight containers in the refrigerator. The jam will keep for about two weeks and is great on toast or in Linzer cookies. The pastry cream will keep for 2-3 days and can be eaten plain just like any other pudding.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 600kcal

Keyword almond, almond cake, jam, layer cake, lemon, lemon pastry cream, lemon pudding, pastry cream, raspberry, raspberry filling, raspberry jam, valentine's day, valentines cake, white almond cake with raspberry filling, white cake

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

Originally published 02/05/2025.