Chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream is the perfect indulgence for any celebration, combining rich flavors with a fresh twist. This delightful dessert not only satisfies your sweet tooth but also brings the beauty of spring to your table with its fresh fruit and flowers.
Celebrating Spring with a Delightful Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream
Spring unfolds its melodious song one note at a time. The bold, yellow colors of the early daffodils push through the brown, barren landscape. They are followed closely by vibrant pinks, purples, and white. This juxtaposition of color against the winter ground inspired this cake with chocolate layers and a contrasting spring-hued frosting decorated with flowers and fruit.
A Celebration Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream
This cake features pink raspberry buttercream frosted only between the layers, imitating the early blooms of spring against a barren landscape. Decorate it with springtime hues using colorful fruit, cookies, or edible flowers. While this is a simple cake, the decorations can infuse warmth and beauty into any special celebration.
Ingredients for Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream
Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Cake Mix: This large cake uses two boxes of chocolate cake mix as the base. Duncan Hines is the brand I used, but feel free to substitute another brand.
Instant Chocolate Pudding: Use two 3.9-ounce boxes. Pudding helps keep the cake moist for an extended time.
Granulated Sugar: Add extra sweetness to the cake.
Cooking Oil: It helps the cake stay moist and tender for longer.
Eggs: Leavens the cake to bake up tall layers. The eggs should be at room temperature and lightly beaten. Warm them quickly, placing them in a bowl of warm water for approximately five minutes.
Vanilla Extract: Adds extra flavor to the cake.
Water: It dissolves the dry ingredients and lets the chocolate flavor shine. Use lukewarm water instead of cold water.
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
Butter: Use one cup of softened butter or two sticks. The frosting will mix more readily with softened or room-temperature butter.
Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor to the buttercream.
Confectioners’ Sugar: Adds sweetness and a fine texture to the buttercream.
Raspberries: Adds a fruit flavor to the frosting. Use fresh or frozen berries.
Milk: Thins the frosting if needed.
Pureeing Raspberries for Buttercream Bliss
Pureeing fresh raspberries is a delightful way to infuse color and flavor into your buttercream frosting. Begin by washing the raspberries gently to remove any dirt. Drain them, and then gently dry them with a towel. Blend them until they reach a smooth consistency. Finally, strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve to eliminate the seeds, ensuring a silky texture.
Once the raspberry puree is ready, gradually fold it into your buttercream, alternating with the confectioners’ sugar while beating with a mixer. Raspberries are a natural colorant that creates a beautiful pink hue to enhance the aesthetics of your cake and delivers a burst of freshness with every bite!
Using Baking Strips
To guarantee flat cake layers without a middle dome, place wet baking strips around the cake pan before baking. You can buy these online, at craft stores in the cake-baking section, or make your own (see recipe Notes for information on making strips.)
Baking strips keep the cake sides from baking faster than the middle of the cake. You may have to add additional baking time to cake recipes until a toothpick test shows the cake is done. This recipe lists baking times for strips or no strips.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
Click on each photo or name to link to the recipe.
Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- 3 parchment paper rounds to fit into the bottom of the pans
- mixer
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- 2 boxes Duncan Hines chocolate cake mix
- (2) 3.4-ounce boxes of instant chocolate pudding (small pudding boxes)
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 6 large eggs, lightly beaten and at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups lukewarm water
- vegetable shortening and all-purpose flour (for preparing pans)
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ½ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
- ⅓ cup raspberries, pureed (use fresh or frozen that are thawed)
- 1 tablespoon milk (optional)
Garnishes (optional)
- extra fresh raspberries or other fresh fruit
- edible fresh flowers, cut, and ends dipped in frosting to seal them
- decorative cookies such as macarons
Instructions
Directions for Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-ounce cake pans. Cut three circles from parchment paper and place one in the bottom of each prepared pan. Grease and flour each parchment paper.
- Add all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Then beat the batter for 2 minutes until well mixed.
- Place wet, bake-even strips around the outside of the cake pan and secure. (optional)
- Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes (if not using baking strips) or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it but with no wet batter. Let cool for a few minutes. Then, run a thin knife around the inside edge to release the cake. Turn the cake out on a cooling rack and discard the paper liner. Cool completely. (If baking strips are used, increase the cooking time to 40 minutes. Then, check for doneness with a toothpick. Add additional minutes if needed until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.)
Directions for Frosting
- Cream butter until smooth.
- Add vanilla extract and mix.
- Place ⅓ cup fresh or frozen raspberries in a food chopper and blend until pureed. If there are a lot of seeds, press the puree through a sieve to remove them.
- Alternate powdered sugar and pureed raspberries and beat until smooth. If frosting is too stiff, add 1 tablespoon of milk and blend.
- Place a layer of cake on a cake plate. Frost the top of the layer with ⅓ of the frosting. Stack the next layer and repeat the process until all the frosting is divided between layers.
Garnishes
- Finish the cake with fresh raspberries and other fruit, candy, macaron cookies, or edible flowers.
Notes
Make a Smaller Cake
This recipe can be cut in half to make a two-layer cake in either 8-inch or 9-inch pans.Use Baking Strips
To bake a flat cake without a middle dome, use wet baking strips around the cake pan prior to baking. You can buy these at craft stores in the cake-baking section, or you can make your own. To make your own strips, follow these steps:- Cut a towel long enough to fit around your cake pan and tall enough to fold over to make it double-thick.
- Wet the strip until damp, but not dripping.
- Overlap the ends and pin the strip with safety pins until it fits securely around the pan.
- Then, fill the pan with batter and bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.