Lemon Raspberry Cake

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 83-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

The recipe this week: cinnamon rolls extra frosting. Standing at the stove, Marlene's wooden spoon in my hand (the cracked one, the one that will outlast us all), the recipe either from the card box or from my own expanding collection, both equally real, both equally mine. The kitchen holds all of it — the old recipes and the new ones, the teacher's food and the student's food, the grief and the joy and the cinnamon. All of it. Always.

Seed starting continues at the Holloway household — the windowsill green, the grow lights purple, the soil mix precise. The annual miracle of February and March: things grow even when everything says they shouldn't. The growing is the argument against everything.

I made this cake the same weekend I drove to Grinnell — not because the occasion called for it, but because I needed my hands busy and the kitchen doing what kitchens do. There’s something about lemon and raspberry together that feels like the argument the seeds make on the windowsill: bright and stubborn, insisting on themselves even in the grey of early spring. It felt right. It still does.

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 1 hr (plus cooling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp fresh lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries, plus extra for garnish
For the lemon buttercream:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp heavy cream (more as needed)
1 tsp lemon zest
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment, and grease the parchment. Set aside.
Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and continue beating another 2 minutes until very pale and creamy.
Add eggs and flavorings. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
Alternate dry and wet. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix just until combined — do not overmix.
Fold in raspberries. Gently fold in 1 1/2 cups raspberries with a rubber spatula. The batter will be thick and some berries will break — that’s fine and beautiful.
Bake. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake 32–36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake.
Cool completely. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn out and cool completely before frosting. This is non-negotiable.
Make the buttercream. Beat butter on medium-high until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time on low, then add lemon juice, zest, cream, and salt. Beat on medium-high 2 minutes until smooth and spreadable. Add more cream a teaspoon at a time if needed.
Assemble. Place one cake layer on a plate or stand. Spread a generous layer of buttercream over the top. Place the second layer on top and frost the top and sides. Garnish with fresh raspberries and a little extra lemon zest if you like.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lemon Raspberry Cake — The Kitchen Holds All of It