The perfect party cake, this lightly lemon cake is layered with raspberry preserves and a smooth, velvety buttercream frosting and then covered in sweetened coconut.
Want more layer cakes? Try this Pistachio Pudding Cake or this Italian Cream Cake.
First of all, and most importantly, Happy Birthday (and blog birthday) to Meeta!! Meeta’s blog is the first food blog I found, discovered through her wonderful pictures on Flickr. I remember seeing something about one of the Monthly Mingles she was holding and being very confused about what was going on. Now that I have been blogging for a few months, I am no longer confused about what a blogging event is, and I am proud to be sending my first entry to this Monthly Mingle event. I knew I wanted to participate when I heard it was a birthday party (I do love sweets!) but I didn’t know what I wanted to make. I thought of doing some cupcakes, but then I received my copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours and saw a picture of this recipe, and I knew that I had to make it for the birthday bash. It looked like the perfect party cake!!
So, being the procrastinator I am, I waited until the end and finally made the cake last night. I am striving to become a better baker – I have always been a cake mix baker before. But I do have to say, there is something really therapeutic about baking – especially the step when you rub the sugar and the lemon zest together with your fingers. I stood there, fingers covered in sugar, just inhaling the wonderful scent of the lemon sugar.
My novice baking skills really show in this cake – it’s not nearly as pretty as Dorie’s. I wanted the layers to be perfect, but my skills aren’t quite there yet, and I had trouble keeping the buttercream frosting on top of the raspberry preserves – instead it kept mixing in with the raspberry preserves. And I have to admit that at one point, I doubted Dorie (shame on me) when I was putting together the buttercream frosting. This was my first time making buttercream frosting and after 4 or 5 minutes of beating, it was still very thin. But I followed the instructions and kept beating, and sure enough, just as Dorie wrote, after about 7 minutes, the frosting became a beautiful thick, glossy frosting. I almost didn’t have enough frosting (I think I put too much in between the layers) but luckily, the coconut on the cake covered any spots that were a little thin on frosting.
Overall, it was a very good learning experience for me. I have decided that baking is an art. There are many, many blogs out there that bake so beautifully, and I truly consider those people artists. I only hope that with practice, one day my baked goods will turn out as beautiful!
I do have to mention that this cake is very sweet. I cut myself a piece once I finished to enjoy my accomplishment, but I couldn’t finish a normal sized piece of cake. The cake is very good, but very sweet – so it is probably best enjoyed with a tall glass of milk! I cut the rest of the cake into smaller pieces to take to work the next day.
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Perfect Party Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
For the Buttercream
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Finishing the Cake
- 2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
- About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F. Spray 2 9-inch cake pans lightly with nonstick spray, then line the bottoms with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment paper. Place the cake pans on a baking sheet.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk and egg whites.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. Using your finger, rub the zest into the sugar until it is moist and fragrant. Add the butter to the sugar mixture and beat until very light, 3 minutes. Beat in the lemon extract. Beating on medium speed, add one third of the flour mixture. Beat in half of the milk/egg mixture, then half of the remaining dry mixture. Add the remaining milk/egg mixture, followed by the remaining dry mixture, beating on medium the whole time. Beat for 2 minutes, making sure everything is thoroughly mixed and aerated. Divide the mixture between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until springy to the touch and baked through. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pan. Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and remove the paper liners. Cool to room temperature.
To make the buttercream:
- Place the sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly. Whisk until it feels hot to the touch and the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. The mixture should look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
- With the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer), beat until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment. Add the butter, one stick at a time, and beat until very smooth. Once all of the butter has been incorporated, beat on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. The mixture may curdle or separate – just continue to beat until it comes together. With the mixer on medium, add the lemon juice gradually, and then the vanilla. The frosting should be shiny and velvety.
To assemble the cake:
- Use a sharp serrated knife to slice each cake layer into half horizontally. Place one cake layer, cut side up, on a cake plate. Spread one-third of the preserves on the cake. Cover the jam with about one-quarter of the buttercream. Top with another cake layer, spread with one-third of the preserves and one-quarter of the buttercream. Repeat with a third layer, using the remaining preserves and another quarter of the buttercream. Place the last layer on top, cut side down. Use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top of the cake. Gently press the coconut into the frosting on the sides and top of the cake.
Sonja Wainwright says
So 16 egg whites total! This sounds delicious!!!
Deborah says
It is 8 egg whites total- 4 in the cake and 4 in the buttercream. 🙂
Kristin says
Ever tried whipping the egg whites & folding them in? It would prob make it much lighter..
Jess says
I’m wondering if I can sub fresh lemon juice for the lemon extract? If so, how much?
Deborah says
Lemon extract is a lot more potent, so I’m not sure if the lemon juice would bring as much lemon flavor. I would probably just leave it out because I wouldn’t want to risk adding too much liquid.
Aimee says
I made this a while ago and it was amazing. I have someone who isn’t a coconut fan. Can you top it with fresh raspberries instead of coconut?
Patricia says
I wish more people would make the cake and then post. I was looking for reviews on the cake and not the photography of the cake. As it is…a couple bakers had baking issues and most of the rest were photography reviews. Did anyone else make the cake? Anyone cheat using white cake mix and adding the lemon zest?
Deborah says
There is a comment in there from someone who said they used a lemon cake mix, sour cream, buttermilk and 4 eggs. I hope that helps!
Vivian says
I made the cake last year and it took me a while (because I’m not a baker and I have to have all my ingredients lined up ready to go and have to double check everything I do) but I did it and it was lovely. I had a little trouble with the preserves absorbing into the cake but it was fine. I stuck a stick down the middle to keep it from sliding and covered it up with the frosting. My son wants it again for his birthday so I’ll start tonight and finish it tomorrow. Happy baking everyone!
Jenny says
This cake drew me in! I mean lemon, raspberry, AND coconut?! Yes, please! Unfortunately this cake did not turn out for me. It came out flat, dense, and with a texture similar to cornmeal. So sad! I will just go back to my tried and true cake recipe, throw in a little lemon, and then go from there. Great idea, just didn’t turn out for me. 😔
Debby says
Can you use raspberry jam instead of preserves? Your cake looks beautiful . I wouldn’t know you had any problems at all. I’m not a food blogger yet anyway. Ive thought about it but can’t seem to get my nerve up to do it. I bake something just about everyday and give it to the neighbors. My husband and I couldn’t possibly eat all those sweets by ourselves LOL. Thank k you again
Deborah says
I’m sure raspberry jam would work just fine. 🙂 And we give a lot away, too – as much as I love sweets, we just can’t eat them all!!
Kathy says
My cake didn’t rise very high and was really tough. Tasted good, though–very sweet. What did I do wrong?
Carol C says
Deborah, you beat yourself up too much over the layers, ets. It’s a beautiful cake. Next time, try putting the frosting on the bottom layer and the raspberry over the frosting, then the next layer, frosting, raspberry, etc. That way you aren’t trying to spread something firm onto something wet. The cake layer over the jam will absorb it.
Carol C says
***ETC, NOT ets…sorry.
Tonya says
I make this cake and it’s wonderful! I cheated last time and did a box lemon and added sour cream, buttermilk and 4 eggs. Turned out really good. I too add my icing first, then the raspberry. It goes on smoother. The difference is, if you add the raspberry first it absorbs into the cake. It’s Avery moist cake! I also cut each round cake in half giving it four layers. You can’t have too much raspberry.
Judy C says
You can also refrigerate the cake layer with the preserves (pop in freezer for a few minutes) to harden the preserves. Works like a charm.
Bee Gianni says
You have nothing to worry about, your cake was appealing for me and probably hundreds of others who have Pinned it. I’m giving serious thought to starting a blog. Can you give me some advice❓Thank you. I love your cake and can’t wait to try it.
Mary says
There is a Chrome extension called Print Friendly & PDF that allows you to print web pages with just the parts you want. 🙂
Cookie says
Hate these recipes you can’t print it out why put them on if you can’t put easy print for everyone to use save your recipes for yourself
Deborah says
Hi! This is actually an old recipe on my site – the newer recipes all have printable recipes. I am slowly going through and updating them, but it is taking time!! I have updated this recipe, though, and it now has a printable recipe.
Connie says
I wish you would make these recipes printable,especially this one.I love coconut.
Deborah says
Hi! This is actually an old recipe on my site – the newer recipes all have printable recipes. I am slowly going through and updating them, but it is taking time!! I have updated this recipe, though, and it now has a printable recipe.
Kirstin says
I’m so glad I came across this recipe, I had imagine a cake like this that I have been craving for weeks now. The only difference between my imaginary cake and this one is that I would have used cream cheese icing rather than buttercream, which would probably help with the “too sweet” flavor the author mentioned.
Deborah says
I’m guessing a cream cheese icing would be great on this cake!!
Laura@ Laura's Culinary Adventures says
What a beautiful cake! I like how many layers the cake has. I find baking super theraputic.
Sweet Vernal Zephyr says
Beautiful photography. It is nice to find another novice blogger and baker! I am always trying new things in the kitchen and just started blogging about them as well. My blog is so new it hasn’t been listed by google yet! but I am working on that. Happy Baking!
Miranda @ SweetVernalZephyr.blogspot.com