When life gives you lemons....
One of my favorite drinks is the classic Lemon Drop. It's a classic for a reason!
But! I also recently tried a Raspberry Lemon Drop at a Portland restaurant – annnd I’m now hooked!
I've made a few Lemon Drop cakes before – and they've been big hits! I've made them for fun, and made a few to order for special occasions.
So if the Raspberry Lemon Drop cocktail was dang amazing - and it was - it would follow that a Raspberry Lemon Drop Cake would have to be amazing too, right? (Spoiler alert - all my taste testers said yes!)
This cake recipe features-
- Rich vodka-infused raspberry lemon cake layers
- Real vodka in the cake, cake layer drizzle, and frosting
- a fun cake drip + martini glass topper if you'd like!
Recipe below!
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FAQs:
"Can I leave out the vodka?"
- The short answer is yes! You'll lose a bit of that classic martini flavor, but it's not a bad idea to leave the alcohol out if you're making this cake for any group that might not all be over 21. 😉
Replace the vodka in the cake layers with an equal amount of buttermilk, and the vodka in the frosting with an equal amount of milk. Obviously - leave out the cake soak, or use equal parts lemon juice and simple syrup.
"How should I store this cake?
- If you prep the cake layers or frosting ahead of time, wrap the cake layers well with cling wrap or place them in a freezer zip-lock bag. Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 4 months.
- Transfer the frosting to a zip-lock bag and squeeze out the extra air, and again - refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 4 months.
Follow-up question - will the freezer dry out the cake layers?
- If they're well wrapped and protected from drying out - no! I've A-B tested cake layers, frosting, cookies - NO ONE has been able to tell a difference between previously-frozen and fresh! If you don't wrap them well though, in auto-defrost freezers or refrigerators they're liable to get freezer burn (dry spots from the moisture removal).
- If you assemble the cake more than a few hours ahead of time, I recommend storing it in the fridge. (There's cream cheese frosting in the recipe that'll keep better in the fridge.)
- Wrap any refrigerate any leftover cake - it'll keep for 3-4 days in the fridge (if the leftovers last that long!)
Don't forget to pin for later!
Raspberry Lemon Drop Cake
Equipment
- Squeeze bottle (or piping bag or spoon; to add cake drip)
- small piping bag + star tip (linked is the set I used)
- Martini glass (these layers bake dense enough to hold a real one, but you can use a plastic martini glass if you'd rather)
- Small paring knife
Ingredients
Raspberry Lemon Drop Cake layers
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter or 2 sticks, room temperature
- 5 eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
- ½ cup vodka I used Smirnoff, I've also used Pinnacle whipped vodka and liked them both!
- 2 Tablespoons lemon extract not lemon juice; it's likely to react with your baking powder
- 2 teaspoons raspberry extract
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest I recommend fresh, but dried lemon zest is another option
- 3-4 drops yellow food coloring optional
- 1 drop soft pink gel food coloring if desired
- 1/2 cup chopped raspberries
Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting
- 8 ounces one package cream cheese (softened)
- 1 cup butter (16 Tablespoons or two sticks, softened)
- 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoon vodka
- 1 Tablespoons lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon raspberry extract (the extract I used was clear; you can use a pink extract if you don't mind slightly pink frosting)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
Drip & Decorations
- 1 cup white chocolate chips (for cake drip)
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (for cake drip)
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract (for cake drip; add after chocolate and whipping cream are melted together)
- 1 drop yellow food coloring (for cake drip)
- 2-3 small lemons
- 6-8 fresh raspberries
- ¼ cup corn syrup (optional; this is the easiest way I’ve found to rim martini glasses)
- ¼ cup sugar + 1 teaspoon of lemon zest (to rim glass; optional)
Instructions
Raspberry Lemon Drop Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment rounds, and /or grease with non-stick or baker’s floured cooking spray.
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. (A hand mixer will work as well)
- Mix bits of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Pour in eggs and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk on a low speed. Add in vodka, lemon and raspberry extracts, lemon zest, and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Stir in chopped raspberries.
- Remove roughly a third of your batter, and add a bit of pink food gel color to turn it a light pink. Divide batters evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height. Marble the colors a bit with a butter knife or offset spatula.
- Bake for 35-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans – it helps to run an offset spatula or knife around the perimeter of the pan first. Cool completely before decorating. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized edges can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife. (If you trim the layers while they’re still warm, they'll crumble and break.)
- While you’re waiting…make your frosting!
Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with vodka and lemon extract until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Add salt and beat until well combined.
- (Filling (optional) – I removed about 1 cup of frosting from the bowl and added another 2 Tablespoons each of both lemon juice and vodka, along with a couple drops of pink food coloring to add a bit more flavor and color to the inside of the cake. Optional but recommended!)
- Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle.
- (I wanted a bit more of a liqueur kick to the cake layers, so I used a jigger to infuse each one with about 30mL/2T of a mix of vodka and a bit of lemon juice. Again - optional but recommended!)
- Pipe a rim of white frosting around the edge, and fill with lemon filling. (Or if you’re not using a lemon filling, spread the layer with frosting). Zest a bit of lemon over the frosting, and add your next cake layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. Place the cake into the freezer for about 20 minutes to set the frosting and get the cake cold enough to set the white chocolate ganache decoration.
Rimming the martini glass (optional)
- Pour corn syrup onto a small plate, and sugar and lemon zest onto another separate plate. Dip the martini glass rim into the corn syrup, letting any excess drips fall off. Then dip the rim into the sugar and lemon zest to coat it evenly.
Cake drip & Decorating
- Place heavy cream and white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on 50% power in 30-second intervals until smooth, stirring in between. Add lemon extract and food coloring and stir until smooth.
- When your ganache has cooled to a moderate temperature – it should feel slightly warm but still be fairly liquid – transfer it to a piping bag or squeeze bottle. Squeeze about ¼ c of the ganache into the martini glass, and then quickly invert the glass over the cake, pressing the glass into the cake at an angle (check out my video for an extra guide on this step). Slowly drizzle ganache away from the glass, letting it fall down the edge of the cake to create drips.
- Pipe a few frosting swirls around the glass and add a few spiraled lemon slices and raspberries. Add a few quartered lemon slices, raspberries and a bit of lemon zest around the lower edge of the cake too, if you’d like.
- And you're done! ;) Congratulations!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
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