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This Raspberry Chocolate Cake with homemade cream cheese frosting is life-changing! You will never need another chocolate cake recipe after tasting this perfect, rich, and delicious cake!

When special occasions like birthdays or holidays come around, we have a few tried and true cake recipes we like to make. The World's Best Red Velvet Cake is perfect for Valentine's Day and even Christmas, and this Perfect Banana Cake is my kids' absolute fave. Today I'm sharing the best chocolate cake recipe ever - the one I make MYSELF for my birthday! It's Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

The cake part, the actual cake, is a rich chocolate. It looks and tastes just like what I imagine the cake Brucie eats on Matilda would be. It is so perfectly moist. To make it even better, you slather homemade cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries in between the layers.

Raspberry Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9" cake pans with parchment paper, butter and a light dusting of flour.

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

All-Purpose Flour
Sugar
Cocoa Powder
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Kosher Salt
Buttermilk
Vegetable Oil
Eggs
Pure Vanilla Extract
Hot Water
Raspberries (for filling and garnish)

Directions:

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl and whisk it together. (Photo 1)

In another mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

With a hand mixer, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the hot water and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. (Photo 2)

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Put cake layers in the freezer while you make the cream cheese frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

Cream Cheese
Unsalted Butter
Powdered Sugar
Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat softened butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add powdered sugar a cup at a time, until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Assembling the Cake

Put one layer of cake on a cake plate and add a generous heap of frosting on top of it, right in the middle. Spread it evenly across the top.

Next, add fresh raspberries on top of the frosting.

Layer of cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries on top of a round chocolate cake.

Put the top layer of the cake on top of that. Now it's time to do a crumb layer!

What is a Crumb Layer?

A crumb layer, or crumb coat, is a thin layer of frosting that you spread over and around all edges of a cake. It catches all the stray cake crumbs so that the final frosting layer will look beautiful and clean.

How to Do a Crumb Layer

Take out a small spatula and begin to cover the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Crumbs will be getting all over the place, that's okay.

Keep going until the entire cake is covered with frosting mixed with crumbs. Try to minimize the lumps, but don't stress over it.

Once it has its crumb layer place it in the freezer for about an hour.

Crumb layer being added to a chocolate cake with Cream Cheese frosting using a thin spatula.

Icing on the Cake

Pull the cake out of the freezer and begin to spread another layer or icing over the frozen crumb layer.

See how easy this is? Crumbs are minding their own business! Your cake is going to be so beautiful!

Keep smoothing icing over the cake until it is covered and you like the way it looks.

Add some fresh raspberries on top for maximum beauty.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake covered in cream cheese frosting garnished with fresh raspberries on the top.

I have served this up for birthdays and special family dinners for years, and it gets rave reviews every single time.

Chocolate cake with raspberries and cream cheese frosting, one slice on a cake plate with the rest of the cake in the background.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Fresh Raspberries in the middle and on top

For more cake recipes here, or browse all of our sweet treats on our Desserts page.

If you love this recipe, we'd love if you'd leave a comment and a positive review! It means so much!

Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This Chocolate Raspberry Cake with cream cheese frosting is the best chocolate cake you will ever have!

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 45

Cook Time: 45

Cooling Time: 45

Total Time: 2

Servings:

Calories: 829kcal

Author: Pretty Providence

Cost: $30

Video

Equipment

Two 9" Cake Pans
Hand Mixer
Thin Spatula
Mixing Bowls

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

butter for greasing the pans
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
¾ cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup hot water
1 cup fresh raspberries

Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients

8 oz. cream cheese softened
½ cup unsalted butter softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and whisk it together in a bowl.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
With a hand mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the hot water and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Put cake layers in the freezer while you make the cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Directions

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Crumb Layer

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or an offset spatula, spread the top with frosting.
Spread fresh or frozen on top of frosting. Place the second cake layer on top, rounded side up, and begin the crumb layer.
Take out a small spatula and begin to cover the cake with a thin layer of frosting.
This is called a crumb layer and it’s going to be covered up, so just keep going until the entire cake is covered. Try to minimize the lumps, but don’t stress over it.
Once you have the crumb layer done, place the cake the freezer for about an hour.

Icing The Cake

Pull the cake out of the freezer and begin to spread another layer or icing over the frozen crumb layer.
Keep smoothing icing over the cake until it is covered and you like the way it looks.
Add fresh raspberries to the top of the cake.

Notes

You can use fresh raspberries or frozen, unthawed strawberries for the inside of the cake filling. I recommend fresh raspberries for the garnish on top.

Nutrition

Did you make this recipe?Mention @prettyprovidenceblog or tag #prettyprovidence!

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten

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Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting