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:
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.
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.
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 with Cream Cheese Frosting
Video
Equipment
- Two 9" Cake Pans
- Hand Mixer
- Thin Spatula
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- butter for greasing the pans
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for pans
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-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
Nutrition
This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten
Can I use butter instead of vegetable oil for the cake itself?
Yes, you can!
What will happen if I forget the water? LOL
Hi there!
Can you store the layers in the freezer?
My son’s birthday is coming up and i would like to prepare in advance!
LITERALLY INCREDIBLE!!! I made this for the first time tonight and it lived up to my expectations. Everyone talked about how great it was.
The cake batter is super thin which through me off, but I trusted it and it was worth it. The cake was so moist. I also ended up making a little extra icing
Yay! So so glad you loved it Kristen. It’s definitely one of our faves.
Hello, this looks amazing! can I make this (including icing) the day before and refrigerate it? I want to make it Wednesday for thanksgiving dinner.
Yes, you absolutely can!
Should you use an unsweetened cocoa powder?
yes!
Beautiful Cake.
Thank you!!!
Chocolate, cream cheese, and raspberries! Absolutely heavenly!
I just made this for dinner on Sunday, everybody loved it!