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This vanilla and raspberry layer cake has a sturdy, bakery-style crumb and the most gorgeous raspberry-swirled buttercream. It looks like a showstopper and tastes even better — and you’d never guess how simple it is to pull together.
Why You’ll Love It
Sturdy, bakery-style crumb — firm enough to hold up to filling and frosting without falling apart on you
Raspberry swirled right into the buttercream — preserves beaten into the frosting give it a soft pink color and real berry flavor all the way through
Simple ingredients, impressive results — pantry staples that come together into something that genuinely looks like you ordered it somewhere
Easy to decorate — a frosting comb does all the heavy lifting; no piping skills required
Vanilla and raspberry done right — not too sweet, not too fussy, just a combination that works every single time
A Few Notes on Ingredients
Use real butter, salted for the cake, unsalted for the frosting — I know that’s fussy but it actually matters here. For the vanilla, if you have an actual vanilla bean pod, use it, scrape those little seeds right into the frosting. I splurged on pods from a kitchen shop my daughter dragged me into and it cost more than I want to admit, but the frosting tasted like something else entirely — warmer, rounder, I don’t know how else to describe it. Vanilla extract works fine in a pinch though, don’t let me make you feel bad about that. And for the raspberry preserves, just get whatever seedless jar your store has — I used one with a French-sounding name once that was lovely, and then another time grabbed the store brand and honestly couldn’t tell much difference once it was mixed in.
What You’ll Need
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened (truly softened, not the microwave-for-ten-seconds kind)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon milk
For the frosting and assembly:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping Cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- seeds scraped from one vanilla bean pod
- 1 (12 oz) jar seedless raspberry preserves, give or take — I’ve used a little less when the jar wasn’t quite full and nobody noticed
How to Make It
Preheat your oven to 350˚F. In a big bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until it’s pale and fluffy-looking — this takes longer than you think, don’t rush it, I usually let the mixer go while I’m wiping down the counter or yelling at someone to take their shoes off the table. Add the vanilla, then the eggs one at a time, really stirring between each one. In a separate bowl, whisk your flour and baking powder together. Add the dry mix into the wet, slowly, then stir in the milk last.
Line the bottoms of two 8-inch cake pans with parchment, grease the sides good. Split the batter evenly between them — I always think mine’s even and it never quite is — and bake 20 to 22 minutes, until a knife comes out clean from the center.
Let the cakes cool in the pans about 15 minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks for another half hour or so. Here’s the part I always forget to mention to people: once they’re cool, stick them in the fridge. Cold cake is so much easier to frost without it crumbling everywhere, and this is not a step you want to skip, learn from my mistakes.
While the cakes are cooling, do the frosting. Beat your butter alone first — five to eight minutes, longer than feels reasonable, until it’s pale and almost white. Add two cups of the powdered sugar along with the vanilla and those vanilla bean seeds, mix until smooth, then add the rest of the sugar and the cream and beat again until it’s light and fluffy. If you want two-toned frosting for decorating, set some plain frosting aside now before you do the next part.
Beat about a quarter cup of the raspberry preserves into the frosting — go slow, you don’t want it to split or get watery on you, which it can if you dump it in all at once (I learned that one the hard way, frosting soup is not a good look).
Put your first cake layer down on whatever plate you’re going to serve it on. Spread the rest of the raspberry preserves over the top, then pipe or spread a layer of the raspberry frosting over that. Set the second cake on top, and frost the whole thing — top and sides — in the raspberry buttercream.
For decorating, I use this little plastic frosting comb I picked up years ago, maybe at a dollar store, maybe it came from my sister, my memory’s fuzzy on that detail — but dragging it around the sides while the frosting’s still cold makes these clean ridged lines that look so much fancier than the five minutes of effort they actually take. If you’re feeling ambitious and own a piping bag, you could try those paisley swirls from the original cake, though I’ll be honest, mine never come out looking quite that elegant. Rosettes are a forgiving fallback.
If You Want to Switch It Up
My daughter made this for a friend’s bridal shower last spring — or maybe it was the spring before, time’s gotten slippery on me lately — and she swapped the raspberry preserves for apricot, which I was skeptical of and then completely converted by. I tried a lemon-curd version once myself that just didn’t work, too sharp against the vanilla, fought with it instead of complementing it. Stick with berries, is my advice, though I suppose that’s just one opinion from one kitchen.
Storing It
This keeps in the fridge, covered, for about four or five days, though ours never makes it that long. It also does fine at room temperature for a day if you’re serving it for an event and don’t want to deal with condensation on the frosting — just don’t leave it out overnight on the counter the way I did once, woke up to a cake that had clearly had a rough night, frosting all slid sideways like it’d been through something.
JFK’s Wedding Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks salted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract for the cake
- 5 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened, for the frosting
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract for the frosting
- 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 vanilla bean pod seeds scraped
- 1 jar seedless raspberry preserves 12 oz, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides.
- Beat the softened salted butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Mix in the vanilla extract, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Stir in the milk.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 20–22 minutes, until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them onto wire racks and cool completely.
- Refrigerate the cooled cake layers until firm enough to frost easily.
- For the frosting, beat the unsalted butter for 5–8 minutes, until very pale and fluffy.
- Add 2 cups powdered sugar, the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, and salt. Beat until smooth.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and heavy cream, then beat until light and fluffy.
- Reserve some plain vanilla frosting for decorating if desired.
- Gradually beat 1/4 cup raspberry preserves into the remaining frosting until smooth.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread the remaining raspberry preserves over the top.
- Spread or pipe a layer of raspberry buttercream over the preserves.
- Add the second cake layer, then frost the top and sides with the remaining raspberry buttercream.
- Decorate with the reserved vanilla frosting, using rosettes, swirls, or textured ridges as desired.