Lemon and Raspberry Wedding Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

Preparation

1. Lemon Cake

   Step 1

   Arrange a rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°. Coat bottom and sides of two 10" round cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper.

   Step 2

   Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine sugar and lemon zest in another medium bowl and massage with your fingertips until mixture is very fragrant and looks like wet sand, about 1 minute.

   Step 3

   Beat butter in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth, then add sugar mixture. Beat on medium-high speed, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally, until mixture is extremely light and fluffy, 6–8 minutes.

   Step 4

   Reduce mixer speed to medium and beat in eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next. Scrape down sides again to make sure all ingredients are incorporated. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla and almond extracts. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly stream in oil; scrape sides again (this is important because it’s a high volume of batter).

   Step 5

   Add dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with milk in two additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Slowly stream in lemon juice (at this point the batter might look a little curdled, which is normal). Remove bowl from mixer and fold several times by hand with a flexible spatula, scraping bottom and sides to make sure batter is evenly mixed.

   Step 6

   Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth top.

   Step 7

   Bake cakes with pans side by side, rotating positions halfway through, until centers spring back and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Note: This cake will still look relatively pale when fully baked.

   Step 8

   Let cakes cool in pans 10 minutes. Cut around sides with a thin knife and invert onto wire racks; remove parchment. Let cakes cool completely.

2. Vanilla Buttercream

   Step 9

   Combine egg whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar in a large heatproof bowl. Set bowl over a large saucepan filled with 1" of gently simmering water (make sure bottom of bowl is not touching water). Warm egg white mixture, whisking constantly (the sugar will help prevent the whites from cooking), until sugar is dissolved, mixture is thick and opaque, and an instant-read thermometer registers 160°, 5–8 minutes (this pasteurizes the egg).

   Step 10

   Scrape mixture into the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until a dense, fluffy meringue forms and sides and bottom of bowl are cool to the touch, 8–10 minutes.

   Step 11

   Add butter one piece at a time, beating thoroughly to incorporate before adding the next. Be patient and don’t be alarmed if mixture starts to look curdled or soupy (depending on temperature of butter and meringue). Just keep beating until it comes together, which can take 8–12 minutes. When you’ve added all the butter and buttercream is smooth and silky, beat in vanilla. Cover with plastic until ready to use (you should have about 4 cups).

   Step 12

   Do Ahead: If using same day, let buttercream sit covered at room temperature. Buttercream can be made 2 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. Let come to room temperature, then beat with paddle attachment in stand mixer until smooth.

3. Filling and Assembly

   Step 13

   Position cooled cake layers on a flat surface, domed side down. Using a long serrated knife and long back-and-forth strokes, cut cakes in half lengthwise (this is called “torting”) to form 4 layers. Lift off top halves; set aside.

   Step 14

   Stir St.-Germain and lemon juice in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, dab all over cut sides of bottom layers. You want a light, even soaking.

   Step 15

   Using a small offset spatula, spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over soaked cake. Start with a couple of tablespoons, then add more as needed to cover surface (you want to avoid excess jam squeezing out the sides). Arrange reserved cake layers back on top, cut sides down. Set aside the flatter, more even reassembled cake for the top. Brush top of remaining cake with St.-Germain mixture and spread with jam. Place on a platter or cake stand (it’s helpful to place strips of parchment around sides of platter and slightly underneath cake to keep platter clean during frosting). Stack reserved cake on top, creating a 4-layer cake separated by 3 layers of jam.

   Step 16

   Spread a thin, even layer of buttercream over top and around sides of cake. The idea is just to fill in any gaps and even out the sides where the layers may not align perfectly, so it’s fine if cake is visible beneath buttercream. This is called the crumb coating because it adheres any loose crumbs to the cake so the second layer of frosting is smooth. Chill cake until icing is firm, about 10 minutes.

   Step 17

   Spread a generous layer of buttercream over the crumb coating (although you don’t need to use all the buttercream). For loose swooshes and swirls, use the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula. For a more finished look, use the straightedge of a metal bench scraper to smooth sides and top. Decorate cake with fresh flowers, if desired.

   Step 18

   Chill cake until ready to serve but allow several hours for cake to reach room temperature before serving.

   Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Claire Saffitz, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen

   Step 19

   Do Ahead: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Chill, then once icing is hardened, cover loosely with plastic.

4. Instructions for making a large three-tiered cake:

   Step 20

   If you’re making a larger tiered version, you will need to double all of the components (the cake batter, the buttercream, and filling components). If you have a standard-size stand mixer, this means making two separate batches each of cake batter and buttercream.

   Step 21

   You will need one 10", one 8", and one 6" cake pan. Prepare three different pans as above, then divide batter so it fills each pan to the same height. Bake cakes until centers spring back and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, checking the smallest pan for doneness after about 25 minutes.

   Step 22

   Once cakes are cooling out of their pans, REPEAT baking process with second batch of batter so you have two cakes of each size.

   Step 23

   Assemble each tier as described in recipe above, splitting and filling each individual layer and then filling and stacking two layers to make three 4-layer cakes. Note: it can be tricky to split the 10" cakes since they have a lower profile. Feel free to skip this step for the largest tier and just keep it two layers.

   Step 24

   We recommend assembling each tier on a cake round of the corresponding size, which will make assembly easier (cake rounds are available on Amazon, at Michaels, or a cake decorating store).

   Step 25

   Crumb coat and ice the three layers, reserving about ½ cup buttercream for final decorations. Chill cakes until icing is hardened.

   Step 26

   Trim 3 plastic drinking straws so they’re exactly the same height as the 10" tier. Press straws straight down into cake about 3" in from edge and spacing evenly around cake. Repeat for 8" tier. This adds support for the layers when you stack them.

   Step 27

   Place bottom tier on cake stand or platter (which you can do easily when the whole cake is on a cake round), then carefully stack 8" cake over top, followed by 6" cake.

   Step 28

   Use reserved frosting to pipe small pearls around bottoms of each tier to cover cake rounds. Decorate with fresh flowers.

   Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Claire Saffitz, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen

   Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Claire Saffitz, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen