This Vanilla Raspberry Cake features moist, fluffy pink-and-white marbled vanilla layers filled with creamy vanilla buttercream and a sweet homemade raspberry sauce. The exterior is decorated with a watercolor-style blend of raspberry and vanilla buttercream, a fluffy raspberry piped border, fresh raspberries, and extra raspberry sauce in the center. It makes a beautiful dessert for Mother’s Day or any spring celebration.

Vanilla Raspberry Cake

With spring arriving (even if the weather in Toronto can be unpredictable), it’s the perfect time to bake bright, fruity desserts. This cake pairs perfectly with a chilled Homemade Raspberry Sauce and a silky Dreamy Raspberry Buttercream. The flavors are fresh and summery, and the pink, white, and red palette is ideal for Mother’s Day or any special occasion.

Marbled Vanilla Cake Layers

Although the cake looks simple, a few techniques make a big difference. The layers should be tender, light, and fluffy. This recipe uses a reliable white cake base that produces a soft, fine crumb.

Creaming the butter and sugar until very light and almost pale is essential for achieving a fluffy texture. This step incorporates air into the batter and helps create a soft crumb. Using egg whites instead of whole eggs keeps the cake bright and contributes to its airy lightness.

Cake flour is the preferred flour because its lower protein content yields a gentler, more tender cake. If you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute with a combination of all-purpose flour and cornstarch (see notes in the recipe). When combining dry ingredients and buttermilk, add them alternately: start with one-third of the dry mix, add half the buttermilk, then another third of the dry mix, the remaining buttermilk, and finish with the last third of dry ingredients. This prevents separation or overmixing, which can make the cake tough.

How to Create the Marbled Cake Effect

To get evenly marbled layers, split the batter in half. Tint one half pink and leave the other white. Spoon a dollop of white batter into each pan, then a dollop of pink, and continue alternating until the pans are filled. Use a toothpick or butter knife to gently swirl the batter—this produces pretty streaks of color throughout the cake. Avoid spreading the white into a uniform layer and then dropping colored batter on top, as that keeps the color mostly on the surface rather than marbled through the layers.

Between the cake layers is a layer of creamy vanilla buttercream and a spoonful of chilled homemade raspberry sauce. For best results, prepare the raspberry sauce ahead of time and refrigerate it so it thickens. When assembling, spread a layer of vanilla buttercream, pipe a small buttercream dam around the edge, and spoon the raspberry sauce into the center so it stays neatly enclosed.

The cake is finished with a thin crumb coat of raspberry buttercream, chilled briefly, then covered in a final coat of raspberry buttercream. To create the watercolor effect, add random dots or smudges of vanilla buttercream across the surface, then smooth with a straight spatula or bench scraper while rotating the cake. This subtly blends the two colors for a soft, painterly look. If the raspberry color overpowers the white, reserve more vanilla buttercream for the exterior when planning quantities.

Finish by piping a fluffy raspberry buttercream border along the top and bottom edges, pour remaining raspberry sauce into the center well, and garnish with fresh raspberries. Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days—bring it to room temperature before serving for best flavor and texture.

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Here are a few tools that make the process easier: a stand mixer for reliable creaming, 8-inch round cake pans (use smaller pans for taller layers), a cooling rack, a large star piping tip for borders, a cake turntable to smooth while rotating, and a bench scraper for a clean finish.

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KitchenAid Stand Mixer – ideal when making large quantities of batter.

8-inch Round Cake Pans – use 7- or 6-inch pans if you prefer taller layers.

Pink Gel Food Colouring – gel colors give vivid, controlled shades.

Cooling Rack – essential for even cooling.

Wilton 1M Star Tip – perfect for a fluffy border.

Cake Turntable – makes decorating much easier.

Bench Scraper – for smooth edges and clean lines.

More Mother’s Day Recipes

Raspberry Rose Buns

Mini Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecakes

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Vanilla Raspberry Cake

Yield:
one 3-layer, 8-inch cake

This Vanilla Raspberry Cake has moist and fluffy layers of vanilla cake. Between those layers is a vanilla buttercream with a raspberry sauce. Decorated with a raspberry and vanilla buttercream watercolour design, raspberry buttercream border, garnished with fresh raspberries and more raspberry sauce in the middle.

Ingredients

• 1 recipe of Homemade Raspberry Sauce

Marbled Cake Layers:

• 3 and ¼ cups cake flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 and ¼ cups unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 and ¼ cups buttermilk, room temperature
• Pink gel food colouring
• 1 recipe Dreamy Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

Vanilla Buttercream:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
• ½ cup hi-ratio shortening
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 and ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract

Instructions

1. Prepare the Homemade Raspberry Sauce and chill completely, preferably overnight.

For the Marbled Cake Layers:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (177° C). Prepare three 8-inch round pans with parchment rounds and grease the sides.
2. Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk to combine and set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until pale and fluffy (4–6 minutes), scraping the bowl as needed.
4. Add egg whites one at a time, mixing until combined. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
5. Alternately add the dry ingredients in three additions and the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix each addition just until combined.
6. Split batter in half; tint one half pink. Spoon alternating dollops of white and pink batter into each pan and gently swirl with a toothpick or butter knife to marble.
7. Bake 25–30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.
8. Meanwhile, prepare the Dreamy Raspberry Buttercream Frosting.

For the Vanilla Buttercream:

1. Beat butter, shortening, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy (about 5–6 minutes).
2. With the mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once incorporated, add heavy cream, vanilla, and almond extract; mix until combined.
3. Increase speed and whip until light and fluffy, about 5–7 minutes.

Assembly:

1. Reserve 1 to 1¼ cups of raspberry buttercream in a piping bag with a large star tip for piping borders.
2. Trim any browned tops from each layer. Place one layer on a cake board or serving plate and spread about ½ cup of vanilla frosting on top.
3. Pipe a buttercream dam around the edge, fill with about ½ cup raspberry sauce, then stack the next layer and repeat. Place final layer top-side down.
4. Frost the entire cake with a thin layer of raspberry buttercream (crumb coat) and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Frost the cake with the remaining raspberry buttercream.
6. Add random smudges of vanilla buttercream and smooth with a bench scraper to create a watercolor effect, adding more smudges as needed.
7. Pipe a fluffy shell border on the top and bottom using the reserved raspberry buttercream. Pour remaining raspberry sauce into the center well and decorate with fresh raspberries. Slice and serve.

Notes

• Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Serve at room temperature.
• If you don’t have cake flour, substitute by sifting together 2 and ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour with 6 tablespoons cornstarch.

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Love, Dedra ❤

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