Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cake Recipes Chocolate-Raspberry Cake 5.0 (6) This show-stopping cake features chocolate, raspberries, and a rich cream cheese frosting. Prep Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 35 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Servings: 12 Jump to recipe Our chocolate-raspberry cake is a layered creation loaded with decadent chocolate flavor. It features three layers of cake, a homemade raspberry filling, and a creamy chocolate frosting. The chocolate cake gets a hit of fruit flavor from raspberry liqueur. While it bakes, you’ll simmer the raspberry filling, then fold in more fresh berries once cooled. After layering the cake and filling, all that's left is to cover it in a rich creamy, chocolatey frosting, then top it with—you guessed it—more berries. While it’s a bit of a project, you won’t need any complicated equipment or ingredients. And the payoff? A delicious layer cake that's sure to wow. The Best Way to Store Flour, Sugar, and Other Baking Staples to Keep Them Fresh Credit: Brie Goldman Equipment for Chocolate-Raspberry Cake You'll need a few basic pieces of kitchen equipment to make this recipe, including: Electric Mixer: To bring the cake batter together and make the frosting, use a stand-mixer or hand-mixer. A mixer is especially useful for beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then working in the dry and wet ingredients in increments. Cake Pans: You'll need three eight-inch round cake pans to bake the layers. If you only have nine-inch pans, you can swap those in—your layers will be slightly thinner. Offset Spatula: If you have an offset spatula, it'll come in handy several times while making this recipe. Use it to spread the cake batter in the pans, spread the filling onto the layers, and frost the cake itself. If you don't have one, don't worry—you can still make this cake. Use the back of a spoon to even out the batter and a rubber spatula or flat knife to spread the filling and frosting. Tips for Making Chocolate-Raspberry Cake Whisk Dry Ingredients Well: Before adding the dry ingredients to the mixer, be sure to thoroughly whisk them together so that each component is well incorporated and won't clump when combined with the wet ingredients. This is especially important for the baking soda, which can taste metallic if not well distributed. Use Room Temperature Ingredients: When pulling together your ingredients, allow some time for the butter, eggs, and buttermilk to come to room temperature. This will allow them to blend more easily with the other components, resulting in a more homogenous batter. Apply a Crumb Coat: A crumb coat is a light layer of frosting that is applied first before the cake is fully frosted. Once the crumb coat is applied, the cake is refrigerated until the coating hardens. This will create a smooth exterior that traps any loose crumbs, making it extra easy to spread on the remaining frosting (and avoid stray crumbs in it). While it adds a bit of extra time, it makes all the difference if you're aiming for a picture-perfect final result. Melting Chocolate for the Cake Batter:Use a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a small pot of simmering water to melt the chocolate. Be extra careful that no water makes its way into the bowl. You can also microwave the chocolate in 10-second intervals, stirring between each one, until the chocolate is melted. Make Ahead The cakes can be made up to two days ahead and stored, unfrosted and wrapped well in plastic, at room temperature. The frosting can be made up to one week ahead; store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Directions Credit: Brie Goldman Preheat oven; prep pans; whisk dry ingredients: Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Credit: Brie Goldman Beat butter with sugar: In another large bowl, beat butter with sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Credit: Brie Goldman Add eggs one at a time: Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in liqueur. Credit: Brie Goldman Add flour mixture and buttermilk in batches; add chocolate: Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk in two batches. Beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in melted chocolate. Credit: Brie Goldman Divide batter among pans; bake: Divide batter evenly among prepared pans, smoothing tops with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through front to back and top to bottom, until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Credit: Brie Goldman Let cool 10 minutes: Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Credit: Brie Goldman Invert cakes; let cool completely: Run a small sharp knife around edges, then invert onto rack. Remove parchment and let cool completely, about 25 minutes. Credit: Brie Goldman Trim tops of cakes: With a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes so they're level. Credit: Brie Goldman Combine half of berries, the sugar, salt, and lemon juice; boil: Filling: While cakes are baking, stir together 3 cups raspberries, sugar, salt, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over high, stirring frequently and mashing with the back of a spoon, until mixture comes to a boil, 2 minutes. Credit: Brie Goldman Cook until thickened; cool: Continue to cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and clings to spoon, 7 to 8 minutes more. (You should have 1 1/3 cups.) Let cool 30 minutes. Credit: Brie Goldman Stir in 2 cups raspberries: Stir in 2 cups raspberries, reserving remainder. Credit: Brie Goldman Spread on half of filling: Spread half of filling over one cake. Credit: Brie Goldman Add second layer; spread with remaining filling: Top with second layer; spread remaining filling over top. Credit: Brie Goldman Top with with final layer; refrigerate: Top with final layer, cut-side down. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour and up to overnight. Credit: Brie Goldman Sift together sugar, cocoa, and salt: Frosting: While cake is chilling, sift together sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl. Credit: Brie Goldman Beat cream cheese with butter: Beat cream cheese with butter in a large bowl on medium-high speed until smooth. Credit: Brie Goldman Gradually beat in cocoa mixture: Reduce speed to medium-low; gradually add cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Credit: Brie Goldman Beat in chocolate: Beat in chocolate in a slow, steady stream. Credit: Brie Goldman Add creme fraiche: Add creme fraiche; beat until combined. Credit: Brie Goldman Frost cake: Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Credit: Brie Goldman Top with raspberries: Garnish with remaining raspberries. Credit: Brie Goldman Storage The frosted cake can be wrapped carefully and refrigerated for up to one day. Because the filling contains fresh fruit and the frosting is made with fresh dairy, we do not recommend leaving this cake at room temperature for longer than two hours. Before eating, let the refrigerated cake come to room temperature for one hour for the best texture. More Chocolate Cake Recipes to Try: Chocolate-Flecked Layer Cake With Milk Chocolate Frosting 4-Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cake Triple-Chocolate Ice Cream Cake Chocolate Cake Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sheet Cake German Chocolate Bundt Cake Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.