I’ve been dying to make a snacking cake recipe on here for a while now, mainly because I like the idea of snacking cakes in general. I love everything about them, and I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m in need of a snack, I’m always wanting cake. Although if I’m being 100% honest with you, I’m always wanting cake no matter what. It’s a real problem. Anyhow, this snacking cake is lemon poppy seed flavored, filled with raspberry jam, and topped with a delicious raspberry buttercream. If you’re not aware, snacking cake is just a fancy term for small pieces of cake with icing that you eat any time of day. Most notably, Twinkies (and my beloved Zebra Cakes) are considered snacking cakes and probably the most popular. This one here though is awesome because it’s completely homemade and tastes better than anything you can find in the store. You can’t ask for anything more. I got the idea of this cake from Bon Appetit when I saw a picture of their Blood Orange and Poppy Polenta Shortbread Cookies. At first glance on Instagram, I thought it was cake and when I clicked on it, realized they were actually shortbread cookies and I was like, this would make a great cake, minus the blood orange with raspberry instead and definitely minus the polenta. Then boom a magical cake was born.
We’re going to start like we do all cakes, and that’s by mixing the dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds.
**Tip: Cake flour really makes this cake’s texture like and airy. If you can’t find cake flour or don’t have any, here’s a handy way to make it yourself at home!**
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
**Tip: When making cake, it’s always important that all of the ingredients are at room temperature. They’ll blend together a lot easier and produce a great cake.**
Stir in the oil and eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then stir in the vanilla extract.
Stir together the buttermilk and lemon juice in a measuring cup. Then add the dry ingredients with the buttermilk, alternating between the two, making sure to start and end with the dry ingredients.
**Tip: At this stage it’s easy to over-mix the batter, so be sure to only stir until just combined after each addition.**
Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9×13-inch cake pan. Spread out evenly with a straight edge spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Once the cake has cooled, invert it onto a large cutting board. Using a serrated knife cut the cake in half so you end up with two thin cake layers. Place one layer on a large platter or baking sheet. Then spread a thin layer of seedless raspberry jam on top.
**Note: If you don’t have a platter or cake plate large enough, you can use a baking sheet that’s flipped upside down. Place a piece of parchment paper under the cake for easy clean up.**
Place the second layer of cake on top of the jam and then spread the top with homemade raspberry buttercream. This buttercream is just creamed butter and powdered sugar with vanilla and salt and raspberry purée beaten in.
**Note: To make the raspberry purée, I thawed some frozen raspberries and then blended them in a small food processor and then strained out the seeds.**
Sprinkle the top of the cake with poppy seeds to really hone in on that poppy seed flavor!
I like to place the cake in the fridge for at least one hour to allow the jam filling and frosting to set. It’ll make slicing the cake a lot easier, trust me.
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic, for up to 3 days. Just allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving. Although, cold cake isn’t the worst thing.
I love cutting this cake into thin pieces, A) because it’s sweet and a tiny piece really does the trick and B) because thin pieces make this cake look better. That’s silly I know, but it’s true.
If you’re in need of a weekend baking project, this one is it. So I hope you’ll keep it in mind this weekend or maybe pin it for later when you have more time. It’s a great cake and I know you’ll love it!
- 2¾ cup cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1⅓ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup seedless raspberry jam
- ¼ cup frozen raspberries, thawed
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the oil and then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract. In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, alternating between the two, starting and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until combined after each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread out evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- To make the the butter cream, blend the thawed raspberries until smooth, and then strain out the seeds using a fine mesh strainer. Set aside. Cream together the butter and 3 cups of powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Add the strained raspberry puree and blend until well incorporated. Add the remaining cup of powdered sugar and beat on high for 3 minutes.
- Invert the cooled cake onto a large cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake in half, so you end up with two thin layers. Place on layer on a baking sheet or large platter. Spread the cake with the raspberry jam and then place the second layer of cake on top. Frost the top of the cake with the buttercream and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Cut into thin pieces and enjoy. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. Just let come to room temperature before serving.
YUM! This is just the type of cakes I LOVE! Sounds and looks delicious!
Bravo, Jonathan! This looks terrific.
This just moved to the top of my to-bake list. I want to put that raspberry buttercream on everything. Any tips for cutting the cake in half with the serrated knife?
I love the story of this cake! Blood Orange and Poppy Polenta Shortbread Cookies minus the blood orange, polenta and cookies. Hahaha! They look great.
I don’t make many cakes for all of the obvious reasons, but when I do, I want to splurge, great inspiration from Bon Appetite, so thank you for this, since I love lemon poppyseed, raspberry buttercream even better!
This was delicious! The cake was full of flavor, and the frosting was beautiful to the eye and the tongue! It was fun to make, and my kids and grandkids loved it! I used a cake slicer/wire from Ikea to slice the cake horizontally. It was a little messy lifting the layer off to spred on the raspberry jam. Thanks for a beautiful and delicious recipe!