Raspberry Greek Yogurt Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream

Raspberry Greek Yogurt Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream

One fun benefit of belonging to a large family is plenty of birthdays. Each birthday means another birthday cake, of course! We recently attended a party for my Mom-in-law's birthday, and for her celebration, I wanted to try something special. This Raspberry Greek Yogurt Cake fit the bill perfectly.

It has fruit in it so it's healthy, right? Right? Hello?

This cake is very moist, and the fresh raspberries add bright flavour. The recipe below makes four layers, but I only used three for the cake. Yup, that left one layer leftover for me! 

Happy birthday to a special lady! Photo by Marlee O.

Because this was a birthday cake for a special lady, I made lots of frosting so I could make the cake look extra special. To make a regular, two-layer cake, simply halve the recipe below and use only the Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream.

The yogurt makes this cake moist and rich.

Click through for the recipe and instructions.

Raspberry Greek Yogurt Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream

Adapted from this recipe at Kitchen Trial & Error

Makes 4 - 9" layers

1 cup + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
4 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups plain greek yogurt, not fat free :)
4 cups fresh raspberries, divided

Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups icing sugar
Zest and juice from one lemon

Basic Buttercream
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups icing sugar
Pink food colouring
2-6 Tbsp water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 320°F. Grease and flour four 9" cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Separate eggs, putting yolks into one bowl and whites into another. Set aside.
4. Beat egg whites until medium peaks form and set aside.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add flour mixture slowly and mix until just combined. Add yogurt and mix until combined.
6. Gently fold in egg whites until almost combined. You should still see small blobs of egg whites. Fold in 2 cups of the raspberries gently.
7. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
8. Completely cool before frosting.

Put it all together

1. Prepare the Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting by beating butter and cream cheese in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add icing sugar and zest and stir to mix completely. Add lemon juice one tablespoon at a time until the icing has reached the consistency you like.
2. Prepare the Basic Buttercream in the same way: beat butter, add icing sugar, vanilla, and food colouring. Add water one tablespoon at a time until the frosting is the consistency you like.
3. Build the cake by placing one layer on a plate and covering with 1/4 cup of Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream. Repeat with remaining layers, except the top layer. For my cake, I only used three layers but you can go for it and use all four!
4. Cover cake with Basic Buttercream and decorate top with remaining raspberries.
5. Refrigerate cake until serving.