A simple recipe for raspberry cake filling. Today’s recipe is easy and can be made on the stovetop with fresh or frozen raspberries.
A quick and easy recipe to start off the week.
I wasn’t originally going to make a standalone post for raspberry cake filling, I actually developed it as part of Thursday’s recipe. But enough people have asked me for cake fillings that I thought it might make the most sense to give this recipe its own post, and here we are.
Sweet, tart, and simple, you can prepare your own filling in 15 minutes (just keep in mind you’ll need about an hour to let it cool completely). This recipe is great for filling a standard 2-layer cake or 12 of your favorite cupcakes.
What You Need
- Raspberries. Fresh or frozen will work. I generally tend to prefer frozen when making raspberry cake filling because they’re never out of season and they’re often less expensive.
- Sugar. Necessary to properly thicken the filling and to keep it from being too tart. Regular granulated or caster sugar will work.
- Corn Starch. Also key for a filling that’s not too runny.
- Water. Just a splash helps everything to combine nicely and keeps the berries from burning on the bottom of your pan before they have a chance to release their juices.
- Lemon juice. Optional, but I like it for the best flavor. Fresh is great, but bottled will work just fine.
Quick Tips:
- Whisk together your sugar and cornstarch first, before adding any other ingredients. Whisk well. This will prevent any cornstarch clumps in your raspberry cake filling.
- Keep stovetop heat on medium. If you start out with heat that’s too high, the berries will burn and you’ll have a thick paste OR the sugar won’t melt properly and your filling won’t achieve the proper consistency.
- Why no vanilla? I don’t like to add vanilla extract to my filling because I find it takes away from the tart, fresh taste of the raspberries and gives the whole thing a sort of… candied? flavor. If you’re desperate to add vanilla, a small splash (¼ teaspoon) after cooking the mixture would be my most generous recommendation.
How to Store
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If the filling is too firm to easily spread when you go to use it, you can briefly (5 seconds at a time) stir it until the consistency is spreadable. Don’t heat it so much that it’s runny!
How to Use For Filling a Cake
This recipe will fill a standard 2 layer 8″ or 9″ round cake. It can be doubled or even tripled for larger cakes or cakes with more layers, though sometimes I find I need to add a bit more water when cooking more berries.
Always allow your cake and your filling to cool completely before assembling. I strongly recommend using a sturdy frosting dam around the border of your first layer of cake (Swiss meringue buttercream, buttercream frosting, and my cream cheese frosting are all great sturdy decorating options). This will keep your cake from sliding and will keep the filling from oozing out the sides.
The photo below is actually a photo from my strawberry cake but the same exact technique applies and I thought the visual might be helpful.
I’ll be using today’s recipe to make petit fours for Thursday’s post, so if you want to whip up a batch today you can store it in the refrigerator until then! Hint: you’ll also need a batch of my lemon curd!
How to Use For Cupcakes:
My preferred method for filling cupcakes with raspberry cake filling is to carve a 1″ wide, 1″ deep hole into the surface of a completely cooled cupcake. Remove the core you just carved, slice off the bottom saving a ¼″ thick surface. Fill your cupcakes and then replace the reserved surface before piping.
I use this technique in my pinata cupcakes and gender reveal cupcakes (and you can watch me carve the gender reveal cupcakes in the video in the recipe card, it starts around 6:26). The filling I use there is different but the same concept for carving applies.
How Many Cupcakes will this fill?
You can fill 12 cupcakes with this recipe.
What If I Don’t Like Seeds?
Good news for you! You can eliminate some or all of the seeds from your raspberry cake filling. To do so, immediately after cooking the filling on the saucepan, press all of the filling (or only part of the filling, if you don’t mind some seeds) through a fine mesh strainer.
Use a spatula and you will want to repeatedly press, stir, and press again to squeeze as much of that precious juice through the strainer as possible. Keep in mind that if you strain out the seeds you will have much less filling than the recipe indicates, so if you intend to do this I recommend doubling the recipe.
Use in Any Of These Recipes:
- White Cake
- Dark Chocolate Cupcakes (I’d go with a different frosting other than the peanut butter that’s listed, maybe chocolate cream cheese frosting instead!)
- Chocolate Cake
- Vanilla Cake
- Coconut Cake
Be sure to watch the video in the recipe card before beginning, and please leave me a comment if you try the recipe!
Raspberry Cake Filling
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (65 g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cups (226 g) fresh or frozen raspberries 8oz
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice optional, but recommended for best flavor
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine sugar and cornstarch in small saucepan and whisk until combined.⅓ cup (65 g) granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- Add raspberries, water, and lemon juice and stir together until all ingredients are combined.2 cups (226 g) fresh or frozen raspberries, 2 Tablespoons water, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- Turn stovetop heat to medium (Important! don’t increase the heat above this, you want everything to heat slowly so the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens properly) and cook, stirring almost constantly, until berries release their juices and mixture begins to bubble (it usually takes about 7 minutes for my mixture to begin to bubble).
- Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until thickened (this usually takes me about 2 minutes). Remember that the filling will continue to thicken as it cools, you don’t want it to become pasty in the saucepan or it will be too thick after cooling
- Transfer to a heatproof container and allow to cool to room temperature before spreading over cake. If not using immediately, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If mixture is too thick to spread over cake after refrigerating, briefly heat it in the microwave for several seconds until it is a spreadable consistency.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Meghan
My daughter would like a white chocolate cake with strawberry or raspberry filling as layers;). Do you suggest I use the following of your recipes: vanilla cake, raspberry cake filling, and white chocolate buttercream (for the frosting)? Thanks in advance!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Meghan! That sounds delicious. Yes, all of those will work very nicely together. We hope your daughter loves the cake! 🎂
LmkInNJ
Delicious! I will definitely make this again! Today I used it to top off mini pastry shells filled with no bake “cheesecake” filling, a delicious combo!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Catherine
Is there anything else I can thicken this with? I can’t stand cornstarch flavor
Sam
Hi Catherine! You could try arrowroot or flour. Flour could potentially make it a little bit “gummy” which is why I don’t use it here. 🙂
Adrienne
I used 2 tsp Xanthan Gum, whisked in at the end due to a corn allergy. it worked beautifully.
Jami
Just made this and swirled it into my vanilla cupcakes! It is soooooo delicious! Also added to a whipped white chocolate ganache to get on top!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yummmm, that sounds SO good Jami! Enjoy 😍
Heidi Gonzalez
Thank you for making this simple enough for even me! ❤️
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad the recipe was a hit for you, Heidi! Enjoy 😊
Camille
8 oz of raspberries = 1 cup. So are we doing 8 oz or 2 cups (as the recipe says)?
Sam
Hi Camille! 2 cups of frozen raspberries is 8oz. 🙂
Mary Ellen Boyer
Two cups of raspberries is 16 oz and 1 cup is 8oz
Sam
There are 8oz in a fluid cup of water. The 2 cups of raspberries were actually weighed on a scale. 2 cups of raspberries is 8oz. 🙂
Tabitha
Perfect! I doubled recipe and it still came out perfect. Used between four layers lemon cake. It was delicious!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear this! Thank you for trying my recipe, Tabitha!
Janice
Great recipe. Every time I serve it I get rave reviews.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We love comments like these, Janice! Thanks so much for your five-star review 🥰
Ines
Can I use strawberries or blueberries instead of raspberries?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Ines! That should work. Depending on how juicy your fruit is, you may need more or less water 🙂
Nat
Tldr: tastes amazing, halve the recipe for filling one box cake of 2 round cake pans….. Review: I find myself here because I opened my can of raspberry jam I planned on using for cake filling, but it was brown and runny. After a quick call to the company, they advised not to eat it (and are sending a replacement). So I’ve got to whip this up FAST. I only have 1 cup of raspberries so it’ll have to do (thankfully i bought some for garnishing the top of the cake!). I halved all the ingredients. With only half the ingredients and using fresh raspberries it took about 5 mins on medium to bubble. I stirred for another 3m (because I lost track of time and did 1m extra by mistake) and it thickened nicely. Transferring to a plate to cool it in the fridge now because I am SO pressed for time!!! It tastes INCREDIBLE and I couldn’t fathom adding vanilla to this. Wow I will have to stop myself from eating it by the spoonful haha!! Start to finish, 15minute recipe for me, plus about 5 minutes on a plate in the fridge to cool down. Delicious. I don’t particularly like raspberries but I loved this and my raspberry loving husband will too.
Luci
Wonderful recipe! Great timing guidance. Thanks!
Nancy Hogan
I followed recipe exactly and it seems to Runny. Should i have left a tablespoon of water out due to lemon juice
Sam
Hi Nancy! It may have just needed to simmer for a few more minutes. 🙂
Nancy Hogan
I put back in pan and recooked. Worked perfectly. Thanks
Nancy Hogan
Excellent
Jenni
This was absolutely divine! I used this filling for a poppyseed cake I made for my Mother in law’s wedding. It was delicious!
Jenni
I forgot to mention that I froze the remaining raspberry filling and after thawing, it was still amazing!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jenni! 🙂
Rena
Can the leftovers be kept in the freezer for another time?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Rena! That should work just fine. 🙂
Sandy Fath
Would you be able to use this as a topping for cheesecake?
Sam
Hi Sandy! You can, but it’s not going to be the best option. It’s a bit thicker than a sauce you’d typically top a cheesecake with. I would recommend my checking out my strawberry sauce. 🙂
Milagros
I accidentally left this out over night, will it still be okay to serve? It was in an air tight container and my house is pretty cold.
Sam
Personally I would be comfortable using it, but I’m not sure what food safety guidelines would say.