Baking tips for beginners:

Use Room temperature ingredients, particularly room temperature eggs and butter in any recipe.  The ingredients more easily whip and emulsify, allowing the batter to properly bake. Don’t over-mix: Over-mixing the batter is a common mistake and one of the biggest culprits of a dense, dry cake. Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, use a spatula to gently mix just until the ingredients are combined. Spoon measure the flour: Be careful when measuring the flour that you don’t “pack” it into the measuring cup. Use a spoon to scoop  the flour into the measuring up and then level it off with the back of a knife.  Too much flour packed into a cake can also cause it to be dense and dry. No buttermilk? Buttermilk is a really easy ingredient to make yourself, so don’t fret if you don’t have any on hand!

How to Make Chocolate Raspberry Cake:

  1. Make chocolate cake:  Mix dry ingredients–sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add eggs, vanilla, oil, buttermilk and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water and stir together, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Pour batter into two 9-inch cake pans and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

  2. Make raspberry filling: Add sugar, water, lemon juice and cornstarch to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir well to combine. Add raspberries and cook, stirring often, until raspberries have softened into the sauce and the sauce has thickened. Allow to cool completely before filling cake.

  3. Make chocolate frosting: Combine butter and cocoa powder. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth and creamy!

  4. Assemble your cake: Spread a layer of raspberry filling in between the two chocolate cake layers. Frost the outside of the cake with chocolate frosting.  If desired, spread remaining raspberry filling on top of the cake.

For High Altitude:

Since the air pressure is lower at higher altitudes, more flour is needed to ensure your cake rises appropriately.  Increase flour by 2 Tablespoons if you are baking at high altitude.

For Store Bought Raspberry cake filling:

If you don’t wish to make the filling from scratch you could use a can of raspberry cake filling. (I prefer the Solo brand).

For seedless raspberry filling:

Cook the raspberries with only water and lemon juice. Press the mixture through a sieve, and return the seedless strawberry juice/pulp to the pan. Add sugar and cornstarch and cook until thickened.

Make Ahead and Freezing instructions: 

The cake can be made and assembled up to 1 day in advance. Cover and store at room temperature or in the fridge. Chocolate frosting will last for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator and can be frozen for 2-3 months in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before frosting. To freeze the chocolate cake, cover each cooled cake layer with plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe container or gallon bag. Freeze for up to 1 month. I think frozen cakes are easier to frost!

German Chocolate Cake Better Than Anything Cake Mississippi Mud Brownies Snickerdoodles Bars Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Tres Leches Cake

You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes! This Chocolate cake and chocolate frosting are Hershey’s recipe. I originally shared this recipe March 2013. Updated April 2020 with process photos and instructions. Have you tried this recipe?! RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience. This post contains affiliate links. I love sharing my favorite products with you! This post contains affiliate links.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake   Tastes Better From Scratch - 51Chocolate Raspberry Cake   Tastes Better From Scratch - 31Chocolate Raspberry Cake   Tastes Better From Scratch - 72Chocolate Raspberry Cake   Tastes Better From Scratch - 21Chocolate Raspberry Cake   Tastes Better From Scratch - 42Chocolate Raspberry Cake   Tastes Better From Scratch - 37