Raspberry Coffee Cake is moist, creamy, and buttery, and bakes below layers of lemony cream cheese, fresh berries, and crumb topping. Serve it by the slice for breakfast, brunch, snack, or when sipping coffee.
Easy Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Our easy Raspberry Coffee Cake recipe starts with a simple buttery batter that bakes below a fresh raspberry cream cheese filling and sweet, crunchy crumble. Top your cake with a thick powdered sugar glaze, and you’ve got a dessert perfect for company.
This fruit-filled coffee cake bakes up beautifully with pretty pops of color and a crackly crumb covering – the combination of sweet raspberries, tart lemon, and vanilla flavor perfectly complements the tender, buttery base. One bite, and you’ll agree that this is the best raspberry cream cheese coffee cake made for morning, noon, or night!
While this raspberry cream cheesecake contains no coffee, this raspberry breakfast cake pairs perfectly with your morning brew and tastes delicious at tea time too!
What Is A Coffee Cake?
Despite the name, a coffee cake does not contain coffee. A coffee cake is typically a cake that is served with coffee. It is often a single-layer cake, flavored with fruit and a crumb topping (like a buckle), or in the case of our raspberry coffee cake, it’s decorated with a drizzled glaze!
Not to be confused with its cousin, the crumb cake, classic crumb cakes have a thicker layer of streusel topping than coffee cakes. My Apple Crumb Cake is also perfect with a warm cup of coffee or a special breakfast treat.
Why We Love Raspberry Coffee Cake Recipes
- Quick and easy to make.
- Uses a handful of simple ingredients.
- Crumb topping has the perfect crunch to complement the tender cake and creamy layer below.
- Moist and buttery cake, creamy cheesecake filling, juicy raspberries, crunchy streusel-like topping, and a sweet glaze drizzled on top.
- Coffee cakes are delicious for breakfast, bunch, snack, or dessert.
Raspberry Coffee Cake Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Fresh lemon zest
- Full-fat buttermilk
- Cream cheese
- Fresh lemon juice
- Fresh raspberries
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Additions
- Replace The Raspberries: You can substitute fresh strawberries (diced into smaller pieces roughly the size of raspberries), blackberries, or blueberries (like my Blueberry Coffee Cake) if desired.
- Bake Without Buttermilk: You can substitute 1:1 full-fat plain Greek yogurt or whole milk for the buttermilk in this recipe. I do not recommend using low-fat versions of these options as the fat in the dairy helps keep this cake moist and tender.
- Add Some Spice: Feel free to add some cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, or all three to your cake batter or crumb topping.
How to Make Raspberry Coffee Cake
- Prepare the Dry Ingredients: Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl. Set aside.
- Prepare the Wet Ingredients: Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one, then mix in vanilla and lemon zest.
- Create the Cake Batter: Add one-third of the dry mixture to the wet mixture, mix, then add half a cup of buttermilk. Repeat with another third of the dry mixture, the remaining buttermilk, and finally the last third of the dry mixture, mixing after each addition. Spread the batter into the baking dish (Image 1). Be cautious not to overmix.
- Make the Cream Cheese Layer: Beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Mix in sugar, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice until smooth. Spread this mixture over the cake batter layer. (Image 2)
- Top the cream cheese with the fresh raspberries. (Image 3)
- Prepare the Crumb Topping: Mix flour, sugar, salt, and melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over the raspberry and cream cheese layer (Image 4). You can press it together with your fingers for a good crumbly texture.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden (Image 5). If the crumb topping browns too quickly, cover the cake with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Make the Glaze: Whisk powdered sugar and milk until you get a thick syrup-like consistency. Drizzle this over the completely cooled cake (Image 6). Adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar or milk if needed.
- Serve: Enjoy your delicious coffee cake!
Tips For Making Raspberry Coffee Cake
- Ensure you are scraping down the sides of your bowl and paddle attachment every so often. This will be a thick batter, and you must ensure all the ingredients are well incorporated at each step.
- Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and the beaters, if necessary, for the cream cheese mixture.
- Be sure to zest your fresh lemon before juicing it for this recipe. It is much easier to zest a whole lemon than one cut in half and juiced already.
- Be sure to use good quality, full-fat cream cheese in this recipe. I have found that some store brands do not have as good flavor as well-known brands. They also often have a higher water content, which will alter the final texture of the cream cheese layer.
How to Store Raspberry Coffee Cake
- To Store: You should store this raspberry coffee cake, tightly covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
- To Freeze: To freeze, wrap tightly in a layer of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before serving.
- To Reheat: You can warm up individual pieces in the microwave for 30-40 seconds.
More Easy Cake Recipes
Other Easy Dessert Recipes
- S’mores Bars
- Magnolia bakery banana pudding
- Reese’s Cheesecake
- Pecan Sandies
- Raspberry Crumble Cookies
If you tried this Raspberry Coffee Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!!!
Raspberry Coffee Cake
Serves — 12
Raspberry Coffee Cake is moist and tender with a layer of cream cheese and fresh fruit baked on top.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 cup full-fat buttermilk
Cream cheese and raspberry layer
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2½ cups fresh raspberries approximately 2 pints – organic if available
Crumb topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1½ tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.3 cups all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the unsalted butter and granulated sugar on medium speed just until light and fluffy.¾ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar
- Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture, mixing just until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and lemon zest and mix until incorporated.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- Add a third of the flour mixture to the bowl and mix on low speed just until combined. Add ½ cup of the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated, followed by another third of the flour mixture. Add the remaining ½ cup buttermilk, then the remaining third of the flour. Be sure that you are mixing between each addition just until each addition has been fully incorporated. Be careful not to overmix your batter, or it will not be as tender.1 cup full-fat buttermilk
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
- To make the cream cheese layer, beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.16 ounces cream cheese
- Add the granulated sugar, beating until well incorporated, followed by the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Be sure that your cream cheese mixture has no lumps remaining.½ cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg yolk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Carefully add the cream cheese mixture evenly over the cake batter layer. You can use an offset spatula to gently spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the batter.
- Top the cream cheese with the fresh raspberries.2½ cups fresh raspberries
- To make the crumb topping, add the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, and unsalted butter, that has been melted and cooled to a medium bowl.1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ cup unsalted butter
- Using a large fork, mix all the ingredients together until you get a rough crumbly mixture and all the flour has been absorbed by the melted butter. You can use your fingers to press the mixture together to get a good crumbly texture.
- Sprinkle the crumbly mixture evenly over the top of the raspberry and cream cheese layer.
- Bake the raspberry coffee cake for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes, or just until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If your crumb mixture gets too brown before your cake is cooked completely, you can lightly tent your coffee cake with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Allow the raspberry coffee cake to cool completely on the counter before adding the glaze.
- To make the glaze, whisk together, in a small bowl, the sifted powdered sugar and milk until smooth and the consistency of a thick syrup. If your glaze is too runny, then you can add a couple more tablespoons of powdered sugar, or if too thick, then you can add additional milk one teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.1 cup powdered sugar, 1½ tablespoons milk
Jenn’s Notes
Yields: 12 (3×3 inch) servings
Storage:
- To Store: You should store this raspberry coffee cake, tightly covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
- To Freeze: To freeze, wrap tightly in a layer of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before serving.
- To Reheat: You can warm up individual pieces in the microwave for 30-40 seconds.
- Be sure that you are scraping down the sides of your bowl and your paddle attachment every so often. This will be a thick batter, and you will need to make sure that all the ingredients are well incorporated at each step.
- Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and the beaters, if necessary, for the cream cheese mixture as well.
- Be sure to zest your fresh lemon prior to juicing it for this recipe. It is much easier to zest a whole lemon than one cut in half and juiced already.
- Be sure to use good quality, full-fat cream cheese in this recipe. I have found that some of the store brands do not have as good of a flavor as the well-known name brands. They also oftentimes have a higher water content, and that will alter the final texture of the cream cheese layer.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 539kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 493mg | Potassium: 288mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 599IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 204mg | Iron: 2mg
