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Mon Petit Four®

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Chocolate Raspberry Cake for Christmas Dessert

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If you’re still looking for a beautiful dessert idea for your holiday dinner, then look no further than this chocolate raspberry cake. This decadent holiday dessert recipe will produce a moist chocolate cake with a raspberry filling and a mascarpone frosting.

Raspberry Cake Filling

I obtained the original recipe for this raspberry chocolate cake from the chocolate and carrots blog and was inspired to give it a twist for my own holiday dinner.

The raspberry filled layers in this chocolate cake are absolutely dreamy!

You could really call this a chocolate raspberry jam cake because the raspberry filling consists of raspberry preserves. The preserves give the raspberry sauce its sweet and sticky consistency.

Other than the raspberry preserves, you’ll find frozen raspberries in the sauce, adding wonderful texture, as well as cornstarch, which helps thicken the sauce up.

Chocolate and raspberry have always been a trusted duo; I’m sure you’ve seen dark chocolate truffles with a raspberry filling. Since chocolate is slightly bitter and the raspberries are sweet, you get a nice balance between the two.

In fact, I make this chocolate raspberry cake for my sister’s birthday every year because its her favorite flavor combination.

chocolate raspberry cake layers

Gourmet Chocolate

Because this is a chocolate and raspberry cake, you’re going to need to bake some actual chocolate cake layers. Before you think of busting out any chocolate cake mix, consider the recipe shared here for chocolate cake layers from scratch.

Because I’m here to tell you that with this recipe, you can expect nothing less than perfectly moist and decadent cake layers.

For a special touch, I like to use rich baking cocoa, like the Ghirardelli brand. Ghirardelli is a gourmet chocolate maker and produces a variety of chocolate ingredients, including unsweetened baking cocoa, which is what you need for this recipe.

If you wanted to make a dark chocolate raspberry cake, you could also use something like Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. Either option will produce a decadent chocolate cake.

Just be sure that you don’t pick up hot cocoa powder; that’s very different from baking cocoa, mainly it’s much sweeter.

Some tips to keep in mind when you’re baking your chocolate raspberry cake layers:

  • Sift your flour and cocoa. To prevent any little lumps in your cake, you’ll want to make sure you sift your flour and cocoa using a sieve. This is especially true for the cocoa which tends to clump easily.
  • Prepare your cake pans well. This cake is super moist meaning it will easily stick to your cake pans. To prevent this, grease your cake pans well with something like baking spray, and then line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

The chocolate cake layers can take anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes, depending on your oven.

This can seem like a big range, but the reality is that some readers have had success baking their cakes for 40 minutes while others have had success baking them longer (including myself) up to 60 minutes.

Your best bet is to simply check on your cake layers at the 40 minute mark, and then give them a check every 5 minutes after that.

Once the chocolate cake layers come out of the oven, they will need to rest in their pans until they’re completely cool. If you set the pans on a wire rack, this will help speed up the cooling process since the pans will get some cool air circulating underneath them as well.

chocolate raspberry cake covered in mascarpone frosting with festive topping

Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

This easy chocolate raspberry cake recipe is really simple to put together, and the design on top is even easier. Instead of spending time assembling chocolate molds or creating marzipan figures, we rely on a luxurious mascarpone frosting to do all the decorative work.

The goal for this chocolate raspberry cake with mascarpone frosting is to make the frosting look like snow.

In order to this, you need to whisk your mascarpone frosting a little bit longer than you normally might. Typically, when you make frosting, the goal is to whisk it until it’s thick yet smooth.

That’s why people use offset spatulas and all sorts of other pastry tools to get beautifully smooth and neatly frosted cakes. For a snowy effect, we’re going to forego all that.

You’ll notice that when you whisk your mascarpone frosting for a longer period of time, it will begin to curdle and become slightly clumpy. All frosting recipes will do this.

In fact, did you know this is how cream is churned into butter? If you whisk cream on high speed for a long enough time (or throw it into a food processor), it will eventually clump and become butter!

In the case of this chocolate raspberry cake, we don’t want to whisk it so long that it becomes a clumpy mass, but rather just long enough to give it the look of powdered snow.

I also made sure to go easy on frosting the sides of this chocolate raspberry cake to achieve a more rustic, natural look of the cake. This is what bakers will typically refer to as a sort of naked cake.

chocolate raspberry cake for christmas holiday dessert

Chocolate Raspberry Dessert

To make this chocolate raspberry cake a truly festive dessert for your holiday dinner, you’ll just need a couple of more items to decorate the top of the cake with.

Once you’ve frosted your chocolate cake with the mascarpone frosting, you’re going to place a fresh pine sprig (thoroughly washed) on top of the cake with a couple of cinnamon sticks.

Some people are hesitant to use fresh pine on their cake, but I’ve never experienced any issues. Just be sure to wash the sprigs well.

If you’re still nervous, you can easily swap the pine for a sprig of rosemary or even faux greenery from the craft store.

To add the finishing touch to this chocolate raspberry cake, you’ll just want to add a handful of fresh raspberries on top.

When you’re ready to serve the cake, give the entire top of the cake a dusting of powdered sugar and you’ll end up with a holiday dessert that’s rustic, elegant, and très sophistiqué.

chocolate raspberry cake layers

Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

A decadent chocolate cake filled with a raspberry preserve sauce and covered in mascarpone frosting.

Ingredients

for the cake

  • 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

for the raspberry sauce

  • 1 cup raspberry preserves
  • 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp corn starch

for the frosting

  • 1.5 cup mascarpone
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, or 1 1/4 cup, adjust to taste
  • 2-4 tbsp heavy cream

for the design on top

  • 1 pine branch/sprig
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Make the Cake Layers

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Grease three 9” cake pans with baking spray and line bottoms with parchment paper.
  2. To a medium size bowl, add the chocolate chips, then pour the hot coffee over them. Let it stand for a couple of minutes and then stir until the chocolate has melted.
  3. In another bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, beat the eggs until thickened and a pale yellow color. Slowly add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to the eggs, beating until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat just until combined.
  5. Divide the batter between the three cake pans. Bake on the middle racks of the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour. Let the cakes rest in their pans until completely cool. If you have wire racks, set the pans on wire racks to cooler quicker. Then, invert the layers onto individual pieces of plastic wrap so that you can wrap each tightly until ready to use.

Make the Raspberry Filling

  1. For the raspberry sauce filling, add the corn starch to a small saucepan and whisk to get rid of any clumps.
  2. Add the raspberries and raspberry preserves to the pan. Cook over medium heat until everything is warm and heated through. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
  3. Make the Mascarpone Frosting
  4. For the frosting, beat the mascarpone and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or using an electric mixer until very fluffy and light.
  5. Add in the powdered sugar and whisk while streaming in 2 tablespoons of cream. If the frosting is too thick, add 2 more tablespoons of cream, or as needed. Whisk the cream long enough to get it slightly clumpy if you want to achieve the snowy effect. Otherwise, simply whisk until the frosting is thick and smooth.

To Assemble the Cake

  1. Place your first cake layer on a cake board or your cake stand. Smear (or pipe) a small bit of frosting along the rim of the cake layer. This will act as a border for your raspberry filling.
  2. Spoon raspberry sauce onto the center of the cake layer, spreading a thin layer with the back of the spoon, just until it reaches the frosting along the rim. The frosting acts as a barrier to keep the raspberry sauce from spilling over the edges. Place the second cake layer on top, then add a frosting border along the rim and raspberry sauce to the center like you just did with the first layer.
  3. Place the third cake layer on top, then use a rubber spatula to generously cover the top of the cake with mascarpone frosting and lightly smear the sides of the cake with your frosting too. Place your pine sprig onto the center of the cake, along with a couple of cinnamon sticks, and fresh raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
  4. Once you're ready to serve, dust the entire top of the cake with powdered sugar.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 12 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 679
© Beeta @ Mon Petit Four
Cuisine: American / Category: Dessert

Comments

  3. I know this may be a dumb question but do you use real pine for the topping? I have some on my porch but I wasn’t sure the proper technique.

    Reply

    • Hi Lauren! Yes you can definitely use real pine. I would just rinse it first and remove it from the individual cake slices when serving. Happy Holidays! <3

      Reply

      • I used fresh rosemary instead and it looked super cute. ♥️🌲✨

        EVERYONE loved this Christmas dessert! Amazing. I didn’t like the raspberry sauce, so I used fresh raspberries instead. Small modification.

        Fabulous!

        Reply

    • Hi Amy! You can definitely make this today, but I would keep the cake in the fridge because of the mascarpone cheese in the frosting. 🙂 Hope you have a lovely Christmas! <3

      Reply

  5. I’m just wondering if you think cake flour would produce a lighter crumb? I usually use that when I make cakes, I wasn’t sure if there was a reason you used all-purpose flour. Would this substitution effect the final product in your opinion? I’m looking forward to making this cake for Christmas!!

    Reply

    • Hi Tara! I have never made this cake with cake flour so I cannot definitively tell you what the final result would be, but I can’t see it being a problem. I tend to use all-purpose flour in most recipes because it’s the most accessible, and I find that in a cake recipe like this, it doesn’t detract from the tenderness or moistness of the cake. In general, however, I have found that cake flours tend to produce a finer crumb and cake layers that are a bit taller. Since we’re discussing flours, I would also consider the idea of using self-rising flour as a compromise between cake flour and all-purpose flour. A lot of bakeries use self-rising flour in their cake recipes because they’re not quite as delicate as cake flour but they still produce that finer crumb. If you do use self-rising flour, I would omit the salt and leavening from the recipe as SR flour already has it. Please share a photo of your cake if you do end up making it – I’d love to see! 🙂

      Reply

  6. This cake is AMAZING, as are all of Beeta’s recipes. It took more time and attention to make than I expected but it was well worth it. Also, a few tips: 1) if you’re using frozen raspberries, defrost before you put them on the cake or else they’ll bleed on the cake and you’ll get a very different look than Beeta’s pristine snowy look; 2) I used mint sprigs, pine needles on cake just seemed risky to me, even though it’s beautiful. Sophisticated, tough to please crowd – they all raved about the cake. Thank you, once again Beeta!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Marilyn! I’m so glad that you and your guests enjoyed this cake. And yes you’re 100% right about frozen raspberries…I recommend using them in the filling, but not the garnish that goes on top of the cake (unless you do an excellent job of thawing and patting them dry!). I love your creativity, Marilyn, and appreciate your kind feedback! <3

      Reply

  7. Hi Beeta, I’m planning to make this later this week for a Christmas gathering and wanted your advice – I have a 5 hour drive to get there, and then we won’t be eating it until the next day. I’m planning to make the cakes ahead of time for sure, but should I plan to make the sauce and frosting once I arrive and assemble it there? If so, should I refrigerate the cakes to help preserve them? Or do you think if I made it all ahead of time that it will hold up for a long car journey and a day wait? Thanks in advance!

    Reply

    • Hi Katherine! Okay, so here’s what I would advise:

      1. Bake the cakes ahead of time, but no sooner than 3 days before serving. Instead of letting the cakes completely cool in their pans, just give them 20 minutes to cool in the pan. Then, flip them out and immediately wrap them very well in plastic wrap. Wrapping the cakes while they’re still warm will help trap the moisture in the cakes to keep them nice and tender. Refrigerate the cakes when they’re not in the car.
      2. You can also make the raspberry filling ahead of time, again no sooner than 3 days before serving. Keep the filling refrigerated at home, and you can just stick the filling in the fridge again once you arrive at your destination. The sugar content in the filling (from the raspberry preserves) helps preserve the filling.
      3. As for the frosting ingredients and the fresh raspberries, I would pack those into a small cooler with ice to keep safe until you get to your destination. The cooler will help the fresh berries keep from becoming limp. Once you’re at your destination, stick the filling, fresh berries, and frosting ingredients in the fridge to chill.
      4. I recommend making the frosting and assembling the cake the day that you’re going to serve the cake. Technically, you can make frosting the night before, but I sometimes find that when there’s fresh cream in frosting, it can separate and cause a watery residue. Ultimately, however, the reason I recommend preparing the frosting and assembling the cake the day of is because the frosting needs to be kept refrigerated, so once the cake is frosted, it will be unwrapped from the plastic wrapping and in need of refrigeration too, which might dry out the cakes if kept in the fridge overnight.
      5. Before serving your frosted and refrigerated cake, leave it out on the counter for 20 minutes so that it’s not super cold when eating. 🙂

      Hope this helps, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas! 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Tina! The coffee helps enhance the chocolate flavor in the cake, so the coffee doesn’t really contribute in the chemical make-up of the cake; it’s there for moisture and flavor. The easiest substitute would be hot water, but a better one would be hot water with baking cocoa (like an unsweetened hot cocoa). Another idea would be to do hot water measurement (minus one tablespoon) with a tablespoon of coffee-flavored liquor like Kahlua. 🙂

      Reply

      • I boiled fresh raspberries in 1 cup of water, strained out the seeds and pulp, and used it in place of the coffee. Gave the cake a very slight raspberry flavor!

        Reply

  9. I scaled the recipe down and made this today as a trial for Christmas dinner in a couple of days. I’m not a fan of chocolate cake but I absolutely love this one! This cake is so moist and the frosting is heavenly. Not overly sweet. Assembly was easy, and the garnish makes it a work of art. I’m so pleased, my husband loved it and I’m sure our family will too. Thank you!

    Reply

    • Hi Aisha! Thank you so much for the kind comment. I’m so glad that you and the hubby enjoyed this recipe. 🙂 I love how moist this cake is too <3 I hope you have a beautiful Christmas with your family! Sending warm wishes and lots of good cheer XX

      Reply

  11. Help me please! I loved the cake, as did everyone else last night. However, I ended up having to put together an alternate white frosting, on the fly, because the mascarpone frosting did not work out. I made it as directed, but the end result kept separating from it’s whey and it would not spread. At all. Any ideas what could have gone wrong?

    Reply

    • Hi Amy!

      So mascarpone curdles fairly quickly, especially if it’s cold or if other ingredients (i.e. Butter, cream, etc.) are cold too. In this case, we want the mascarpone frosting to curdle a bit for the snowy effect, but overmixing the frosting (i.e. Mixing too long) will produce separation. Next time, if you’re looking to achieve the curdled look, just keep a watchful eye on the mixer and be prepared to stop the mixer as soon as the frosting starts to curdle, as it happens in the blink of an eye. Regardless, it won’t be as smooth and spreadable as regular frosting so don’t expect to be able to smear it onto the cake like you normally would.

      If you want to achieve a smooth mascarpone frosting, simply make sure all your ingredients are room temperature and, again, keep a very careful eye on the mixer as it whips. If it does happen to curdle, you can “save” the frosting by whisking the curdled frosting in a saucepan over low heat until you remove all the lumps. Then allow the mixture to come to room temperature and use the mixer to whip it into frosting again. Hope that helps! Happy Holidays! 🙂

      Reply

    • Thank you for the kind feedback, Janie! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Happy New Year! xx

      Reply

    • HI Lil! Yes you can. After you bake the cakes, let them rest in their pans until they’ve cooled. Flip each layer out and wrap each layer well in plastic wrap, then wrap each layer in aluminum foil. When you want to assemble the cake, just take the wrapped cake layers out of the fridge and let them thaw out – about 2-3 hours. 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Lacie! This chocolate cake is super moist, so you should be fine making it the day before and refrigerating. I would just advise that you keep it in some kind of covered container (be it a cake stand or cake carrier) and make sure there aren’t any foods with strong odors in your fridge (i.e. onion, etc.). You’ll definitely want to keep it refrigerated as the mascarpone cheese will spoil if you don’t! 🙂

      Happy Holidays!

      Reply

    • Oh and I almost forgot – if you’re making it a day ahead, I would suggest holding off on placing the raspberries on top until the day you’re serving, as the raspberries may bleed into the frosting overnight 🙂

      Reply

  16. You are saying to bake the cake on the middle rack my rack does not hold 3 pans at a time can I leave the one pan out on the counter or put it in the ref to back when the other 2 are done

    Reply

  17. I have made this 3 times already in the last few weeks and everyone loves it. I made it as cupcakes with the raspberry in the middle but I would need to bake them a little longer than I did so they don’t fall apart but they tasted great. . I LOVE DARK CHOCOLATE SO we used dark chocolate chips and dark cocoa powder. We also used espresso blend coffee. I attempted the Marscapon frosting but that did not work so I did a cream cheese frosting and it was amazing with the cake. Thank you so much for the recipe idea. I will definitely make it again. Happy holidays!

    Reply

    • I’m so glad you enjoyed this Kristen! Thank you so much for the kind feedback. Hope you have a very happy holiday as well! <3

      Reply

  18. I couldn’t find mascarpone cheese at my local grocery store. What would you recommend as a substitute? Cream cheese?

    Reply

    • Hi Jenny! I know that sometimes it can be tricky finding mascarpone. I usually turn to my local Trader Joe’s, but in the case that you can’t find it, you can use cream cheese and maybe add a little more sugar depending on your taste. Mascarpone isn’t “sweet” the way we typically think of sugary sweet things, however, it is just a subtle bit sweeter than cream cheese. 🙂

      Reply

      • I ended up using cream cheese as my local grocery stores are tiny and didn’t have it. Everyone loved how it wasn’t very sweet. Going to do the same for a carrot cake icing. Thank you!

        Reply

        • Hi Jenny! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed this cake! 🙂 I get the pleased “not too sweet” comment a lot with my recipes so I’m glad that came through here too!

          Reply

  19. Made this cake for Christmas this year and used the European dark cocoa! It was delish and I highly recommend it. I will definitely be making it again!!!

    Reply

  20. My family doesn’t like anything with mascarpone cheese, what can I use instead? Would love to make this for my Christmas party. Thank you

    Reply

  21. This is hands down the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten!! And I can’t believe I actually made it. While time consuming, it wasn’t difficult at all in my opinion! Just involved patience and a watchful eye 🙂

    The icing was delicious, the filling just right, and that chocolate cake to die for. I honestly could’ve eaten it by itself and been just as impressed. AMAZING!

    I’m actually interested in trying this with a buttercream icing instead one time. Do you have a recipe that would compliment this nicely? I loved the mascarpone! Just want to try something a little different to shake things up next time! 🙂

    Thank you for sharing a delightful cake!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much for the thoughtful and sweet, comment, Melissa! I’m so happy you love this cake as much as I do! You can definitely do buttercream with this…I usually do 2 sticks unsalted butter + 1 tsp vanilla extract + enough powdered sugar to make it as sweet as I like. I’d start with 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar then add little by little as needed. 🙂

      Reply

  22. I am presently making this cake ! The frosting is finished while I wait on the cakes ! Oh my heavens it is wonderful! Thank you for your blog! My grandma was from France .. she passed away before I was born… I bet she had awesome French food recipes.. per my mother ! Merry Christmas! 2018!

    Reply

    • Thanks so much, Tami! I’m so glad you are enjoying the blog and this recipe. I bet your grandmother was an amazing cook! <3

      Reply

    • Hi Annette! I’ve never turned these into cupcakes but I would think you might be able to get more than a dozen, maybe even two dozen. This cake batter fits 3 cake pans, where many cake recipes fit two. The cake recipes that fit two usually yield 12 to 15 cupcakes, that’s why I’m guessing you’ll get more than 12 for sure. 🙂

      Reply

  25. My frosting turned out yellowish and very “wet” even after nearly doubling the powdered sugar. What did I do wrong?

    Reply

    • Hi Haley, the frosting will look slightly wet just because we’re beating it to the point of it curdling for the snowy effect, but it shouldn’t so “very” wet. Maybe use less heavy cream next time. Also is your unsalted butter pretty white? I like to use Land O Lakes which is on the whiter side. Some butters are very yellow which can contribute to the yellow tint. Hope that helps! Merry Christmas!

      Reply

    • Hi Marissa! Yup! For this recipe you need all-purpose flour. I typically use the King Arthur brand and it’s unbleached. 🙂

      Reply

  27. This was amazing! All my favorite ingredients in a delicious cake. Will make this again this Christmas Eve and many more!

    Reply

  28. The cake is wonderful! Making 3 cakes second year for church ladies. Only bake it for 40 minutes and the recipe says 60. Am I doing something wrong?

    Reply

    • Hi Jean! No you’re not doing anything wrong! An hour is just an approximation. It can vary depending on your oven – for me it’s usually about 48 minutes (sounds exact I know!) but in my old house it was more like 55 minutes. 🙂

      Reply

  29. I’m so excited to make this cake for Christmas this year and I can’t believe I didn’t find your site sooner! You have so many great recipes. I think I’ve bookmarked half your site!

    I saw in another comment you use King Arthur AP flour for this cake. Curious if you also measure your flour by weight? I notice for those who don’t, I tend to need a bit more flour than the typical 120 grams. I know baking is a science and I want to make sure I get your same beautiful results!

    Reply

    • Hi Melanie! Thanks so much for the comment! I used American measuring cups for this recipe so I recommend using that if you want it to be exactly the way I did it. 🙂

      Reply

  30. I made this cake for my Christmas centerpiece dessert and it did not disappoint! The chocolate cake was perfect in every way and the design was easy to re-create. I got a ton of compliments. Super happy!

    Reply

    • Hi Laura, I would not use springform pans for this. Chocolate cake batter is definitely more runny than vanilla cake batter, so I would stick to classic cake pans. 🙂

      Reply

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