My Momofuku Raspberry Lemonade Cake recipe ideea was created when Christina Tosi replaced Joe Bastianich in the new Masterchef season, I’ve been slightly obbsessed with her recipes. She’s a pastry chef and I am somehow excited to see pastry chefs stepping out on tv shows like this one. I kept reading on various blogs that the recipes found in her Momofuku Milk Bar book are time consuming and hard to master and I thought this was the challenge I needed, although I don’t mind complex and time consuming cakes (do check my entremets for that matter). But I was intrigued by the elements she used in her cakes and the fact that she relies on the pure beauty of a naked cake to impress. And it works, it really does as after revealing my raspberry lemonade cake, I was in pure awe and I’m not that easily impressed when it comes to cakes, believe me!
My recipe uses Christina Tosi’s Strawberry Lemonade Cake as a base, but I added my signature to it by reducing the sugar and butter (the cake is incredibly rich and sweet even so, I’ll probably reduce it a bit more next time, but again, it might only be a matter of personal taste) and replacing part of her recipe with my own tried, fail-proof recipes. I ended up with a rich, tangy, sweet raspberry lemonade cake that I just couldn’t stop eating. Yes, it’s sweet, yes, it’s buttery and yes, it’s delicious! It’s definitely not a cake for the faint of heart in terms of calories, but hey, we don’t eat cake every day and this one is well worth the time spent in the kitchen and the sacrifice of breaking the rules of your diet!
Momofuku Raspberry Lemonade Cake
Ingredients
Vanilla sponge cake
- 225 g butter (softened)
- 280 g white sugar
- 150 g eggs
- 125 g buttermilk
- 125 g vegetable oil
- 5 g vanilla extract
- 210 g all-purpose flour
- 6 g baking powder
- 2 g salt
Raspberry sauce
- 150 g raspberry puee
- 100 g white sugar
- 5 g pectin NH
- 1 g citric acid
- Liquid cheesecake
- 225 g cream cheese
- 80 g white sugar
- 10 g cornstarch
- 25 g milk
- 50 g egg
- 5 g vanilla extract
Lemon curd
- 100 g egg yolk
- 90 g lemon juice
- zest from 2 lemons
- 200 g white sugar
- 100 g butter
Milk crumbs
- 45 g milk powder A
- 30 g all-purpose flour
- 30 g cornstarch
- 10 g white sugar
- 1 g salt
- 70 g butter (melted)
- 15 g milk powder B
- 70 g white chocolate (melted and chilled)
Instructions
Vanilla sponge cake
- Preheat your oven to 170C and line a 35x25cm cake pan with baking paper. Place aside until needed.
- Sift the flour with salt and baking powder and place aside.
- Mix the butter with sugar in a bowl for 3 minutes until creamy and pale.
- Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition.
- While mixing at medium to high speed, slowly pour in the buttermilk, followed by the vegetable oil and vanilla. Make sure to add just a bit at a time or you might break the emulsion. Turn the mixer on high speed and mix for 6-8 minutes until double in volume.
- Fold in the flour then spoon the batter in your prepared pan.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown and the cake springs back if pushed slightly on its surface.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool aside.
Raspberry sauce
- Combine the raspberry sauce with half of the sugar and place on medium heat to warm up.
- Mix the remaining sugar with the pectin then pour it over the puree. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 seconds.
- Remove from heat and add the citric acid. Mix well then cool down in a bowl.
Liquid cheesecake
- Line a small baking pan with baking paper or even better, prepare a Silikomart silicone cylinder mould. Set aside.
- Mix the cream cheese with the sugar for 2 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the egg with the cornstarch, milk, salt and vanilla and mix well.
- Slowly pour the egg mix over the cream cheese, mixing well.
- Spoon the cheesecake in the prepared pan then place the pan in a bigger one. Pour hot water in the bigger pan and place in the preheated oven at 350F – 175C for 20 minutes. You don’t need to cook this cheesecake down, the center is supposed to still be jiggly and the sides shouldn’t turn brown at all.
- This cheesecake will be used as a filling cream between the layers of the cake.
- Allow to cool in the pan then mix with a spatula until creamy.
- You can make this cheesecake one day before and keep in the fridge until needed.
Lemon curd
- Combine all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl and place over a hot water bath.
- Cook until it begins to thicken, whisking all the time as it cooks to ensure even cooking.
- Remove from the hot water bath and pass through a fine sieve to remove the zest which tends to become bitter in time.
- Cool down completely before using.
- This curd can be made one day ahead as well.
Milk crumbs
- Combine milk powder A, the flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well.
- Drizzle in the melted butter and mix with a fork until clusters of dough form.
- Spread the crumbs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes.
- Allow them to cool in the pan then transfer in a bowl.
- Sprinkle with the remaining milk powder and drizzle with melted chocolate, mixing to coat the crumbs evenly.
- Place in the fridge to set.
Assemble the cake
- Mix the liquid cheesecake with half of the lemon curd. Reserve the remaining curd as you will be using it as well.
- Place an 18cm cake ring on your cake board and line the ring with acetate sheets.
- Cut 2 vanilla cake discs and place aside. Using the leftover cake, form at the bottom of the cake ring the first layer of the cake. It won’t look pretty, but don’t worry as this layer will be well hidden once you assemble the cake.
- Top the cake layer with 1/3 of the raspberry sauce. Spoon 1/3 of the cheesecake mixture over the sauce then spoon dollops of lemon curd on top. What follows is a few fresh raspberries and 1/3 of the milk crumbs. Place one of the vanilla cake discs you cut earlier into the cake ring as well and press it over the bottom layers. Repeat the same steps with raspberry sauce, cheesecake, lemon curd, milk crumbs and fresh raspberries.
- Place in the fridge a few hours, preferably overnight then remove the cake ring and decorate with fresh raspberries.
Equipment and utensils
Notes
These quantities yield a 16cm or 18cm diameter cake, fitted for 8-10 servings, depending on the size of the slice.
Ce pot folosi in locul pectinei ?
Leontina, poate ai putea inlocui cu amidon.
foloseste zahar gelifiant care contine si pectina
Wow! This is serious! This just might be my Birthday cake to me!
What a gorgeous cake! Love the Momofuku-inspired design, I really must try that style sometime. I’ve made some of her layer cakes, but always frost the sides, being a bit of a traditionalist in that respect 🙂 Multi-layered desserts like this are just the BEST. <3
Thank you, June. It’s gorgeous without frosting too as you can see all the work that’s been done. But I imagine it frosted as well, must be just as delicious!
This looks gorgeous. Raspberries are my favorite fruit and I love how you used so much of them. The cake looks so moist too!
Thank you, Kathleen. It has an intense raspberry flavor.
I am a sucker for any type of cake and this one look scrumptious. So beautifully executed and photographed.
Cheers!
Thank you so much!
What a masterpiece! I love the combination of lemon and raspberries—and this cake is spectacular!
Buna, vruiam sa te intreb cum de baltul a ieist ” alb ” pe margine , ca nu imi dau seama sau poate nu am inteles eu. In mod normal mie imi ies toate maronii, odata coapte.
ps: ignore the previous comment! just realised its a rectangular pan and we’ll be cutting out of a sheet!
Is there any way to convert this recipe to cups? Is looks so delicious and I would love to make it. Thank you Karen
I am trying this for a friend’s birthday and just want to check-it’s very buttery/oily. Is that correct? It tastes delicious just wasn’t sure it should be that oily.
It’s not supposed to be oily at all. I believe something went wrong during the mixing or cooking process. What type of oil did you use? Usually products turn oily when a low quality oil has been used.
It is a moist sponge however, it does leave a tiny bit of oil on your hands if you press it, but it’s not overly oily or it’s not something that stands out or bothers.
I hope my answer helps.
I think I let the butter sit out too long and that may have caused it. I am not sure I am advanced enough for it! Lol. My friend found it and asked so I am practicing. I made the raspberry sauce this morning and I got like 1/2 cup which seems like way way too little and it’s very syrupy. Maybe too hot? I kept on low but it took forever to boil. I am not sure what I am doing wrong . Can’t wait to see how the lemon curd and liquid cheesecake turn out.
It turned out very well 🙂 redid raspberry sauce and it was great. Thank you!
I’m glad it turned out ok after all! Well done!
Hi!! Do you think i can double the recipe and use a bigger cake ring??
Yes, of course!
Thanks!! I’ll try this weekend!!! 🙂
Your cake is beautiful. I want make it for Christmas. While reading the directions for the vanilla cake it says to mix butter with sugar, but the ingredient list says oil not butter, did you use the oil in place of the butter?
Please advise
Thanks
The ingredient list says butter as well, it’s the first ingredient on the list.
Thank you!
Hy Olguta! As vrea sa fac tortul acesta de ziua fiicei mele(1an❤️). As vrea sa te intreb cat de inalt este defapt acest tort pe care il vad in imagine pt ca eu as vrea sa-l transform intr-unul cu etaj. Atunci as sti daca sa fac 2 compozitii sau una este suficient pe 2 etaje! Love your work!
Buna. A avut undeva la 10-12cm inaltime, deci destul de inalt. Cu etaj clar as mari cantitatile pentru primul strat si as face un tort de macar 22cm diametru, cel de sus fiind de 16-18cm.
Buna, as putea sa coc 3 blaturi de 20 cm din aceasta compozitie?Merci.
As face 1 compozitie si jumatate pentru siguranta. De la 16cm la 20 e o diferenta notabila.
Cu cat timp inainte pot pregati blatul de vanilie / cheese-cake-ul / lemon curdul. Vreau sa fac tortul, dar mi-e teama ca nu-mi ajunge o dupa amiaza… 🙂
Hello, Olguta! I made this cake for my birthday and although I liked how it turned out, I can’t help thinking if I should try this with a much smaller sugar quantity. It’s very very sweet and “heavy” for my taste. Do you think I should try a lite version or is the sugar so important in the recipe? Would it ruin the layers’ texture if I would add like half the quantity or even less for each layer? How can I make it work? Maybe it’s a silly question but I just thought I should ask! 😀 Thank you!
Mariana, you can reduce the sugar in the sauce, syrup, cheesecake, but not in the sponge. Reducing it in the sponge will change its texture as well.
Hi! i’ve made this cake twice now and its the best cake ever, however the sponge is always very crumbly and its hard to work with. Do you have any ideas what could be the problem, or is it supposed to be like that?
It is a bit more crumbly than a regular cake. But if it’s too crumbly, I believe you need to pay more attention to the sponge making part, it should emulsify properly.
How are you doing Olguta! This cake looks so yummy and i’m planning to do this soon. But i am thinking about reducing it to just 2 layer batter. How do you think i go about the sauce, cheesecake, crumbs and and curd if i reduce them too to go with the 2 layer batter? Your answer will be deeply appreciated. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe have a nice day!
Love,
Emily
Bună seara! Ce tipuri de inele folosiți pentru asamblarea tortului?
Inel metalic de 16cm diametru.
Hi! Am facut si eu tortul tau. Superb din toate punctele de vedere! E mai migalos, dar merita efortul. Am folosit un inel de 18cm, ca forma asta am avut-o. A iesit totusi proportional blat/creme. Nu mai are nevoie de absolut nimic! Aromele sunt in balanta, si proportia intre creme si blat la fel de reusita. Cu siguranta il voi repeta!
Hi , I’m lenda from Jordan
Woukd like to know if i can use gelatin powder instead of sheets ? And how can i convert it ?
Thanks for the amazing yummy recipes
And another question , what is the substitution for pectin ? Can i use gelatin instead of it or can i cancel it ? Cause i don’t think we have it in our shops here in jordan
I have made this cake several times but the cake part never comes out quite right. And it is quite oily. Is there any way you could post the cake part only in standard instead of metric measurements?
I don t think pastry can be done with standard measurements. 🙂
It is a fatty sponge, indeed, but the fat keeps it moist. But it could become more oily when the base of the sponge, the butter and egg mixture becomes curdles as you add the oil and the buttermilk.
This sounds and looks like an incredible amount of work. However, it looks absolutely heavenly and one day I’m going to get all my courage together and make it.😍
It is a lot of work, indeed, but it’s worth it! It gets easier once you make all the elements. The sponge, the crumbs can be made 2-3 days in advance.