This delicious and impressive Four-Layer Black and White Cake with chocolate and raspberry layers is the ultimate dessert for any celebration! A cake that is worth a special place on the table.
If you like this cake, check out also my Chocolate Raspberry Cake and Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake.
What is special about this recipe
This is a tall four-layer cake, consisting of chocolate and raspberry layers with pudding in between them and buttercream frosting on top. The two tastes go wonderfully well together and the delicious frostings complements them very well.
About the ingredients
The layers of the cake are made with simple ingredients: all-purpose flour, eggs, butter, vegetable oil (I prefer extra virgin olive oil), cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, plain yogurt, vanilla, coffee (or just water, if the cake would be consumed by kids) and of course, raspberries.
You can easily substitute the yogurt with buttermilk or sour cream.
The frostings are also very simple: one is a pudding made with milk, sugar and cornstarch and the other one is a buttercream frosting made with butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.
Isn't it wonderful that these common and simple ingredients can create such a beautiful cake?
The complete list of ingredients are in the recipe card below the post!
Recipe tips
The cake layers are quite easy to make, so are the frostings. However you may want to consider few tips for best results:
- The raspberry layer is made by first creaming the butter and the oil and adding all other ingredients afterwards. You would need a mixer for it. However the chocolate layer is actually simpler: you just need to add gradually the wet to the dry ingredients and whisk. So no mixer is required for the chocolate layer.
- The vanilla pudding frosting is made with ready pudding: the kind that is cooked in milk (not instant pudding). If you don't have a packaged pudding, use cornstarch or any other starch and add some vanilla extract.
- I always recommend refrigerating the layers for few hours before cutting them as it makes working with them much easier. When I prepare any layer cake, I normally bake the layers on one day, refrigerate them overnight and make the frosting and assemble on the next day.
- This cake is quite tall as it is made in a 7 inch/ 18 cm pan. You can use the same quantity of ingredients even for 8 inch pans but consider that it would be much lower.
Decoration ideas
On the images you see a very simple cake decoration since I wanted to highlight the natural beauty of the layers. I used some chocolate candies (Maltesers, to be precise) and cut simple small flowers from pink fondant.
You can decorate the cake with fresh raspberries, with chocolate pieces or even meringues or macarons: the possibilities are endless.
I really hope you liked this recipe as it is one of my most favourite cakes! Let me know in the comments how it went, in case you made it!
Here are few more desserts with raspberries, that you may like:
📝 Recipe
Four-Layer Black and White Cake
Ingredients
Raspberry cake layers:
- 1 ⅔ cup/ 200 g all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup/ 150 g sugar
- ⅓ cup/ 70 g butter, very soft
- 2 tbsp/ 30 ml olive oil, or other vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- ⅞ cup/ 200 g plain yogurt
- ⅓ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or just a pinch
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cups/ 200 g raspberries, fresh or frozen
Chocolate cake layers:
- 1½ cup/ 180 g all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp/ 60 g cocoa powder
- ¼ cup/ 60 ml olive oil
- 1 cup/ 200 g sugar
- ⅔ cup/ 180 g plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- 120 ml/ ½ cup strong black coffee, or hot water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vanilla pudding frosting:
- ½ cup/ 60 g vanilla pudding mix, for cooking (see notes)
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups/ 500 ml full fat milk
- ¼ cup/ 60 g butter
Buttercream frosting:
- ⅞ cup/ 200 g butter, very soft
- 2 ½ cups/ 300 g powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grease two 17 inch/ 18 cm cake pans and line them with circles of baking paper. Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C.
Raspberry Layers:
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl combine oil, butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer, until smooth. Add vanilla extract, egg and yogurt and beat well, until combined.
- Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing with a rubber spatula, until absorbed. Add the raspberries and mix very carefully, until just absorbed in the batter.
- Pour the batter into one of the the prepared pans. You can bake it right away, if you only have one pan, or keep it in the fridge, while preparing the raspberry layer, if you want to bake the two mixtures together (recommended).
Chocolate Layers
- In a large bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir very well.
- Gradually add eggs, yogurt, coffee, oil and vanilla. Whisk well, until all the ingredients are well combined and the batter becomes homogeneous. You don't need a mixer for this layer!
- Pour the batter into the second pan.
- Bake the cakes for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each one comes out clean and the tops become golden brown.
- Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before carefully running a knife around the edges. Remove them from the pans and let cool completely on a rack.
- Alternatively you can leave them to cool inside the pans.
Vanilla pudding frosting
- Combine the pudding powder with the sugar and 5 tablespoon milk. Mix very well until no lumps appear.
- Heat the rest of the milk in a saucepan and bring it to boil. When it starts simmering, lower the heat and remove the pan from the stove. Add the pudding mix. Stir well to combine and return to the fire for few more seconds. Whisk continuously to avoid burning.
- When the pudding starts getting thicker, remove the pan from the stove and add the butter. Stir until the butter melts in the pudding.
- Cover the pan with a lid and let cool for about 30-40 minutes at room temperature, before assembling the cake. Stir from time to time to avoid forming a crust. Don't leave it too long because it will get very thick, like a real pudding.
Buttercream frosting
- In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and vanilla. Gradually add the sugar, beating well after each addition. Continue mixing until creamy and fluffy.
To assemble the cake:
- When the cake bases are completely cool, use a serrated knife to cut each layer in half horizontally (it is easier if the cakes have been refrigerated - see notes).
- Place one layer on a serving plate or on a cake stand. Spread on top ⅓ of the vanilla filling. Cover with another half layer, different than the first one. Continue the process until placing the forth half layer over the last ⅓ of the vanilla filling. Wrap the cake tightly with cling film and leave it in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Alternatively place it in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Unwrap the cake and cover it all around with the buttercream frosting (for best result first spread ½ of the frosting over the cake, then leave it in the freezer for 15 minutes to get firm before applying on top the rest of the frosting).
- Decorate the cake shortly before serving.
Notes
- Vanilla pudding: you need a packaged pudding mixture for cooking: not instant pudding. It is normally made from starch (cornstarch, potato starch) with added vanilla flavour. If you don't have such pudding mixture, use ½ cup starch + add some vanilla flavour to the frosting.
- Prepare the frostings right before assembling the cake.
- The layers might take 3-4 hours to cool until room temperature. Considering the time, you may want to bake them on the day before assembling the cake. Wrap the cool layers with cling film, before placing them in the fridge.
- Refrigerated layers are much easier to work with: they make less crumbs when they are sliced. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months, each one very well wrapped separately in several sheets of cling film.
Teodora Nikolova says
За нищо, радвам се че толкова бързо отговорихте 🙂 В Е-книгата също са пропуснати яйцата.
Поздрави!
Daniela says
Взимам си бележка! Ще я поправя и нея в най-скоро време 🙂
Поздрави и усмихнат ден 🙂
Teodora Nikolova says
Здравейте,
в продуктите за шоколадовият блат сте пропуснали яйцата, после в описанието има да се добавят яйца, но нe става ясно колко?
Daniela says
Здравейте Теодора,
Много се извинявам за пропуска и благодаря, че ми обърнахте внимание!
Яйцата са 2. Веднага поправям рецептата 🙂
Поздрави!