This raspberry jello cake is the perfect holiday dessert and is always a favorite with the kiddos. The moist sponge cake paired with the sweet-tartness of the raspberry mousse and fresh raspberries will win your crowd over.
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You can also get as creative as you want with this; changing up the jello and fruit – the possibilities are endless! Here’s a Strawberry Jello Cake I made last year with the basics of this same recipe.
Ingredients for Raspberry Jello Cake:
The jello mousse portion is the star of the show and all it requires is a package of raspberry jello and whipped topping. So easy!! The bottom layer is our classic European sponge cake but you could easily use lady fingers in a pinch and it will still taste great!
I love that this jello cake is potluck and party friendly. It isn’t too complicated and it’s convenient to transport and serve (less chances of it sliding off your cake plate and landing upside down on the sidewalk as you get out of the car arriving for Thanksgiving dinner! That happened to my cheesecake last year… it was a very sad moment.
P.S. Thanks for sharing your similar sad/hilarious stories on Instagram). My friend Laura from church made this jello mousse cake for a church potluck a few years ago and I’ve been smitten ever since! I hope you love the recipe and find the video below handy!
Watch How to Make Raspberry Jello Cake:
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Raspberry Jello Cake Print-Friendly Recipe:
Raspberry Jello Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Raspberry Mousse:
- 6 oz package raspberry jello
- 8 oz tub cool whip, thawed in the fridge
For the Cake Layer:
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
For the Syrup:
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Topping Ingredients:
- 3 oz package raspberry jello
- 6 oz package raspberries
Instructions
Start making the Jello Mousse:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 6 oz jello with 2 cups boiling water. Stir until dissolved then add 1 cup cold water (this is 1/2 of the cold water the package calls for). Let jello sit at room temp until just starting to set. Note: If you need to speed set jello, you can refrigerate it for 10-15 minutes at the end or until the jello is syrupy and soft set.
How to Make the Cake & Simple Syrup: Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line the bottom of a 13x9 Glass baking dish with parchment paper. Don't grease the sides.
- Beat 4 large eggs with the whisk attachment for 1 min on high speed. With the mixer on, add 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating on high speed for 5 min until thick and fluffy. Fold in 1/4 tsp vanilla.
- Sift in 1/2 cup flour in thirds into the batter, folding it in between each addition. When mixing, scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure you don't have pockets of flour hiding at the bottom. Fold until no streaks of flour remain; do not over-mix or you will deflate the batter. Spread batter evenly into lined glass dish and bake at 350˚F for 18-20 minutes, or until top is golden brown and springs back when poked slightly.
- Remove from oven, cut away from edges, invert onto a cooling rack and peel back the parchment paper. (Note: Let cake sit on top of the peeled back parchment paper to cool - I have found that sometimes it sticks to a cooling rack and can be hard to pry off after it cools down). Rinse and dry the baking dish then return cooled cake back to the pan.
- Combine the syrup ingredients: 1/2 cup warm water, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice and set aside to cool to room temp. Brush the top of the cooled cake evenly with syrup.
Finish the Jello Mousse and Topping:
- Once jello is starting to thicken and has a slight wiggle to it, beat in 8 oz cool whip. Tip: If your mousse is watery, you should refrigerate it for 10-15 minutes until it's slightly thickened, but keep an eye on it so it doesn't set too much or it will be hard to spread.
- Pour the mousse over the cake layer and spread evenly. Top with raspberries, pushing them down slightly into the mousse. Refrigerate 1 hour or until mousse is set. Meanwhile, start making your jello topping.
- In a large measuring cup, combine 3 oz jello with 1 cup boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cold water and let cool to room temp. (Tip: Never pour warm jello over the mousse or you'll end up with a creamy layer on top) Pour jello over the back of a spoon into the pyrex dish and refrigerate another hour or until fully set.
♥ Tools used to make this recipe (Amazon Affiliate links):
- Red Stand Mixer from KitchenAid: 6 Qt. Professional 600 Series in Empire Red
- *Glass Baking Dish from Anchor Hocking 9×13 3qt Glass Baking Dish
- *Flexible spatula/ turner (multi-purpose!): OXO Good Grips
- *Clear glass mixing/prep bowl from Pyrex
- *Reversible Cutting Board by John Boos 20 by 15 by 1.5-Inch, Walnut
I hope you all have an awesome and blessed Thanksgiving weekend! I’m excited to watch my Facebook and Instagram feeds to see what creative things you’re cooking up!
– Natasha
Hi, I am wondering if I could replace the package of raspberry jello with something else. Is it possible to prepare this dessert based on totally organic or healthty ingredients?
I think it’s worth experimenting but I haven’t tried anything different myself so I can’t really recommend anything.
Perfect, easy to do and looks amazing!
Thank you, Natasha!
You’re welcome Lera 🙂
i want to make this for my grandma’s bday she loves rasberries. So i made a trial one yesterday and the mousse layer its semi firm in the big pan but the smaller pieces i cut, the mousse is runny-ish. I was wondering to make it more firm should i decrease the cool whip or decrease the water from 3 total cups to 2?
the second problem was the jello layer would slide off a bit. not sure if its because the mousse didn’t set firm enough or cuz i left the cake/mousse layer overnight and then put the jello layer on this morning so its not sticking to the mousse well? What do you think?
thanks! great recipe otherwise tho, the difference in the consistency maybe due to vegetarian jello (no gelatin i think it uses agar agar or whatever).
I have not tried the vegetarian Jell-O so I can’t say for sure if that is the cause of the consistency issue. If you want it thicker, you might reduce the water by 1/2 cup to 1 cup. I would do that before reducing the amount of Cool Whip in the recipe. Happy birthday to your grandma! 🙂
thanks. is the mousse generally the same consistency as the jello (thats the way it appears in the video)? or slightly looser than jello layer? towards the end of the cake today it seemed more firm, i think i’ll just retry the mousse/jello layer this week and see if i can stiffen it slightly before the party, make it a little ahead of time so it has time to stiffen, would really love to use this recipe for the party!
It’s about the same consistency. It’s not loose at all. You can make this cake a day in advance and it would still be great. 🙂
I want to try this recipe . Can I make it one day in advance .
Yes, this would be good made a day in advance, just make sure you have fresh berries and not overly ripe ones. 🙂 Enjoy!
Natasha dear, Thank you for all your help.
Anytime 🙂
Oh that’s my favorite! I’ve pinned it and loved your recipe at first sight.
Can’t wait to try this with my friends.
Thanks Natasha 🙂 I love it ♥
June, thank you for such a sweet comment, enjoy :D.
Hi Natasha i would like to make this jello cake what size is the dish u were using? looks very good.
Hi Olga, I have it listed at the beginning of the instructions – it is a 13×9. I wouldn’t use anything smaller or it will overflow. I hope you love it! 🙂
Made this with strawberries instead of raspberries and it tastes amazing.. Keep up the awesome recipes Natasha.
Thank you,I should try using strawberries next time :).
Hi Natasha
im from Israe and i follow you on your blug, youtube and facebook and i realy like your recipe, about this cake… first of all we have only 3oz package of jello and i make it with 2 cops of hot boiling water (400 mill) we dont use cold water, i wont to make this cake and wondring should i do the jello like your instraction ? and can i use frozen raspberries ? it is hard to find fresh raspberries.
Do the instructions on the box say to do it that way? I’m wondering if you have a different brand or type of jello??
yes, we have israely brand call “osem” for the jello and the instructions is 400 mill of hot water for 3oz of jello… what to do ? your instructions or the instructions on the box ? and allso could i use frozen raspberries
The package calls for 2 cups boiling hot water and then 2 cups cold water. I added 2 cups boiling water and then 1 cup cold water (half of the amount of cold water on the package). Does your package call for any cold water?
no it dose not say to add cold water, only 2 cups hot boiling water for 3oz box
In that case, I would suggest 1 1/2 cups hot boiling water for a 3 oz box. You want it to be slightly thicker than regular jello but not too much thicker.
I want to try this recipe this weekend but don’t have 9×13 glass baking dish. Do you think I can try it with a large trifle bowl?
Yes – you would probably want to make the cake in a round tall walled springform or cake pan.
Please correct the jello to: “make as described on the box”. The jello calls for 3/4cup for every 3oz. I used two 3oz boxes, leaving me with 6oz as per your instructions. You said two cups when it should have been less. I waited my time and money because the recipe was wrong!;
It still should have worked out if you used one cup of cold water rather than what the box calls for. I could not write “use package instructions” because it was not per package instructions. This recipe calls for less cold water than the package actually states. I hope that makes sense.
Hi Natasha
Just wanted to drop by to say thank you for Jello cake recipe, I made it yesterday and was so good
Thank you for the great review Athita, I’m glad you enjoyed it :D.
This is a grate recipe for dessert. I really love to cook it for parties ,but i get a little confused? This cake doesnt need any oil or butter? And any soda?
Thanks
You are correct Tata, it works great without oil, butter or soda. Let me know how it works out :).
Natasha I made it with strawberries and strawberrie jello it turned out perfectly. I used heavy whipping cream.
Thank you so much for sharing that!! 🙂 How much whipping cream did you use instead of the cool whip?
I used 8 oz of heavy whip cream after I mixed it with jell-o I put it in fidge for 10 min than pour it over the sponge cake and it set in 1 hour. I put a picture up on your Fb page.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me and for sharing the picture! I sure appreciate it!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me and for sharing your picture! That’s so awesome of you!! 🙂
You welcome
Hi can i put blue berries in the raspberry jello? Will it taste good?
It will taste good, but the raspberries will taste better. I’ve tried with blueberries and they don’t have that same zing that raspberries provide.
Dear Natasha,
Thanks for this recipe. Grateful if you could please send the measurements in grams or ml. I am not too familiar with cup size.
thanks a ton!
Hi Katrucia, I don’t generally provide those measurements because most of my readers use US measurements and I am not accustomed to using those measurements in baking. I’d suggest using an online conversion tool.
I will be making this cake for my daughters birthday this May. Can I make it a week in advance? What’s the earliest I can make it? Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
I think it would be best to make it no more than 2 days in advance. A week might be too long, especially if using fresh raspberries – the berries might get weird. Happy birthday to your daughter!
I tried this .. Spent so much time on it. But as soon as I put the top most layer of the jelly n kept it in the fridge .. N after half n he to my surprise it was all foaming up .. 🙁
You really have to wait for the top jello layer to cool to room temperature. If it’s warm at all, it will cause the mousse layer underneath to melt an “foam up.” I’ve made that mistake before, that’s why I added the tip in section III, Step #3. I hope that helps for next time. It was a major bummer when it happened to me too.
Very good recipes
Thanks so much Sameera 🙂
Hi…im from Sri Lanka. i made this using stawberries it came very well. Thank u so much.
You are welcome Nelly, thank you for a great review 🙂