Vegan Lemon Cake

Lemon desserts are the best! From lemon pound cake to lemon muffins, vegan lemon curd to vegan lemon bars, they are all easy to make, refreshing, and delicious.

Our vegan lemon cake is a soft, light, one-layer cake with a soft and moist crumb and a beautiful lemon flavor.

It’s one of our favorite easy dessert recipes made with minimal effort and simple ingredients.

This vegan lemon cake has a distinct lemon flavor thanks to the juice and the zest of fresh lemon, and for even more flavor, you can add some lemon extract.

It is delicious without fillings or toppings, and like our vegan apple cake and pear cake, you can eat it as a mid-afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee.

But if you want a more festive and indulgent lemon dessert, top it with a sweet and tangy vegan cream cheese and lemon frosting.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Lemon

Get a large, yellow lemon; it is best if organic since we use the peel. We use lemon zest and lemon juice.

Lemon extract

Lemon extract is optional, but if you’d like a more evident lemon aroma, we recommend it.

Vanilla extract

It goes well with the lemon, making the flavor of the cake rounder. We recommend vanilla extract or the seeds of a vanilla pod.

Flour

We use all-purpose flour.

We haven’t tested this cake with gluten-free flour, so we are unsure if it’ll work out.

Water

We tried making this cake with almond milk, vegan buttermilk with apple cider vinegar, soy milk, and other non-dairy milks in the past.

However, after several rounds of testing, we figured out that the cake turned out much more delicious with water.

Sugar

You can use white sugar or brown sugar.

We haven’t tested this cake with maple syrup and are unsure if it works.

Coconut sugar or palm sugar works, too, although the cake will be less sweet and more dense.

Olive oil

We use olive oil – not extra virgin olive oil, just regular olive oil.

Substitute avocado oil for olive oil.

Other oils we tested in the past that work well are sunflower oil, canola oil, rapeseed oil, and most other neutral vegetable oils.

However, compared to olive and avocado oil, these are less healthy.

Melted coconut oil will make the cake denser and less fluffy.

Baking powder

To help the cake rise and make it light and airy. We don’t use baking soda in this recipe.

Salt

A pinch of salt helps bring the flavors together.

You can make a delicious vegan cream cheese and lemon frosting with:

• vegan butter (use one that comes in a stick, and it’s solid, not a spreadable one)
• vegan cream cheese
• powdered sugar
• lemon zest
• vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 340°F or 170°C. Butter your cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. We use an 8-inch (20-21 cm) cake pan.

To a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, and whisk to combine them.

To a smaller bowl, add the wet ingredients. Start with the grated lemon zest.

Then, cut the lemon in half, squeeze it, and add 1/4 cup or 60 grams of lemon juice to the same bowl. Make sure you don’t add any lemon seeds.

Add water, olive oil, lemon, and vanilla extract and whisk well.

Tip: Only grate the yellow part of the peel, not the white flesh under, as that part is bitter.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry one and whisk until just combined. Get rid of lumps, but don’t overmix the batter.

Tip: it is best not to overmix the batter when making vegan cakes. You can use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, but remember that overmixing will activate the flour gluten and make the cake heavier and more compact.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and level it off.

Bake it immediately in the central lower wire rack of your preheated oven at 340°F or 170°C for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Let the cake cool down in the cake pan for 10 minutes, then take it out and let it cool down completely (at least 1 hour) before applying the frosting.

Tip: to prevent the cake from sticking to your wire rack, line the rack with parchment paper.

Take the vegan butter out of the refrigerator and let it soften at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Add the softened vegan butter, the zest of one lemon, and the vanilla extract to a bowl.

Whisk with a hand mixer until the butter turns creamy.

Add the vegan cream cheese and beat with a hand mixer until combined.

Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.

Store it in the fridge to set if you don’t apply it to the cake immediately.

Tip: you can add between 1 and 4 cups of powdered sugar based on your taste. We like it with 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.

Spread evenly on top of the vegan lemon cake.

Optionally, garnish this delicious lemon olive oil cake grated lemon zest, strawberries, poppy seeds, or fresh berries.

For best results, let the cake and frosting cool down in the refrigerator for about an hour before slicing and serving it so the frosting firms up nicely (but if you can’t wait, we won’t blame you).

Pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes for a faster result, then slice it and serve.

Make ahead: you can make this cake up to 3 days ahead.

Refrigerator: if you apply the frosting, keep the vegan lemon cake in the fridge for up to 3 days in a cake dome or an airtight container. If you don’t apply the frosting, keep it in a cake dome or in plastic wrap for three days at room temperature.

Freezer: let the cake cool down completely, transfer it to a freezer-friendly container, and freeze it for up to 3 months.

Thaw: defrost in the fridge slowly, over several hours, or overnight.

• Vegan carrot cake
• 7-ingredient vegan apple cake
• Easy chocolate cake
• Soft pear cake
• Lemon olive oil cake