This vegan lemon cake with velvety lemon buttercream frosting is moist and fluffy and will make all your lemon cake dreams come true!
This vegan lemon cake is pure lemony perfection!
Jaye was saying it’s exactly like the lemon cake his grandmother used to make! Which is high praise considering his grandmother was quite the chef.
The recipe is based on our vegan vanilla cake, with lots of lemon flavor added in via lemon zest and lemon extract and of course, a delicious lemon buttercream frosting and lots of lemon zest as decoration.
It’s super easy, and will happily fulfil all your lemon cake dreams!
When looking around the web at lemon cakes in general, I saw a lot of lemon loaf cakes.
But that isn’t what comes to my mind when I think of a lemon cake, to me a lemon cake is a lemon layer cake, and a lemon loaf cake or a lemon pound cake is the loaf cake. Anyway, just saying because I hope you didn’t come to this page hoping for a loaf cake.
If you did, well don’t worry, we also have a gorgeous vegan lemon pound cake.
I went with two 8-inch cake pans for this cake. The layers are really fat and beautiful. This cake also works perfectly in 9-inch cake pans.
Egg replacement?
I didn’t use a flax egg in this cake, which I also don’t use in my vanilla cake recipe that I based this recipe on. I don’t find I need it in this recipe and I don’t want it to affect the color.
In light colored cakes, a flax egg can affect the color leading it to look a bit spotty, so in this case it’s best to leave it out.
So there isn’t any specific egg replacer in this recipe, unless you count the baking soda/vinegar combination, which definitely acts together to create some crucial baking science that causes the cake to rise beautifully. It all just works.
Recipe Q&A
You can use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour in this recipe. If it comes out a bit dry (gluten-free flours can absorb more moisture) then increase the oil a little.
Yes you can. This recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes. Or for a perfect 12 cupcakes see our vegan lemon cupcakes recipe.
Sure you can, but the lemon flavor will be lessened quite a bit. I do recommend getting some lemon extract if you possibly can.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature where it will stay gorgeous for a 3-4 days or keep it covered in the fridge where it will last for up to a week.
The cake is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. You can freeze it either frosted or unfrosted. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
More Gorgeous Vegan Cakes
- Our vegan white cake is a classic 8-inch beauty which is pretty much a vanilla cake, just with attempts to make it even whiter in color.
- Our recipe for the best vegan chocolate cake can be made in either 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans and our easy vegan chocolate cake adapts well to multiple different cake pans.
- Our vegan banana cake can be made as a 9×13 sheet cake or a 2-layer 8-inch cake. It’s also topped with a delicious lemon frosting.
- Our vegan coffee cake isn’t just a cake to eat with your coffee, it’s actually a coffee flavored cake! Topped with a kahlua frosting it’s a real treat.
- Our vegan red velvet cake has a beautiful vibrant color and it’s perfect for special occasions and our vegan carrot cake is always very popular.
- Want to have an English tea? Make this delicious vegan Victoria sponge cake!
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Cake
Ingredients
For the Vegan Lemon Cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 tsp Lemon Extract
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Zest
For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (540g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 2 tsp Lemon Extract
- 3 ½ Tbsp Lemon Juice
For Decoration:
- Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 8-inch* cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt. Then add the soy milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon zest. Whisk with a hand whisk briefly until nicely combined and no big lumps remain. Don't overmix, tiny lumps are okay.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the pans and place onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by placing the powdered sugar, vegan butter and lemon extract and lemon juice* into the bowl of an electric mixer. Start off at slow speed, gradually increasing speed until thick and smooth.
- Frost the cooled cakes and decorate with lemon zest.
Video
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly using the spoon and level method or by weighing it on a food scale. For the spoon and level method, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
- You can switch the canola oil for another vegetable oil if you prefer. We have made this with various oils including a light olive oil and it has come out great.
- 2 Tbsp of lemon zest is from about 2 lemons, but it does depend on the size of the lemons, if it’s a large lemon you might get 2 Tbsp worth of zest from 1 lemon.
- You might not need all the lemon juice in the frosting. I used all of it, but how much you need will largely depend on the brand of vegan butter you use. If you use a firmer type of vegan butter (lower water content) you will need more lemon juice, whereas if it’s more of a soft spread (higher water content) you may need less. So this will require a little flexibility.
- This cake recipe can also be made in 9-inch cake pans with no other changes. The layers will be slightly thinner, but perfect! The cooking time will be 25 minutes.
I have made this cake over and over and over and I always get EXTREME KUDOS for it!
I have iced it with chocolate icing and omg so good.
I have a question. – what about using limoncello instead of the lemon extract? Thoughts? Thanks for an AMAZiING recipe.
So glad to hear you enjoy the recipe Maria! I think that would work just fine. Thanks for your great review!
If I wanted to use fresh lemon juice instead of lemon extract, how much should I use?
Hi Chloe! Great question! You could just use lemon juice (the same amount) but it won’t be nearly as flavorful as the extract.
Absolutely delicious, perfectly moist and tangy lemon cake! Went down a storm even with the non-lemon lovers of the birthday crowd. I halved the icing amount and just iced the top and between the two sponges and still fab – the moisture and sweetness of the cake doesn’t need the extra icing on the sides to taste balanced. I opted for 160Cish fan oven for those with a fan oven, but best just to keep an eye! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
That’s great Bethany! Thanks for sharing and for your great review!
Made it for my niece’s baby shower. So easy to make and even my mum ate it and she always makes a fuss about ‘vegan food’ My vegan daughter loved it and I’ll be making it again for my son’s birthday. One of the best cakes I’ve made, thank you 🙂
Thanks for your great review Lisa!
Any way to cut down on sugar for this cake?
Hi Lynn, Unfortunately we haven’t tested a version of this cake with less sugar. However, you can omit the buttercream frosting and try it with our vegan cream cheese frosting or vegan whipped cream. All the best!
I made this for my son’s birthday. He is very picky about foods. He loved it!
So glad he loved it Rosemary!
Brilliant cake and I don’t like baking. Everybody loved it and want me to make it for their birthdays
Awesome Dana! Thank you so much for your great review!
My kids made this for me for my birthday and wow!!! So delicious. The perfect amount of lemony flavor. Moist cake and icing that holds up. Yumyum!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the cake Amanda! Your kids have good taste!:)
My grandson wanted a lemonade cake, and this was it! I decorated with raspberries, sprinkles and sliced jelly candies. I wish I could include a photo.
I love this cake! I have used your recipe for many birthday cakes (and cupcakes, too) over the last 4 years. It is easy and so very delicious! It always gets raves and requests for the recipe. I thought I would finally say thank you to you, Alison. 😊
That’s great to hear LeaAann. Thanks you so much for your amazing review!
Best recipe ever! I’ve made it numerous times now, mostly as mini Bundt cakes, regular cupcakes, and sheet cake cut into bunny cake for Easter. All turn out perfect. Frosting is the best and doesn’t require much.
Going to experiment this weekend with 1/2 sheet hot wheels cake for sons bday.
Thank you so much Vanessa!
I made this for a birthday cake. Perfect!
Awesome!! 🙂
I have always had trouble baking but I’m determined to learn it. I made a pear cake yesterday which was perfect in texture but really bad in taste. So I wanted to try a lemon one instead. I followed the recipe completely and I still got a bad after taste but at least it’s eatable. I’m starting to think my oven doesn’t want me to have nice cake 😭😅
Can you give me any tips or advice?
Hi Melissa! A big tip for beginner bakers is to measure everything correctly and try not to overmix the batter! Baking takes practice, but once you get the hang of it – you will never look back! 🙂